THIRUVANNAMALAI DISTRICT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT THIRUVANNAMALAI DISTRICT Introduction Tiruvannamalai is one of the most venerated places in Tamil Nadu. In ancient times, the term “Annamalai” meant an inaccessible mountain. The word “Thiru” was prefixed to signify its greatness, and coupled with the two terms, it is called Tiruvannamalai. The district is one of the northern districts of Tamil Nadu with Vellore, part of Chengalpattu and South Arcot districts as northern, southern and western boundaries. The district has six taluks, eighteen blocks including tribal block of Jawadhu Hills and 1067 revenue villages. This district comprises of Tiruvannamalai, Chengam, Polur, Arani, Cheyyar and Vandavasi taluks. It came into existence on 30th September 1989 after the bifurcation of North Arcot district. One sixth area of the district is covered by reserve forest and hills which are part of Eastern Ghats. Geography The total geographical area of the district is 6191 sq. km. (ranks eleventh among the 1 districts) comprising the revenue divisions of Tiruvannamalai and Cheyyar. The Jawadis are the loftiest mountains of the region. They cover the north-western portion of Chengam taluk and the western part of Polur taluk. The general elevation of Jawadhu Hills is 2500 ft. with peaks rising up to 4200 ft. in some parts. Other important peaks of the district are Tiruvannamalai (2668 ft.) and Kalasagiri (2743 ft.). The general slope of the region is from west to east. Topography The Jawadis are the loftiest mountains of the region. They cover the north-western portion of Chengam taluk and the western part of Polur taluk. The general elevation of Jawadhu Hills is 2500 ft. with peaks rising up to 4200 ft. in some parts. Other important peaks of the district are Tiruvannamalai (2668 ft.) and Kalasagiri (2743 ft.). The general slope of the region is from west to east. Soil condition The soil is mostly of red ferruginous variety, both sandy and loamy with black clay. Black soil is mostly found in the neighbourhood of the rivers of Palar, Pennaiyar and Cheyyar. Red series of sand is predominant in Tiruvannamalai and Vandavasi taluk. Pirrohotite is said to be available in Polur. 2 Black and multi-coloured marble stones are available in plenty in the regions of Chengam and Vandavasi. Climate The general climate of the district is tropical. The district receives rainfall from North East and South West monsoons. North East monsoon is somewhat stronger except in the southern taluks of Cheyyar and Vandavasi. The average rainfall during 2002-2011 in this district was 1038 mm. Palar, Cheyyar and Pennaiyar are the rivers running through this district. At Sathanur, about 30 km west of Tiruvannamalai, a dam has been constructed across Pennaiyar river. About 21000 hectares are irrigated through 106 channels from these three rivers. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT STATUS The Human Development Index has been computed based on the three dimensions such as health, education and standard of living and found inter-block variations. It is a positive index. Out of 18 blocks, Thellar ranks first Human Development Index with 0.92 and Jawadhu Hills ranks 18 with 0.37 which shows high disparity among the blocks. Vandavasi and Thellar fall under the top three categories and in all the three indices such as standard of living, health and education it performs better 3 than the other blocks. Jawadhu Hills falls in the bottom three blocks and ranks 18th (lowest) among the blocks, but tops better in health index (0.78) Regarding Gender Inequality Index, which is a negative index, Peranamallur block performs better under top three categories with 0.01 and Chetpet ranks 18th with high inequality of 0.11. The overall Child Development Index indicated that Thellar (0.85), West Arani (0.81), and Vembakkam (0.81) ranked in the top three positions. Jawadhu hills (0.14), Chengam (0.43), and Thurinjapuram (0.47) occupy the last three positions in the district. Overall performance of blocks with respect to MPI shows that the range is very high (0.50). Out of 18 blocks, Vandavasi, Arani and Thellar come under top three ranks, where as Jawadhu hills, Pudhupalayam and Thandrampet fall under bottom three ranks. Jawadhu Hills shows high MPI (0.67) due to high dropout at both primary level and secondary level education, low access to cooking fuel and pucca house and high malnourishment. EMPLOYMENT, INCOME AND POVERTY The work participation rate in the district increased from 48.99 percent to 50.23 percent during 2001- 2011. This was due to 4 increase in percentage of main workers, reduction in the marginal workers percentage and creation of additional employment in the primary and secondary sectors. The overall