American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Available online at http://www.iasir.net ISSN (Print): 2328-3734, ISSN (Online): 2328-3696, ISSN (CD-ROM): 2328-3688 AIJRHASS is a refereed, indexed, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary and open access journal published by International Association of Scientific Innovation and Research (IASIR), USA (An Association Unifying the Sciences, Engineering, and Applied Research) A Geographical Analysis of Availability of Amenities in Scheduled Caste Households in India Dr. Jabir Hasan Khan*, Nisar Ahmed** and Shamshad*** *Associate Professor, ** Research Scholar, *** Research Scholar, Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202002, U.P., INDIA Abstract Spatial Variations in terms of drinking water, electricity, latrine, kitchen and bathroom facilities to the scheduled caste populations in the different states and union territories of India have been analyzed in this paper. The present study is based on secondary source of data obtained from Census of India (2011). The boundary of the state/ut has been taken as a unit of study. The study shows that the availability of drinking water in the scheduled caste population decreases from high in the western part to low in the eastern part of the country. There is also a declining trend in availability of electricity from west to east direction. Except some pockets in northern, western and north-eastern parts, the general condition of latrine is not good to the scheduled caste population of the country. The availability of kitchen facility is decreasing from all the sides towards the middle parts of the country. Moreover, there is also declining pattern of availability of bathroom facility from western parts towards eastern parts. Key Words: Schedule Caste Population, Drinking water, Electricity, Latrine, Kitchen, Bathroom, States/UTs I. Introduction The term basic amenities, refers to drinking water supply, sanitation, electricity and so on [1]. Availability of modern household amenities has a great significance in the human life because it is conventionally believed that housing conditions, availability of drinking water, sanitation facilities, etc. might contribute to the health improvement of the people and determine the quality of life of the society [2]. The absence of these facilities or their inadequate availability in an area or region is not only the outcome of demand-supply gap but also it has been due to the lack of financial aids, political interests, inefficiency of institutions etc. It is also being realized that key dependencies exist between water supply and sanitation and improvement in the overall human development [3-4]. According to Nayar, the factors which exert an impact on the health status of the population can possibly be delineated into three sets: (i) health factors which include medical intervention, (ii) health-promoting factors such as housing, water supply, sanitation and hygiene, (iii) non-health factors which include social and economic factors. The health-promoting factors such as housing conditions, availability of drinking water, sanitary facilities, etc, are much more required for health improvement among the population sometimes even more significantly than health services. Wherever humans gather, their waste also accumulates. Progress in sanitation and improved hygiene has greatly improved health, but many people still have no adequate means of disposing of their waste. This is a growing nuisance for heavily populated areas, carrying the risk of infectious disease, particularly to vulnerable groups such as the very young, the elderly and people suffering from diseases that lower their resistance. Poorly controlled waste also means daily exposure to an unpleasant environment. The buildup of faecal contamination in rivers and other waters is not just a human risk: other species are affected, threatening the ecological balance of the environment. According to Rigveda, verna system was in practice in ancient Hindu society and these vernas are Brahmins, Kshatryas, Vashyas and Sudras. The Sudras lie at the lowest rung of the caste system and are described as The Servant of Others. This classification of the society is basically functional and occupational in character [5] but now Sudras are named as Scheduled Caste by the Government of India Act, 1935. As per Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1936 read with Article 26(i) of the First Schedule to Government of India Act 1935, Scheduled Castes meant `such castes, races or tribes or groups within castes, races or tribes which appear to His Majesty in Council, to correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as `the depressed classes, as His Majesty in Council may specify. [6].The scheduled caste populations are the depressed classes, they are also AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 56
