Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

CHAPTER 2
ASSESSING DEVELOPMENT: SOME NON- INCOME DIMENSIONS
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is different; the increase is most likely to occur among the
young old (60-69) population; around 55 per cent of the
old age population belong to the category of ‘young old’
(60-69), 30-35 per cent belong to the category of ‘old old’
(70-79), and only 10-15 per cent belong to oldest old (80+)
population (Figure 2.9).
The issue of ageing has been highlighted as a problem for
Kerala’s social and economic development rather than
presented as an achievement. The changing age structure
has resulted in a decrease in old age support ratio (number
of working age population (15-59) per old age person (60+).
In 1961, there were 9 working age persons to support an
old age person. This number declined to 7 in 1991 and
is projected to fall to 4 by the year 2021. However, the
age structure changes brought about by the demographic
transition have also thrown up demographic dividends,
which is discussed later.
The gender dimension of the old age population is of
paramount importance in relation to the drawing up of
an ageing policy. Since women generally live longer
than males, approximately 5 years more in the case of
Kerala, it reflects on the living arrangements that need
to be made for older persons. Appropriate policies and
institutional arrangements are necessary to protect the
well-being of the older women. The overall sex ratio
among the older population was 1,224 (number of
females per 1,000 males) in 2001. However, when we
look at the oldest old (80+), there are 1,529 females per
1,000 males. This is likely to increase in the future due to
improvement in the longevity among females relative to
males. It also implies that the size of widowhood among
females would be larger than that of widowerhood
among males in old age.
Nonetheless, it is important to view the phenomenon
of ageing as an achievement also. An increase in life
expectancy means that the living conditions of people
have improved and that the present generation is
healthier. Also, it is important to note that most old
people, particularly in the category of ‘young old’ are
not dependent and most of them do work. It may be
true that the morbidity pattern has changed to more of
chronic diseases as revealed by the 52nd Round of the
NSSO. However, such change is unlikely to have any
major effect on health care spending, provided planning
and allocation are done in an efficient manner. In fact,
the health care cost would merely be shifted from the
young and adults to the older age groups as the health
of the young and adult population has improved. Ageing
is a 'problem' only in the sense that it is an inevitable
concomitant of improved levels of human development
and must, therefore, be seen by society as a contingency
that can and must be dealt with humanely.
3. Education
It is now generally perceived that the most basic problem
of access to schooling has largely been overcome in Kerala.
Table 2.9 presents the proportion of literate persons in the
population for three Census years in the recent period.
A comparison with all-India figures clearly shows that the
difference between male and female achievement levels is
much narrower in Kerala than in India as a whole.
Table 2.9: Proportion of Literate Persons
in Population, Kerala and India
Year Persons Males Females
Kerala India Kerala India Kerala India
1981 81.6 43.6 87.7 56.4 75.7 29.8
1991 89.8 52.2 93.6 64.1 86.1 39.3
2001 90.9 65.2 94.2 75.6 87.9 54.0
Source: Census Reports, various years.
There is, however, some inter-district variation in the
literacy rates, which will be examined in Chapter 4.
While evidence from other States shows that
participation in education is a consistently increasing
function of the economic status of the household, it is
no longer so in Kerala. Table 2.10 from Tilak (2002),
which is based on the NCAER survey conducted in
1993-94, presents the enrolment rates of children in
the age group 6-14, grouped into four income classes
in rural India. The last column gives the ratio of the
enrolment rates for children in the highest income
groups to the same in the lowest groups. It is clear that
Kerala and Himachal Pradesh have the lowest ratio,
which is close to unity.
Pupil-teacher ratio (number of students per teacher) is
one of the indicators used for measuring the quality
of school education. The pupil-teacher ratio in Kerala
was 31 in 1991 and declined to 28 in 2001. The
improvement in the ratio is due largely to decline in
the school-going population as a consequence of the
demographic transition in the State. The ratio does not
vary significantly (coefficient of variation of only 7 per
cent) among the districts in Kerala. The proportion of
female teachers is as high as 68 per cent in Kerala;
however, the ratio is below 60 per cent in the districts