Kutch:
a region of Gujarat
Kutch
has traditionally been known for its handicrafts. The devastating earthquake in
the year 2001 added a dimension of natural calamity turned into a disaster of
large scale. The relief activities
in Kutch after earthquake has brought many other aspects of Kutch to the fore,
such as, the caste system and marginalisation of poor and backwards castes and
communities and serious problems of unequal distribution and utilization of
natural resources for development.
Kutch
is the largest border district in Gujarat, even larger than a state of Kerala in
India. The present population is
about one and a quarter million (13 lakhs).
The name ‘Kutch’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Kashyap’
meaning tortoise, describes its topography, which is varied with saline and
fertile land, seawater, plains and hills, desert and grasslands. Kutch
is almost like an island and before the road entrance was made at Surajbari, it
was a boat ride connection to Kathiawar and other parts of Gujarat. There is a
desert in north and western side while the Gulf of Kutch on southern side.
Inside Kutch were the islands of Pachchham, Khadir and Bela, now
connected by permanent roads.
Traditionally, Kutch was divided into different areas, namely, Kand,
Garado, Abdaso, Pranthal, Prawar, Modaso, Banni, Khadir, Halar Chovisi, Bhuvad
Chovisi, Anjar, Aani, Kantho, and Vagad. The present administrative units are made into nine talukas,
namely, Abdasa, Lakhpat, Nakhatrana, Bhuj, Mandavi, Mundra, Anjar, Bhachau and
Rapar.
The
studies on Kutch as a region describe that ecology and heritage of Kutch is now
under threat, unless concern transcends the local considerations.
Underground water is depleting rapidly, sucked by pumps for salt making
and having no direct relation between operating costs and consumption or waste,
running on heavily subsidized electricity or with illegal connections.
Salinity ingress along the coastal and Rann areas is much talked about. Kutch
as a region needs deeper thinking in the context of its development of economy
other than traditional pastoralism, salt industry and fishing on seacoast; its
ecology; utilization of land and water; and about its inhabitants (Bhagat and
Sheth: 1995).
There
are very few socio-economic studies of Kutch and data are assorted.
The Census data provides demographic details and infrastructure
facilities; it doesn’t provide insights for social, economic and political
process and existing scenario in Kutch and situation of deprived and
marginalized sections of the society. The existing literature focus more on traditions, geographic
diversities and handicraft related descriptions.
In
fact, all these problems of Kutch were in existence since long but these were
aggravated by the natural disaster like the earthquake and the marginalized were
further marginalized with existing discriminating practices, inequity and
negligence of backward castes.
Overall Demography
Total population – Kutch and Gujarat
Total
population of Gujarat in 1991 was 4,12,09,582 while of Kutch was 12,62,507 and
of Bhachau and Rapar (1,14,759 and 1,50,517 respectively). The population of Kutch
in Gujarat was 3.06% and was ranked 15th in the State. Within Kutch,
Bhuj had the highest population followed by Rapar, while Bhachau was the fifth
in rank. The population of Bhachau and Rapar in Kutch was 9.08% and 11.92%
respectively.
Population in rural and urban areas of Kutch and
Gujarat
Total
rural population of Kutch in Gujarat is 3.23%; the district ranked 16th
in rural population of the State. Bhachau
stands 5th while Rapar stands 2nd among all Taluka of the
district. There are 10 towns in the district.
The total urban population of the district is 3,87,857 persons which is
2.72 per cent of the total urban population of the State.
The district ranks 11th in urban population among the
districts of the State. Gandhidham and Bhuj city has the maximum urban population;
Naliya town has the minimum urban population of 8,105. Bhachau stands sixth
while Rapar stands eighth among all the towns.
This
shows that Bhachau and Rapar have no significant pattern of habitation in rural
and urban areas in comparison to other areas of Kutch.
Population
sex-wise and sex ratio in rural population (number of females per 1,000 males)
– Kutch and Gujarat
In
Gujarat, the ratio was 934 while in Kutch it was 964 (which is more than the
State). The sex ratio of total
rural population was 987 while it was 915 of urban population of the district.
