View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies (AJMS) ISSN: 2321-8819 (Online) Asian Journal of 2348-7186 (Print) Impact Factor: 1.498 Multidisciplinary Studies Vol. 4, Issue 13, December 2016 Spatial Distribution of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Population of Rajasthan, 2011: A Geographical Analysis Prem Chand Indian Council of Social Science Research Fellow Department of Geography, Panjab University, Chandigarh. ABSTRACT: The present paper attempts to identify and explain the existing spatial pattern in the distribution of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe population in Rajasthan. It is a geographical investigation into their concentration and relative strength and rural-urban composition in different parts of Rajasthan. The detailed statistics of individual scheduled caste or scheduled tribe are not available in the census. Hence, this is a composite study of all the scheduled caste and tribe as recorded by the 2011 census. Key Words: Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Distribution, Rural, Urban, Rajasthan INRODUCTIONOur social organization is also referred to as Adivasis, are spread across the composed of various social groups among which central, northeast, and southern regions of India. scheduled castes and scheduled tribes constitute a These various tribes resided in India long before considerable portion. Historically, these groups had the Aryans had arrived roughly in 1500 B.C. The been exploited for menial and manual jobs. The tribes were however socially and geographically scheduled caste people are much discriminated as isolated. Scheduled tribes belong to the chunk of compared to scheduled tribe population in India. population which is generally perceived as socially While scheduled caste population belongs to the deprived. (Raza,1990,p.282) Indian scheduled lowest hierarchy of social order, the scheduled tribes form the group of tribal communities and tribes have for the most part been socially were given the name scheduled tribes during the distanced and living outside the mainstream of post- Independence period, under the rule of Indian Hindu society.The philosophy of caste is contained Constitution. The primary criterion adopted for in a sacred Hindu text, the Manusmiriti. The caste delimiting Indian backward communities as system in the Indian society seems to have scheduled tribes includes traditional occupation of originated around two thousand years ago. Under a definitive geographical area of characteristic this system people were categorized by their culture that includes a whole range of tribal modes occupation into four classes viz. Brahmin (the of life, i.e., language, customs, traditions, religious priest), Kshatriya (warrior), and Vaisya (farmer, beliefs, arts and crafts, etc., and lack of educational traders and artisian). With their further sub- and economic development. divisions the ‘Shudras’ consisted of the lower The Simon commission in 1935 first coined the castes that were placed at the bottom of the social term ‘scheduled castes’. All the untouchable castes, hierarchy.Ever since Manu introduced his which are listed in 1935 census of India, came to be ‘division’ based on occupation, he termed the known as the ‘scheduled castes’ through the scheduled caste people as ‘Sudras’. Moreover, government of India Act of 1935. In the mean time, several social, economic and political restrictions the government published a list of scheduled castes were imposed on them. They were confined to under the government of India (scheduled castes) menial “polluting” tasks such as slaughtering order,1936. (Jadhav,1982,p2) animals and leatherwork. Throughout centuries, they were exploited for menial and manual jobs, by After independence, the constituent assembly which they have suffered social and economic continued the prevailing definition of scheduled inequality. They had to stay outside the village. castes and tribes, and gave (articles 341,342) the The concept of pollution was attached to them and President of India and governors of states they were treated as untouchable castes. Although responsibility to compile a full listing of castes and originally caste depended upon a person’s work, it tribes, and also power to edit it later as required. soon became hereditary. Each person was born into The actual complete listing of castes and tribes was an unalterable social status.The term, “tribe” made via two orders: the constitution (scheduled originated around the time of the Greek city-states castes) order; 1950, and the constitution (scheduled and the early formation of the Roman Empire. The tribes) order, 1950 respectively. The constitution Latin term, “tribus” has since been transformed to makes various special provisions for the protection mean, “a group of person forming a community of the interests of the scheduled castes and and claiming descent from a common ancestor”. scheduled tribes. Thus, measure for the (Fried,1975,p.7) The Scheduled Tribes in India, advancement of the scheduled castes and scheduled Available online at