WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

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T.V. SEKHER - N. HATTI
survey of 96 young male or female members (those having at least one
child in the age group 0-6). Out of 96, 66 belong to Vokkaligas and the
remaining participants were from Scheduled Castes.
The son preference is strong among Vokkaligas; nearly 77 percent
of them want either one son or two sons (and no daughter). Only 18
percent of them consider that their ideal family comprised one son and
one daughter. More than four-fifth of them felt that daughters were
more expensive to bring up than sons and 71 percent were
apprehensive of the problems or difficulties associated with suitably
marrying off their daughters.
3.2. Salem district of Tamil Nadu
Salem district (see location map in Figure 1 in the introduction)
recorded the lowest child sex ratio in South India in 2001. This district
attracted considerable attention in 1990s for the prevalence of female
infanticide (George et al., 1992). Certain taluks in the district reported
shocking anomalies in juvenile sex ratio in 2001. A study carried out
based on available PHC (primary health centre) records confirms the
incidence of female infanticide in the districts of Salem, Dharmapuri
and Madurai (Chunkath and Athreya, 1997). The 2001 census
corroborates that the rampant practice of female infanticide in parts
of Tamil Nadu still exists, despite overall socioeconomic development.
In Salem district, the average household size is of 4.0, with a
literacy rate of 65 percent in 2001. The two major communities are
Vanniyars and Kongu Vellala Gounders. The Vanniyars originally formed a
fighting force of the Pallavas kings and hence came to be called as
padayachi (soldier). Their community cohesiveness is remarkable. Some
of them practice agriculture as their main occupation. The traditional
occupation of Vanniyar is oil pressing and oil selling. The nuclear
family is the most common form among households. Sons inherit
property and the eldest son gets a greater share. Daughters do not have
any right to the property unless they have no brothers. Vanniyars are
locally categorized as most backward caste (MBC) and the state
government has a reservation policy for them. The Kongu Vellalars are
mainly located in the Kongu region in western Tamil Nadu. Agriculture
is the traditional occupation of this community. The other economic
activities are animal husbandry, trade, industrial labour etc. They are
hardworking agriculturists and specialized in garden cultivation.