Among the talukas, Nakhatrana Taluka has the highest sex ratio of 1,029,
followed by Mundra Taluka 1,027 Mandvi Taluka 1,023 and Abdasa Taluka 1,004. The
overall sex ratio of the district is higher in rural areas than in the urban
areas. Rapar Taluka has the lowest sex ratio of 926 while Bhachau
has 988, ranks fifth among all rural Taluka. There is a narrow
difference between Gujarat and Rapar in this respect.
Geographic
area and density of population in Kutch and Gujarat
The
total geographic area of Gujarat is 1,96,024 sq. km. while of Kutch is 45,652
and 1,985 of Bhachau and 3,024 of Rapar Taluka. Out of total 884 inhabited villages, maximum number of villages i.e. 288 or 32.58 % are within the density range of 21 - 50 persons
per sq. km., 178 or 20.14 per cent villages within the range of 51-100 persons
per sq. km., 104 or 11.76 per cent villages within the range of 101 -200 persons
per sq. km., 198 villages recorded a low density up to 20 persons per sq. km.
whereas only 68 villages had a high density of more than 501 persons per sq. km.
Villages of Rapar and Bhachau fall into first (21-50 persons per sq. km.) and
second (51-100 persons per sq. km.) category respectively.
Proportion of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes of Kutch
and Gujarat
Scheduled
castes population of Kutch
district constitutes 4.91 per cent of the total SC population of the State.
Except 236 villages, all the villages in the district have SC population.
The
proportion of scheduled castes population to total population of the district is
11.90 per cent. This is higher than 7.41 per cent scheduled castes population of
the state as a whole.
Of the total rural and urban population of the district, the quantum of
scheduled castes population living in the rural areas is higher than urban areas
of the district (12.06 in rural areas and 11.53 per cent in urban). Rapar stands
2nd (12.60%) among all Taluka of Kutch while Bhachau ranks 5th
(9.41%) in regards to SC population in the district.
Scheduled
tribes population of Kutch was
87,723, which is only 1.42 per cent of the total ST population of the State. The
proportion of scheduled tribes population is only 6.95 per cent of the total
population of the district. Compared
to the State’s percentage of 14.92, the percentage for the district is low.
Out of total 884 villages, 326 villages or 36.88 percent have no ST
population. Rapar stands 3rd (6.35%) while Bhachau ranks 1st
(7.42%) among all the talukas in the district in regards to ST population to
total population. These two
talukas have higher proportion of ST population in comparison to the State’s
average.
Literacy rate in Kutch
The literacy rate for the whole
district is 52.75 during 1991 Census, which is lower than the State’s literacy
rate of 61.29. The male and female literacy rates are 64.26 and 40.89 respectively
in the district, which is both
lower than the State’s literacy rate of 73.13 and 48.61 respectively.
The male literacy rates are much
higher than the female literacy rates for both rural and urban areas as well as
for the State as a whole.
The literacy rate for rural
areas of the district is 44.85. The literacy rates for males and females are
56.88 and 42.82 respectively for
all the villages of the district. Among the talukas of the district, Nakhatrana
Taluka has the maximum literacy rate of 56.61. Out of total 9 talukas, 5
talukas have the higher literacy rates while 4 talukas have lower literacy rates
than the district’s literacy rate of rural area.
Ø
Rapar
Taluka has the lowest literacy rate of 30.06%. Bhachau with 37.57% of literacy stands 7th in rank
among all talukas of Kutch.
Ø
Both
the talukas have lower literacy rate than the State’s average.
Ø
Female literacy rate is
alarmingly lower than males in rural areas of both talukas (15.37% in Rapar and
23.82% I Bhachau).
Total workers and non-workers
The
total workforce (including main workers & marginal workers) form 36.28 per
cent of the total population of the district, against 40.23 per cent in the
State, which means that the workforce in Kutch is less than the State.
The
work participation rates for males and females at the district level are
respectively 51.68 and 20.30 per cent, which means that female working
participation rate is very low than the male working participation rate in the
workforce.
The percentage of non- workers to
total population of the district is 63.72 against 59.77 for the Gujarat State.
The proportion of non-workers to total population is higher in urban areas than
in the rural areas of the district. Total
workers to total population in Bhachau are 39.02% out of which 52.84% are males
and 21.85% are female. This means
that the male workers are more than double than female workers.