www.ajms.co.in 137 Spatial Distribution of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Population of Rajasthan, 2011: A Geographical Analysis tribes are exempted [Art15 (4)] from the general specific area; rather they are distributed all over in ban against discrimination on the ground of race, the country. Scheduled Castes population show a caste and the like contained in Art.15. It means that very high concentration in the fertile Indo-Gangetic if special provisions are made by the state in favour plain and the coastal plains where they work as of the members of these castes and tribes, other agricultural labours. In the other hand, Scheduled citizens shall not be entitled to impeach the validity Tribes have a tendency to concentrate in remote of such provisions on the ground that such and less hospitable area. According to the Census provisions are discriminatory against them. ( Basu, 2011, the Scheduled Population (SC+ST) of India 2004, p.393). was 305.9 million accounting for 25.28 per cent of the total population, while that of the Scheduled In India, scheduled population (SC+ST) is Caste population was 16.64 per cent and the unevenly distributed in the spatial context. The Scheduled Tribes population was 8.64 per cent. In population distribution of scheduled tribes is other words, every fourth person in the country clearly different from that of scheduled castes. belongs either to a Scheduled Caste or to Scheduled castes population not confined to Scheduled Tribes. Table: 1 India: Scheduled Population as per cent to Total Population, 2011 Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 4(13) December, 2016 138 Spatial Distribution of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Population of Rajasthan, 2011: A Geographical Analysis In terms of the per cent of Scheduled Caste Total for Rajasthan, 2011 from census of India. population to total population, Punjab with 31.94 The quantitative techniques have been used in the per cent tops in the rank followed by Himachal present study to understand the pattern of Pradesh 25.19 per cent, West Bengal 23.51 per Scheduled Caste and scheduled Tribe population. cent, Uttar Pradesh 20.70 per cent and Haryana For this purpose, the census data has been with 20.17 per cent. The per cent distribution of tabulated, calculated to derive representative Scheduled caste population to total population in figures, averages and percentages. tehsil-wise India in 2011 explains that Punjab, Himachal spatial pattern of two social group population have Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana been depicted on maps by using the choropleth are among the top five states in India, The range of technique with the help of Arc GIS 9.3 software. Scheduled Caste’s total population is 20-32 per The focus of the study is in the explanations cent in these states. The bottom five states/UTs by regarding the pattern that emerged from the maps. per cent of Scheduled Caste Population are Goa The Areal Pattern of Scheduled Caste 1.74 per cent, Meghalaya 0.58 per cent, Mizoram Population Distribution 0.11 per cent, Daman and Diu 2.52 per cent and Dadra and Nagar Haveli 1.80 per cent. With a few According to 2011 census, Rajasthan is inhabited exceptions (leaving Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, by scheduled caste 12221593 persons, made up of Andaman and Nicobar Island and Lakshadweep), 6355564 male and 5866029 females. The scheduled caste population was residing in all the scheduled caste population supports only 17.83 per states and Union Territories of India. cent of the total population. The scheduled caste population in Rajasthan is not evenly distributed In comparison in the tribal population, dominated throughout the state because the geographical states/UTs in India are Lakshadweep 94.80 per conditions have cumulative effects on the cent, Mizoram 94.43 per cent, Nagaland 86.48 per distribution of population. The Areal Pattern of cent, Meghalaya 86.15 per cent Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Caste Population of the total population 68.80 per cent etc. In these five states/UTs of India in the year 2011 is based on what has emerged on a Scheduled Tribe, population constitutes more than choropleth map 1. made from tehsil wise data for 60 per cent of the total Scheduled Tribe population 2011. The distribution pattern of scheduled caste of respective states. The bottom five states by per population at tehsil level reveals a diverse pattern. cent of Scheduled Tribes Populations are Three types of areas are clearly identifiable: Uttarakhand 2.89 per cent, Kerala 1.45 per cent, Bihar 1.28 per cent, Tamil Nadu 1.10 per cent and Areas of High Scheduled Caste Proportion Uttar Pradesh 0.57 per cent. The Population of Scheduled Tribes in these states is less than 3 per (More than 20 per cent of S.C. to total Population) cent. The per cent of the Scheduled caste There is a wide range in the proportion of the population is low in the areas of Scheduled Tribes, scheduled caste population in this category, and Muslims and Christians dominate regions.