THE PEOPLE

POPULATION

According to 1961 Census the population of Sangli district is 12,30,716 or 371 per square mile. Of this 6,28,754 are males and 6,01,962 are females. Hindus form the largest section representing 84.49 per cent of the total population. Muslims come next, representing 6.17 per cent of the population. Buddhists, Jains, Christians and others follow in that order representing 4.57, 3.93 and 0.82 per cent of the total population. Whereas Hindus and Buddhists are more numerous in rural areas than in urban areas, Muslims and Christians are more numerous in urban areas. Persons belonging to Scheduled Castes number 1,02,080 (or 8.29 per cent of the total population), of whom 52,062 are males and 50,018 are females. Of these 87.57 per cent people are the residents of the rural areas. The Scheduled Tribes are also found in the rural areas. They account only for a small percentage (0.05) of the district population.

Livelihood Pattern.

Of the total population of 12,30,716 souls in the district, 5,31,478 are workers. [For the definition of worker— See Census of India, Vol. X, 1961, Maharastra p. 3.] (m. 3,36,707; f. 1,94,771) Of these 2,09,477 males and 1,43,241 females work as cultivators, 39,154 males and 33,045 females work as agricultural labourers, 2,564 males and 307 females work in Mining, Quarrying, Live-stock, Forestry, Fishing. Hunting, Plantations, Orchards, and allied activities, 21,713 males and 10,001 females are engaged in household industry, 14,077 males and 843 females in manufacturing, 4,047 males and 425 females in construction, 13,768 males and 1,698 females in Trade and Transport, 5,759 males and 94 females in Transport, Storage and Communications and 26,148 males and 5,117 females in other services. Of the non-workers 2,92,047 are males and 4,07,191 are females.

The proportion of cultivators to the total population in the district is very high—66.37 per cent—against that for the whole State which stands at 46.11 per cent. The same for agricultural labourers is 13.58 as against the State proportion of 23.80 per cent. The ratio between cultivators and agricultural labourers is 5:1. In 1951 cultivators and agricultural labourers (including earning dependents), constituted 71.55 per cent and 7.73 per cent of the total workers, respectively. For 1961, the corresponding figures are 66.37 per cent and 13.58 per cent. The increase in the proportion of agricultural labourers in 1961 over that of 1951 may be partly due to the increase in the area under irrigation and sugarcane in the decade. It is also likely that of the total number of persons engaged both as cultivators and agricultural labourers in 1961, more persons might have returned agricultural labour as their principal occupation than in 1951 [Census Handbook, Sangli, 1961.].

Migration.

According to the 1961 Census, out of the total population of 12,30,716 (m. 6,28,754; f. 6,01,962) 7,64,375 person (m. 4,75,497; f. 2,88,878) or 62.16 per cent were born at the places of enumeration, 3,00,606 (m. 92,048; f. 2,08,558) or 24.45 per cent were born elsewhere in the district and the rest i.e., 1,64,721 (m. 60,795; f. 1,03,926) or 13.39 per cent were born outside the district but were enumerated within the district while the census was being taken. The following table gives the proportion of population enumerated at places of birth and other places to the total population as per the 1961 Census: —

TABLE No. 1

PROPORTION OF POPULATION AT PLACES OF BIRTH, SANGLI

Of those born outside Sangli district, 9.13 per cent were bora in Maharastra and 4.26 per cent out of Maharastra.

The table indicates that the proportion of females born at places of enumeration is only 48.04 per cent against 75.68 per cent that of males to total population. The difference is due to women married at places other than their places of birth. Two-thirds of this movement of females on marriage appears to be within the district and one-third outside the district. As the district is on the State boundary the volume of inter-State migration of females is as much as 5.05 per cent.

The census data according to the sex-ratios in urban and rural areas of the district indicate that the rural sex-ratio is higher than urban sex-ratio except in the age-groups 55—59 and 60 and over. These differences are more pronounced in adult age-groups among which the age-group 20—24 has the highest ratio. The rural sex-ratio is very high in this age-group compared to the corresponding ratio for urban areas. The high sex-ratios for age-groups 20—24 and 25—29 in urban, rural and total population is due to the movement of males in these age-groups outside the district in search of employment and/or for higher education. The balance in sex-ratios is attained in the old age-group, due partly to the return of the migrants to their usual places of residence after retirement from jobs and services.

