Abstract
Odisha (previously known as Orissa), being socio-economically backward but culturally sound, is one of the important states in Eastern India. Out of 30 districts 9 are considered as tribal districts (according to Location Quotient value) and of the total population (41,947,358 in 2011) a significant share (22.1%) goes to tribal people (8,145,081in 2011). This tribal group of Odisha has special significance because they are one of the most backward and geographically isolated communities. That’s why their life style and economy is confined to the direct utilization of natural resources, pre-agricultural level of technology and specific indigenous type of work. But now with the emergence of industry and market economy, the age-old relationship between tribes and nature has disturbed. Keeping this in backdrop, the present study tried to explore the changing scenario of socio-economic condition in the tribal areas of Odisha. In this regard, various socio-economic indicators have been analyzed and compared for representing district-level patterns of quality of life and finding out the variation among the Primitive tribal households in the study area. In addition, Mayurbhanj has also been taken as a case study to represent the socio-economic condition and quality of life at the block level. It may be pointed out in this context that out of 30 districts in Odisha, according to Location Quotient value Mayurbhanj is the highest tribal concentrated district. The overall objective of this study is to obtain a better understanding of disparities and variations in socio-economic status in Odisha as well as in Mayurbhanj and also find out some remedial measures to overcome the problems to bring the Primitive tribal community in the main stream of the society. Maps have been prepared on the above-mentioned indicators based on secondary data using Arc-GIS 9.3. From the analysis of the health-related indicators it is clear from the analysis that the quality of life in the district has improved remarkably over the years but socio-economic disparities in terms of caste and gender continue to be a major problem mostly in tribal and backward areas.
Highlights
The tribal1 societies in India are considered as the weakest sections of the population in terms of common socio-economic and demographic factors such as poverty, illiteracy, lack of developmental facilities and adequate primary health facilities (Thakur et al, 1991; Basu, 1994)
We gave emphasis on: (i) education as it is an important component of human development which indicates a person’s productivity and income-earning potential by imparting basic as well as specialised skills (DHDR, Mayurbhanj 2011), (ii) health as the healthcare system in this state has improved remarkably over the years, communicable and nutrition related diseases continue to be a major problem mostly in the tribal and backward areas (State of the Environment Report, Orissa 2007), and (iii) economy as economic growth is a necessary condition for human development and it is one of the major components to satisfy the basic needs of life
An attempt has been made to investigate the present socio-economic conditions and spatial disparity at block levels in terms of caste and gender in Mayurbhanj district, as this district has the second highest proportion of Scheduled Tribes (ST) (56.6 per cent) and highest concentration of schedule tribe population, and it is the only district in Orissa, where more than 70% (73.42%) out of school children are STs (Fig. 2)
Summary
The tribal societies in India are considered as the weakest sections of the population in terms of common socio-economic and demographic factors such as poverty, illiteracy, lack of developmental facilities and adequate primary health facilities (Thakur et al, 1991; Basu, 1994). An attempt has been made to investigate the present socio-economic conditions and spatial disparity at block levels in terms of caste and gender in Mayurbhanj district, as this district has the second highest proportion of STs (56.6 per cent) and highest concentration of schedule tribe population (highest Location Quotient value), and it is the only district in Orissa, where more than 70% (73.42%) out of school children are STs (Fig. 2). This study includes: concentration of tribes in Mayurbhanj and Orissa; analysis of present socio-economic conditions at block level; intra-regional disparities among different communities and gender; identification of probable factors responsible for such variations, analysis of the dominant economic activity and its level in different blocks; and remedial measures required to overcome the problems of socio economic as well as human development. Diagrams are prepared with the help of Microsoft Office Excel v.2007
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