THE PEOPLE

POPULATION.

[The account of Population, Languages, Religion, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes up to page 200 is based upon the analysis given in Yeotmal District Census Handbook, 1961.]

THE POPULATION OF YEOTMAL DISTRICT, according to the Census of 1961 is 1,098,470 (males 557,010; females 541,460) and is distributed over its five talukas as stated below:—

TABLE No. 1

POPULATION ACCORDING TO TALUKAS, YEOTMAL DISTRICT, 1961 [For 1971 Census statistics see Appendix III.].

Growth of Population,1881—1901.

As the above table shows the total population of 1,098,470 spread over the district area of 5,219.0 sq. miles (13,517.2 km.²) works out at about 210 persons to a sq. mile. Of these, 959,945 or 87.39 per cent are spread over the rural, area of 5,164.4 sq. miles (13,375.8 km.²) and the remaining 138,528 or 12.61 per cent are spread over the urban area of 54.6 sq. miles (141.4 km.²).

About the growth of population in the district up to 1901, old Gazetteer, Yeotmal district describes, "A census of the District has been taken on four occasions, in 1867 (a provincial census), 1881, 1891 and 1901. The density of population in the five taluks in 1867 varied from 67 to 97 per square mile. It increased fairly steadily till 1891, when it varied from 98 to 147. During the next ten years the population of Darwha taluk increased a little, that of the other three taluks of the old Wun District decreased slightly, and that of Pusad decreased seriously. In 1901 the density of population in the four taluks varied from 96 to 148, but that of Pusad was only 86. There were famines in 1896 and 1900, felt most keenly in Pusad, which were certainly the chief cause of this falling off. It appears probable that much of the decrease in Pusad took the form of emigration to the adjoining taluks of Darwha and Mangrul. Both the latter show an increase in 1901, Mangrul a large increase; and the number of people given as immigrants from neighbouring Berar Districts is in both unusually large. Upon the whole period 1867 to 1901 the density of population increased by 14 per square mile in Pusad, by 58 per square mile in Darwha, and by intermediate amounts in the other taluks. The population of the towns increased even when that of the whole taluks diminished. In 1867 none of the present towns had as much as 5,000 population. In 1881 Pusad had just over 5,000, and the others had between 4,000 and 4,500. In 1891 Yeotmal took the lead with 6,464, and each of the others had about 5,000. In 1901 Yeotmal had more than 10,000, Pusad nearly 7,000, Wun and Digras more than 6,000, and Darwha more than 5,000. Umarkhed was perhaps the chief town in this part of Berar before the assignment. In 1891 it had 6,414 inhabitants. By 1901 there were only 4,570. While the population has increased, the average number of persons per house has steadily decreased. In the old Wun District the number was 5½ in 1881, 5 in 1891, and 4½ in 1901. In Basim District, of which Pusad taluk formed an important part, it was 6 in 1881, 5½ in 1891, and 5 in 1901. The birth-rate for the whole of Berar was given as 41 per thousand for the decade 1881 to 1891, and 38 per thousand for the decade 1891 to 1901. The death-rate was 35 in the former period and 43 in the latter. The figures for the particular years show that the variation was largely due to the famines. The death-rate was considerably swelled by a large immigration of people in a very weak condition in the famines". [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Yeotmal District, Vol. A; 1908, pp. 42-43.]

The population of the district and decade variation rates since 1901 are as follows:—

During the decade 1901-11 the population of the district increased by 25.53 per cent. It was the highest percentage increase ever recorded in the district and was perhaps due to recovery from the effects of severe famines in the earlier decade when people had migrated to neighbouring areas in very large numbers. In the following decade the influenza epidemic of 1918-19 took a heavy toll of life which is revealed by the small increase of 3.39 per cent in the population of the district. Recovery from influenza epidemic and fairly good agricultural seasons in the decade 1921—31 contributed to an increase of the population by 14.46 per cent. In the following decades 1931—41 and 1941—51 the population increased by 3.55 and 4.98 per cent which were comparatively very low rates. In the last decade it has increased by 17.86 per cent.