Data on the percentage distribution of male population by economic activity shows that the percentage of workers in cultivation is higher for those born at the place of enumeration. The percentage of agricultural labourers is higher among the people born outside. It was found that the migrants were engaged more in non-agricultural sectors.

Seasonal Out-Migration.

Besides the migration for more or less long periods, there is also a net seasonal out-migration from the district. Small landholders and agricultural labourers move temporarily to the nearby sugarcane growing areas in Kolhapur and Solapur districts. This seasonal out-migration is mainly from Khanapur and Walva talukas. Some movement also takes place within the district and mainly to Miraj taluka. The net seasonal out-migration may be estimated between 15 and 20 thousands. The movement is mostly of males as could be seen from the following table in which differences in the sex-ratios for the district and its talukas for the houseless population as on 1st October, 1960 and census population as on 1st March, 1961, are given: —

TABLE No. 2

HOUSELESS POPULATION IN SANGLI DISTRICT

TABLE No. 2—contd.

* From District Census Handbook, Sangli, 1961, p. 53.

Urban and Rural Population.

Sangli district is predominantly rural in character. In 1961 there were six towns and 526 villages in the district. Towns, as defined by 1961 Census, are places which either have a municipality or cantonment or have been treated as towns because they have (a) a population of over 5,000; and (b) 75 per cent or more of male workers engaged in non-agricultural occupations. This definition obviously declassifies as many as 21 towns from the 1951 list of towns and shows a drop of 32.93 per cent in urban population over the 1951 Census. There is, however, a net growth in urban population of the district to the extent of 102.52 per cent over that of 1901.

The two most important towns in the district are Sangli and Miraj, each having a population of 73,838 and 53,345, respectively in 1961. The rest of the towns arranged in the order of their population are: Uran-Islampur 20,817; Tasganv 16,649; Atsa 14,390; and Vita 13,391. The number of towns, the rate of decade variation in the urban population and the percentage of urban population to total population at each census since 1901 for the district are as follows: —

TABLE No. 3

VARIATION IN URBAN POPULATION (1901 TO 1961) IN SANGLI DISTRICT

The rural areas comprising 526 villages occupy 3,206.2 square miles (8360.67 km²) of the district with a population of 28,391,157. Since 1901 they show considerable variation in population, the rates of variation never following a uniform trend as could be seen from the table given below. The urban population of the district had grown faster in proportion to the total during the period from 1901 to 1961, against the rural population which increased at a slower rate than the increase in the total population. The percentage of rural population has, therefore, gradually decreased over the period except for 1961 when it shows a steep rise. This is due to the declassification of towns as already explained above.

TABLE No. 4

VARIATION IN RURAL POPULATION (1901 TO 1961) SANGLI DISTRICT

Displaced Persons.

After the Partition of India in 1947 a number of persons left Pakistan and migrated into the different parts of India with a view to settling there. The following tabular statements give the population statistics regarding, (1) Displaced Persons, (2) Area, Houses and Population, (3) Civil Condition by Age, (4) Language, (5) Religion, (6) Population by Taluka, (7) Urban Area, Houses, and Inmates, and (8) Rural Area, Houses and Inmates.

TABLE No. 5

DISPLACED PERSONS

* Persons from East Pakistan.

TABLE No. 6

AREA, HOUSES AND POPULATION (1951 AND 1961) DISTRICT SANGLI

*Inhabited villages.

TABLE No. 7

CIVIL CONDITIONS BY AGE PERIODS (ALL COMMUNITIES) SANGLI, 1961

TABLE No. 8

LANGUAGE (MOTHER-TONGUE), SANGLI DISTRICT

TABLE No. 9

POPULATION BY RELIGION OF SANGLI DISTRICT, 1961

TABLE No. 10

POPULATION BY TALUKA FROM 1951 TO 1961

TABLE No. 11

URBAN AREA, HOUSES AND INMATES, DISTRICT SANGLI

TABLE No. 12

RURAL AREA, HOUSES AND INMATES, 1961, SANGLI DISTRICT

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