HUMAN DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH AND CO-ORDINATION UNIT STATE PLANNING COMMISSION EZHILAGAM, CHEPAUK, CHENNAI 600 005. DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT KANYAKUMARI DISTRICT DHAN Foundation Madurai HUMAN DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH AND CO-ORDINATION UNIT STATE PLANNING COMMISSION EZHILAGAM, CHEPAUK, CHENNAI 600 005. DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT KANYAKUMARI DISTRICT Chapter No Chapter Name Page 1 District Profile 1 2 Flow of Government Funds 13 3 Health 25 4 Literacy and Education 69 5 Livelihood 119 6 Environment 187 7 Summary 199 Chapter 1 DISTRICT PROFILE 1.1 Introduction The concept of Human development indicates that the basic purpose of development is to enlarge people’s choices and build human capabilities. By ‘choices’, it refers to the following: greater access to knowledge; better nutrition and health services; secured livelihoods; security against crime and physical violence; satisfying leisure hours; political and cultural freedoms; sense of participation in community activities The objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives with freedom and dignity. The Human Development concept places human beings and their wellbeing at the core of development thinking and emphasises that people’s development is an end in itself and not a means for development. Central to human development are participation, especially of the vulnerable sections in the process of change and equity in development gains. The Human Development concept focuses on the diversity of human needs by highlighting that people do enjoy, cherish and value self –respect, dignity and a sense of belongingness to one’s own community apart from the income they earn. It considers efficiency, equity, freedom and empowerment, and the sustainability as the four important pillars. These pillars are considered as prerequisites for achieving the human development outcomes. The characteristics of human development concept reveal that it is dynamic and that it keeps evolving; it is multidimensional, inter-disciplinary and pragmatic in nature. Overall, the concept of Human Development emphasises on the three aspects: building of human Capabilities; enhancement of Freedom; process of achieving Outcomes. The progress in the human development framework is judged not by the expanding prosperity of the rich, but by how well the poor and socially disadvantaged are faring in society. Implicit in this perspective is not only a strong concern for equity and social justice but also a firm conviction that improvements in the wellbeing of the poor are fundamental to ensuring a better life not just for them but for all. 1 1.2 Need for the District Human Development Report The State Planning Commission proposes that District Human Development Reports need to be prepared to gain deeper understanding of the issues at the district and sub-district level. As the 73 rd and 74 th constitutional amendments mandate the preparation of district level plans, it is envisaged that this DHDR will give an opportunity for preparing district plans from a human development perspective. In other words, it would do so by analysing the status of human development attainment and key human development challenges faced with a special focus on efficiency of delivery systems and financial allocations. The DHDR is viewed as an instrument for policy making on social development expenditure to improve the HD indices. The specific objectives envisaged through the DHDR are to provide a comprehensive view of the status of human development and gender development at the district level; to highlight the critical concerns and issues so as to examine emerging challenges and also solutions; to highlight and analyse policy intervention of government in the arena of human development in the district, to improve human development and gender development at the district level; to promote deeper understanding of the challenges; to advocate policy dialogue in recognition of the need for equity, people centred policy focus and to create an environment for achieving human development. Above all, the preparation of a district human development report would mark the beginning of a process whereby district plans are designed and implemented through a human development prism. Among the thirty two districts of Tamil Nadu, Kanyakumari is one which is known for its good performance in human development indicators. This district is unique in terms of its physiographic conditions of having lands of mountains, sea coast and the strip of undulating valley. It is also known for its abundance of natural resources, scenic beauties and favourable agro climatic conditions. This chapter attempts to give an overview of the district by discussing the history, demography, geographical features and livelihoods such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries along with the status of transport and communication. 