WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

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S. AGRAWAL - S. UNISA
other two villages these facilities are available within a range of 5 to 10
kilometres. There is a bus stop in all the villages except one and all of
them are electrified, with electricity used for domestic, agricultural and
other purposes. All the villages also enjoy favourable irrigation facilities.
The sex ratios in the study villages are quite high, ranging from
112.6 to 126.6, but the figures for child sex ratio are even more disturbing,
extending from 107.5 to 142.5 boys per 100 girls (Table 1).
Literacy rates in these five villages are also low, particularly for women
whose literacy rates range from 43 to 47 percent. The wide gender
disparity in literacy rates observed in all villages reflects the picture of
low women’s status in this area.
Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics of population of the five study
villages in 2001, Jind district, Haryana
Village Village Village Village Village All
Characteristics 1 2 3 4 5 villages
Total population 2269 4616 5861 3202 1987 17935
Sex ratio 116.7 112.6 124.0 121.4 126.6 119.8
Percent population 18.1 16.9 14.8 15.7 15.6 16.0
in 0-6 age group
Sex ratio age 0-6 128.3 107.5 142.5 114.5 125.5 123.3
Literacy rate 67.5 60.7 62.6 59.0 60.1 61.8
Gender disparity in 55.5 63.9 62.8 63.6 57.9 61.7
literacy
Notes: The gender disparity index has been computed as the ratio of female-to-male literacy
multiplied by 100, which indicates male-female differential in literacy level.
Source: Primary Census Abstract, 2001, Jind district, Haryana.
3. Results and Discussion
At the outset, it is important to know the background characteristics
of the respondents. They primarily consist of middle-aged women
(33.8 years ± 7.6 SD). The mean age at betrothal is 14 years, but rises
to 16 for the consummation of the marriage. The mean number of
children ever born per woman is of 4.5 while that for surviving children
is of 3.7. Respondents are mostly Hindus: the caste composition
shows that a higher percentage of women are from high or mediumranking
caste (49 percent), with scheduled castes and other backward
castes amounting each for about 25 percent of the total.
More than 70 percent of respondents are illiterate and only seven
percent of respondents reported high school education. More than half
of them are currently working and mostly in the agriculture. With
regard to women’s exposure to mass media, a very small proportion of