In compare to other talukas, Bhachau stands fifth in this regard. Total
workers to total population in Rapar are 37.94% out of which 51.32% are males
and 26.57% are female. Like
Bhachau, the male workers are more than double than female workers.
In compare to other talukas, Rapar stands seventh in this regard.
This shows that there are a large number of workers
who do not have enough work or employment; the female workers constitute only
one-fourth of total workforce and a tenth of main workers.
i.
Cultivators
– Bhachau and Rapar (43.63% and 39.41%), both has reported higher number of
cultivators that District (26.57%) and the State (33.37%).
This also means that more number of people cultivates land in compare to
the district and the State in these talukas.
ii.
Agricultural labourers
- Bhachau and Rapar (30.23% and 33.65%), both has reported higher number of
cultivators that District (25.85) and the State (22.92).
This also means that more number of people work as agricultural labourers
in compare to the district and the State in these talukas.
iii.
Livestock, forestry, fishing,
plantation and allied activities – In these
activities, the participation in Rapar (5.61) is marginally higher than the
District (5.26) but significantly higher than the State (2.40) while in Bhachau
(4.51), it is lower than the district but higher than the State, which reflects
the area specificity for work opportunities.
The participation of female in these activities is as low as 1 and 0.95
(Bhachau and Rapar respectively), which means males mainly perform these
activities.
iv.
Mining and quarrying
– Both Bhachau (0.19) and Rapar (0.082) has much lower percentage of these
workers than the District (0.94) and the State (0.42).
This confirms with the geographic location of these Taluka and
possibilities of these activities to be performed.
v.
Household industries
- Both Bhachau (1.72) and Rapar (2.00) has marginally lower percentage of these
workers than the District (2.13) but higher than the State (1.39).
Among these, female participation is much higher with 3.13 and 3.17 in
Bhachau and Rapar respectively. This
indicates that when there is lower participation in other sectors, the
house-based industry with higher female participation is observed.
vi.
Other services like
construction, trade & commerce, transport, storage and communications
– In all these activities, both Bhachau and Rapar Taluka have much lower
workforce in comparison to the District and the State.
This indicates lack of opportunities for development of these activities.
The statistics indicate that more
than a third of workforce is engaged in cultivation, about a third engaged in
agricultural labor and the rest is engaged in other activities, which is higher
than the State average, such as, forestry, fishing, and household industries,
which could mean that there is a lack of opportunities of very little
opportunities for getting work and earning wages or livelihood.
Availability
of different amenities – This category includes amenities
like education, medical, drinking water, post & telegraph, communications,
approach road and power supply.
i.
Education
– Both talukas have >97% facilities for education, much higher in
comparison to other talukas in the District.
Unfortunately, Rapar despite having good facility, shows very low
literacy rate and alarmingly low in female.
ii.
Medical
– The range of this facility is between 33 to 82 percent in the district in
different villages of different talukas. Bhachau
(65.22) stands third while Rapar (51.55) stands sixth.
iii.
Drinking water –
Other than Lakhpat and Mandavi taluka, all other Taluka reported villages having
facility of drinking water.
iv.
Post & telegraph
- The range of this facility is between 30 to 76 percent in the district in
different villages of different talukas. Bhachau
(65.22) stands fifth while Rapar (65.98) stands fourth.
Lakhpat is the lowest in range.
v.
Communications –
Other than Lakhpat (86.9), all other Taluka has this facility for >90%.
Bhachau stands third while Rapar stands sixth in this regard.
vi.
Approach road -
The range of this facility is between 36 to 88 percent in the district in
different villages of different talukas. Bhachau
(53.62) stands fourth while Rapar (38.14) stands eighth.
Lakhpat is the lowest in range.
vii.
Power supply
- Other than Lakhpat (80.95), all other Taluka has this facility for >90%.
Bhachau stands fifth while Rapar stands seventh in this regard.
Land use
Among other Taluka s
of Kutch, percentage of cultivable area to total area varies from 18 to 61.
Bhachau (58.10) stands second while Rapar (46.95) stands fifth in this
regard. Out of this cultivable
land, percentage of irrigated area varies between 2 to 22 and Bhachau has the
lowest among them and Rapar (4.34) is the second lowest.
This indicates that despite having more than half the cultivable land
of the total area, the irrigation facility is considerable low and thus the
participation in agriculture and agricultural labour is much higher.