The 1951—61 decade variation for the district and each of the talukas is as follows:—

There are wide differences in the decade rates of variation of the different talukas. Darvha taluka has recorded the highest increase (20.8 per cent) while Wani taluka had the lowest increase (12.1 per cent) over 1951. Darvha, Pusad and Kelapur talukas are above the district average and Yavatmal and Wani talukas are below that average.

The net percentage increase since 1901. 1921 and 1951 for the district and the State has been as follows:—

The district growth rates have always been lower than the Maharastra averages. A distinct feature of variation in population of the district is that it has slowed down in the post 1921 period. The rapid growth before 1921 was perhaps partly due to the opening up of forest areas and immigration into the district in order to take up land previously uncultivated. This has stopped in the post 1921 period. Malarious climate had perhaps kept population growth in cheek. Things have improved considerably in the 1951—61 decade because of the malaria eradication and other public health campaigns.

Urban Population.

The number of towns, the rate of decade variation in urban population and the percentage of urban population to total population at each Census since 1901 for the district and the State are as follows: —

The district is much less urbanised than others in the Maharastra State. The proportion of urban population had slightly decreased in 1911 both for the district and the State. Since then it has steadily increased up to 1961. The proportion of urban population for Western Maharastra has slightly declined but in the last decade it did not decline in the district. The number of towns in the district has not changed since 1931.

The following table gives the urban population of the district at each census and its variation since 1901 besides the variation in population for each town in the district.

TABLE No. 2

URBAN POPULATION AND ITS VARIATION SINCE 1901 BESIDES THE VARIATION IN URBAN POPULATION FOR EACH TOWN IN

YEOTMAL DISTRICT

TABLE No. 2—contd.

Yavatmal is an important town. Its population has increased by 332.3 per cent over 1901 and 164.5 per cent over 1921. The population of Darwha, Digras, Pusad and Warn towns taken together has also increased by 162.9 per cent since 1901.

Rural Population.

The distribution of population by size of villages for the district and the State in 1961 is as follows.—

Villages with less than 1,000 population are 84.65 per cent of the total number of villages in the district and have 58.86 per cent of the rural population. Villages with more than 1,000 population are 15.35 per cent of the total number of villages and account for 41.14 per cent of the rural population.

The area, number of inhabited villages, total rural population, average population per inhabited village and the number of inhabited villages per 100 square miles of rural area in 1961 are shown below for the State, district and each taluka separately.

Average population per inhabited village in 1961 is 589 in the district against 792 in Maharastra. The average population per village within the district varies from 484 in Wani taluka to 735 in Pusad taluka. The number of inhabited villages per 100 square miles is 32 in the district and 31 in Maharastra. In the western talukas there are large villages away from each other while in the central and eastern talukas there are smaller villages situated close to each other.

The following table shows the number of inhabited villages and their population for each class of village in Yeotmal district.

TABLE No. 3

NUMBER OF INHABITED VILLAGES AND THEIR POPULATION FOR EACH CLASS OF VILLAGE IN YEOTMAL DISTRICT IN 1961.

TABLE No. 3—contd.

continued..

Migration.

The 1961 Census showed the proportions of population enumerated at places of birth and other places as shown below: —

54.51 per cent of the population was enumerated at place of birth. This percentage for males is 63.54 but for females it is only 45.21. The difference is due to women married outside their places of birth. This movement of females on marriage appears to be mostly within the district. Even among persons born in other districts and outside Maharastra, females have higher proportions.

The sex ratios in the district, population in 1961 by five-year age-groups for total, rural and urban areas are as follows:—

The rural-urban differentials of sex ratios are less in younger and older age-groups, though rural sex ratio is almost always higher than urban sex ratio. These differences are more significant in adult age-groups, among which the age-group 20—24 has the highest ratio. The high sex ratio in the age-group 20—24 may be due to the movement of young adult males in search of jobs or for higher education outside the district. The balance is nearly attained in older age-groups. The sudden drop in the sex ratio for age-group 55—59 for total, rural and urban population may also be partly due to misreporting of ages of women of that group in the higher age-group.

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