1.3 History During the pre-independence period, Kanyakumari district formed part of the Travancore princely state. The district was quite rich and prosperous due to its natural beauty in terms of greenaries, wetlands, rivers, paddy fields, mountains and sea coast which is evident from 2 the scriptures that depicts the adoration of the poets and naturalists. This richness in fact had attracted constant invasion across the Aralvaimozhi pass and the kings had built strong forts against the invading armies. After the independence, the district remained as part of Travancore- Cochin State till the reorganisation of states on linguistic basis in 1956, when the States Reorganisation Act was came into existence, the four taluks of the Tiruvananthapuram merged with the Tamil speaking Madras State (now Chennai). The present form of district was formed on 1 st November 1956. The name of the district is traced back to the Goddess Kanyakumari, situated near the sea shore in the southernmost tip of the country. 1.4 Geography and Administrative Set-up Kanyakumari district is situated in the southernmost part of the Indian peninsula surrounded by Kerala state in the west and north-west, Tirunalveli district in the north and east, Gulf of Mannar in the south-east, Indian Ocean in the south and Arabian Sea in the south-west. It is the smallest district in Tamil Nadu and has a total area of 1,684 sq km which is 1.295 percent of the total area of the state. It lies between 77°15’ and 77°36’ of the eastern longitude and 8°03’ and 8°35’ of the north latitude. Geographically, the district has three distinct divisions- mountains in the north favouring plantation crops, a flat sea-coast in the south suitable for growing fibre crops of coconut and an alluvial tract in the midland suitable for cultivating cereal crops. Except for the Thovalai taluk with a long hilly track, other three taluks have a stretch of coastal area. The soil type is mostly red loam and laterite with coastal alluvium in the south which favours cultivation of diversified crops. The district has a warm and humid climate with the maximum day temperature ranging between 29°C and 33°C all through the year and with an average annual rainfall of 145 cm. This district is distinct in terms of receiving good rainfall during both the monsoons of South West (June-September) and North East (October-December), which is very unlikely in other districts of Tamil Nadu. Apart from the rain, there are five rivers namely Thamiraparani, Valliyur, Ponnivaikal, Pampoorivaikal and pazhayar flowing in the district which fulfil the requirements of the district. 3 Administrative set-up of the district includes two revenue divisions 1, four taluks 2 and nine blocks 3. There are 97 village panchayats, 56 town panchayats and four municipalities. The district has its headquarters based at Nagercoil. Kanyakumari district map with block boundaries 1.5 Demography The Kanyakumari district has a total population of 16,76,034 (census 2001) with male population of 8, 32,269 and female population of 8, 43,765. The district has a population density of 992 per sq.km which is higher than the state average (478 per sq.km) and that of the country (324 per sq. km). The district has a sex ratio of 1014 which shows that female population more than the male population. The decadal population growth rate of the district is 4.73 percent 1 The two revenue divisions are Padmanabhapuram and Nagercoil. 2 Vilvancode and Kalkulam taluks are under the revenue division of Padmanabhapuram, and Thovalai and Agastheeswaram taluks are under the revenue division of Nagercoil. 3 Melpuram, Munchirai, Killiyoor blocks are under Vilvancode taluk; Thiruvattar, Thuckalay and Kuruthancode blocks are under Kalkulam taluk; Thovalai block is under Thovalai taluk; Agastheeswaram, Rajakkamangalam blocks are under Agastheeswaram taluk. 4 (census 2001) which is the lowest when compared to the state. On comparing the data of the past, it is found that the population growth rate of the district is decreasing at an increasing rate. Of the total population of the district, 4.04 percent constitutes Scheduled Caste population. The Scheduled Tribe population constitutes only 0.32 percent which is very low. The overall dependent population including of both 0-14 years and above 60 years is 5,82,964 which makes the dependency rate to be 34.78 per cent. As far as the urbanisation is concerned, it is found that the the proportion of urban population in Kanyakumari drastically increased from just 16.88 percent in 1991 (Census 1991) to 65.27 percent in 2001 (Census 2001). 1.6 Religion, Caste, Festival and Art The people of various religions namely Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Jainism live in this district. Of all the religion, the Hindu population is more in number with 8, 59,307 and next comes the Christian population with 7, 45,406. The population census 2001 shows that the district is dominated by Hindus (51.27 percent) and Christians (44.47 percent). The district has always maintained peace and harmony with no communal conflicts despite the presence of two major religions at one place.