GENERAL ECONOMIC SURVEY

POPULATION

Of the total population 9,42,329 are females and 7,69,635 males. As the census figures of 1881 reveal, during the last 70 years, this tendency appears to have gained momentum. (1881 census: Females 5,24,037, Males 4,73,053). This tendency is contrary to the general trend in the population pattern of the whole of India, where the ratio of males to females comes to about 1,000:947 (1957).

The process of urbanisation has been distinctly slow. Towns with a population of more than 25,000 are very few. Practically no town worth the name has sprung up during the last seventy years. The literacy standard of the district is not very high. It is less than 20 per cent. i.e. 3,03,551 persons out of the total population of 17,11,964 are literate. The percentage of literacy is much more amongst the males than amongst females (2,20,847 males as against 82,704 females are literate). From this point of view, the productive potentialities and the employment pattern assume importance. The following figure would give a broad picture of the same. Of the total number of 11,89,662 persons depending upon agriculture as their means of livelihood, 2,71,533 were self-supporting, 6,94,465 non-earning dependents and 2,23,664 earning dependents. Of the total number of 5,22,302 persons relying upon non-agricultural occupations such as industry, trade, transport, professions and liberal arts for their maintenance, 1,14,918, were self-supporting 3,56,055 non-earning dependents and 51,329 earning dependents. These figures bring out the following facts: nearly five out of every six persons live in the rural areas; nearly five out of every six self-supporting persons live in rural areas; nearly four out of every five self-supporting persons who live in rural areas are agriculturists; more than half the net produce of the district is contributed by agriculture, animal husbandry and allied activities; and the approximate proportion of persons following industry, professions and liberal arts, trade and transport to agriculture (10) is 4, 3 and 3 respectively. This reveals the backward nature of the economy of the district. The occupational pattern has of course undergone some change during the last seventy years but most of the increase in population has been absorbed in agriculture.

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