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International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2013 410
ISSN 2250-3153
Note: Percentages are to the total population of the age-group.
Source: Calculated from Census of India, 2001, Statement C2-ST.
Sex ratio for both scheduled castes and scheduled tribes has been declining as in the general population.
But the ratio has been better among tribals compared to the scheduled castes as well as general population. The
sex ratio during 1961 and 1991 has declined from 957 to 922 for scheduled castes from 987 to 922 for
scheduled tribes and from 941 to 927 for the total population. The mean age at marriage for the scheduled castes
and tribes has been lower than that for the total population
Employment Status
The census of 2001 has enumerated a large number of children and teen-aged youth of the scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes as workers as well as students. A total of 276734 children and youth are enumerated as main
workers and 696173 as marginal workers among scheduled castes in the age-group 5-19 years attending some
educational institution. Among them 199910 males and 76284 females are main workers and 444364 males and
251809 females are marginal workers enumerated in the census of 2001. Of these working student population,
84 percent of the main workers and 95 percent of the marginal workers are rural residents. This condition is at
the back of many problems like heavy dropout and difficulty in coping with the demands of the educational
system.
So also, among scheduled tribe children and teen-aged in the age-group 5-19 years, 174495 main
workers and 643007 marginal workers are attending some educational institution. Of these 110323 males and
64172 females are main workers and 367868 males and 275139 females are marginal workers.
Of the main workers among scheduled tribe youth of this age-group, 164784 (94 percent) are rural
residents attending educational institutions and 9711 (6 percent) urban residents. Among the marginal workers
attending some educational institution, 623192 (97 percent) are rural residents and 19815 (3 percent) urban.
Combining work and education is common among both rural and urban scheduled tribe children and more so in
villages
These tables cannot be interpreted as evidence of SC and ST young workers Attending educational
institutions. The situation is not so simple. For, a large proportion of scheduled tribe children and youth come
under the category of marginal workers. An interesting analysis of this group by their main non-economic
function as students, household activities, dependent, and others shows a very small percentage as students and
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