WPR is higher than Tamil Nadu, which is 44.7 percent. The Inter-block variations show that Jawadhu Hills ranks first with high WPR of 57.03 percent and Tiruvannamalai block ranks 18th with WPR of 42.67 percent. The district has more agricultural labourers with 28.37 percent, other workers with 25.57 percent followed by cultivators with 21.42 percent. The percentage of total household workers is very low (2.99 percent) in the district. The Child Labour is found in the district as per the report of the NICLP which needs attention from the district administration. The per capita income of the district, which was Rs. 24,711 in 2005-06, has increased to Rs. 41,569 in 2012 and average growth rate of the district 9.65. Among the districts, Tiruvannamalai ranks 26th in its per capita income in 2011-12, this indicates the level of poverty in the district. The agriculture accounted for 17.67 percent of Gross District Domestic Product in 2005- 06, it accounts only for 13.57 percent in 2011-12. 5 The percentage of households, living under poverty in Tiruvannamalai district is 32.18 percent. Jawadhu Hills need special focus on all dimensions of poverty and in particular with regard to creation of access to cooking fuel, toilet facilities and housing to promote better improvement in human development. About 6.64 lakhs families were provided with Family cards, who have access to availing the basic things from the public distribution system. DEMOGRAPHY, HEALTH AND NUTRITION The total population of the district in 2001 was 21,86,125 and in 2011 is 24,64,875.The population growth rate was 12.75 percent. The density of population of the district is 473 per sq.km, which was lower than state (555 per sq.km) and higher than the nation (382 per sq.km). In a period of 10 years the population density has increased by 11.56 percent. The CBR of Tamil Nadu is 15.9, and Tiruvannamalai district is between 15 and 18.4 in Cheyyar Health unit Division (HUD) and Thirvannamalai HUD in 2011. The CBR of the district in 2013-14, the CBR was 15.9. The CDR of Tiruvannamalai district is 5.9 in Tiruvannamalai HUD and 6.7 in Cheyyar HUD in2011.As per 2013-14 data, within the district Vandavasi (5.6), Pudhupalayam (5.6) and Thurinjapuram (5.7) blocks occupied first 6 three positions with low CDR. Thellar (8.6), Anakkavur (7.6), and Peramanallur (7.1) blocks occupied last three positions with high death rates. The sex ratio was better for the district at 994 compared to the national figure (940). Out of 18 blocks, seven blocks (Arani, Chetpet, Cheyyar, Kilpennathur, Peranamallur, Polur and West Arani) have sex ratio of more than 1000. Jawadhu Hills (961), Pudhupalayam (974) and Chengam (978) occupy last three positions in the district. As per 2011 data, the sex ratio of eight blocks (Anakkavur, Chetpet, Cheyyar, Kalasapakkam, Kilpennathur, Peranamallur, Pudhupalayam, and West Arani) had declined when compared with the sex ratio in 2001, which needs to be monitored. Regarding social group wise, the sex ratio of SC people is found to be high in Tiruvannamalai (1054) followed by West Arani (1041). Overall, in the district the sex ratio of SC is 1003 when compared to overall sex ratio of 994. As per 2011 census, the child sex ratio further declined from 948 to 930 which was lower than the State (946). The life expectancy in the district for the year 2011 for male was 70 which was higher than 7 the State (68.6) and female was 67 which was lower than the State (71.8). 2013-14 data shows that life expectancy of female had increased while for male it had decreased to 69.6 which indicates the health, hygiene and sanitation issues of the people in the district. The IMR was lower than the State, but across the blocks there were huge variations found. IMR was more in Jawadhu Hills, Vandavasi, West Arni. As per 2014 data also Thandrampet (21.9), West Arani (19.2) and Cheyyar (20.6) shows higher IMR in the district. The reasons for high IMR in those blocks were poor road facility, lack of awareness on institutional delivery, accessibility to healthcare services, poor transport facilities, unit of population coverage and socio-cultural reasons. Around 9 blocks have more IMR than the district average of 16. The MMR rate of Tiruvannamalai district was 128.8 in 2009 which had declined to 83 in 2009-10, and which was lower than the State average (85). In the year 2009, MMR of Peranamallur block was 433.2, which was highest among the blocks. In the year 2014, 5 blocks had more MMR, where Jawadhu hills stands first (330), followed by Vandavasi (230). Special attention is needed for the blocks like West Arani, Pudhupalayam and Kalasapakkam. 8 The highest percent of deliveries was recorded as 37.78 in PHCs followed by government hospitals with 35.65 percent in 2012-13.