Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

In the Name of the Community 173
Table 8.4
Sex Ratio in Arunachal Pradesh: 1961–2001
All Population S.T. Population
Year Total Rural Urban Total Rural Urban
1961 894 894 – 1013 1013 –
1971 861 881 457 1007 1009 765
1981 862 881 629 1005 1010 803
1991 859 880 728 998 1004 921
2001 893 914 819 1003 1000 1020
Source: Census of India: Various Years.
Note: In 1961 there was no urban centre in the state.
Arunachal declined by 18 points during 1991–2001, which is the same as
the fall at the all-India level. 3 It is also significant that in 1991, the CSR
among the ST population was 976, which was lower than that for all social
groups. At a disaggregated level, only Papum Pare, Lower Subansiri and
Upper Siang (that is, three of the 13 districts in Arunachal) have experienced
an increase in CSR during the last decade (Table 8.5). Descriptively
speaking, the decline in the overall sex ratio among the ST population
during 1961–91 can be explained in terms of gender gaps in education
and income: women are less literate and have less command over resources
than men, and probably because of gender inequalities in terms of access
to emerging opportunities, the sex ratio among the ST population
declined during a period of rapid economic growth and transformation. 4
However, the low child sex ratio in the tribal population cannot be explained
in terms of differential literacy or income. The only plausible
explanation, then, can be in terms of discrimination against female children.
Many studies, however, point out that discrimination against female
children is relatively less severe in predominantly tribal societies. The
low and falling CSR in Arunachal Pradesh thus needs further investigation.
It also explains the difficulties in arriving at conclusions regarding the
condition of women on the basis of a few summary measures, in a state
characterised by an extraordinary level of socio-cultural diversity as well
as unevenness in the process of development.
In 2001, the Female Work Participation Rate (FWPR) in Arunachal
Pradesh was 36.54 compared to the national average of 25.63. Urban FWPR
has registered a steady increase in the state even as the overall FWPR has
consistently declined in the past decades, although the decline of 0.95