deprived from the basic amenities. Therefore, in the present paper, an attempt has been made to examine the interstate/ut variations in the patterns of availability of certain amenities of the scheduled caste population in India. II. Objective The present study is an attempt to analyze regional variations in respect of availability of drinking water, electricity, latrine, kitchen and bathroom facilities for scheduled caste population in the different states and union territories of India. III. Data and Methodology The present research work is entirely based on secondary sources of data collected from Census of India publications, 2011, New Delhi [7] In this study, a set of five indicators of infrastructure facilities like percentage of households of scheduled caste population having facilities of drinking water, electricity, latrine, kitchen inside and bathroom within the premises taken into account to determine their levels of development in respect of availability of these facilities in the states and union territories of India. In order to get spatial findings regarding the levels of developments in terms of drinking water, electricity, latrine, kitchen and bathroom, simple percentage technique is used. GIS-Arc view programme (Version 3.2a) has been applied to show the spatial patterns of these facilities for scheduled caste population among the states through maps. Due to proportionally very small size of the Union Territories, the cartographical representation is not made on maps for the UTs. However, their details in term of selected infrastructure facilities of scheduled caste population have been given in tables and examined in the descriptions. I. Study Area For the present study India as a whole is taken as the study area and the state/ union territories are taken as the unit. The country is comprised of twenty eight states and seven union territories. The country is comprised of twenty eight states and seven union territories. India has total geographical area of about 32,87,240 square kilometers (2.4 per cent of world s geographical area). It is bounded by the Himalayas in the north and Indian ocean in the south, surrounded by Pakistan and Afghanistan in the north-west, China, Bhutan and Nepal in the north, Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east. The north-south extension of the country is 3,214 kilometers and east-west expansion is 2,933 kilometers. The total land frontier is 15,200 kilometers and coast line is 7,516.5 kilometers. According to census of AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 57
2011 India, the second most populous country in the world had total population of 1210 million of which 68.84 per cent was rural and remaining 31.16 per cent was classified as urban. Population density of India is 382 persons per square kilometer. The general sex ratio, that is the number of females per thousand males, was 940 while in rural areas it was 947 and in urban areas 926.The literacy rate was 74 per cent. The percentage of literacy in rural and urban population was 68.9 per cent and 85 per cent respectively. Scheduled Castes are notified in 31 States/UTs of India. There are altogether 1241 individual ethnic groups and which are notified as Scheduled Castes in different States/UTs. India had 201.4 million scheduled caste populations, out of which 103.5 millions are males and 97.9 millions are females. As a whole the scheduled caste population constitutes 16.6 per cent (18.5 per cent rural & 12.6 per cent urban) of the total Indian population [8]. II. Results and Discussion Table 1 shows state/uts-wise percentage distribution of the facilities of drinking water, electricity, latrine, kitchen and bathroom for scheduled caste population in the country. Table 1: State/ Union Territory-wise percentage distribution of the facilities of drinking water, electricity, latrine, kitchen and bathroom to Scheduled Caste Population in India, 2011 India/State/UTs Drinking Water (within premises) Electricity Latrine (within premises) Kitchen (inside house) Bathroom (within premises) Jammu & Kashmir 48.24 90.80 23.33 56.76 23.07 Himachal Pradesh 46.81 95.62 62.73 75.86 57.83 Punjab 78.03 94.05 65.67 50.18 52.76 Chandigarh # 74.86 97.10 77.09 62.53 76.38 Uttarakhand 44.56 79.80 44.66 48.54 38.87 Haryana 60.67 83.98 55.23 43.02 48.95 NCT of Delhi # 68.23 98.43 77.81 65.59 75.19 Rajasthan 29.05 60.23 27.20 32.90 24.64 Uttar Pradesh 35.12 24.08 20.65 24.80 14.63 Bihar 31.22 9.77 10.37 14.17 4.14 Sikkim 50.44 90.28 82.95 67.56 54.35 Arunachal Pradesh - - - - - Nagaland - - - - - Manipur 12.99 65.55 88.74 88.09 23.00 Mizoram 44.37 81.49 95.16 79.42 61.52 Tripura 40.63 73.61 94.94 81.75 15.90 Meghalaya 33.87 68.66 70.27 75.41 40.34 Assam 51.12 39.50 66.47 74.51 25.53 West Bengal 32.99 41.49 48.12 51.64 15.05 Jharkhand 14.53 38.84 12.55 25.38 8.59 Odisha 14.81 34.84 13.16 44.69 7.20 Chhattisgarh 13.48 82.43 17.27 41.19 9.63 Madhya Pradesh 14.77 65.21 20.02 35.51 16.96 Gujarat 68.55 92.50 57.10 59.97 58.80 Daman & Diu # 79.80 98.38 75.01 85.46 80.21 Dadra & Nagar Haveli # 67.67 96.32 75.11 87.04 70.84 Maharashtra 52.80 79.76 44.67 61.36 55.33 Andhra Pradesh 33.08 88.45 33.41 29.84 33.09 Karnataka 26.49 85.06 31.50 79.26 56.19 Goa 76.32 90.39 75.60 85.69 65.82 Lakshadweep # - - - - - Kerala 60.32 86.37 86.33 88.83 57.19 Tamil Nadu 17.75 90.21 26.27 49.96 28.94 Puducherry # 55.69 94.88 31.90 48.43 35.96 A & N Islands # - - - - - INDIA 35.42 59.02 33.86 43.00 27.71 Source: Calculation is based on publication of Census of India, 2011, Data on Housing, Table H-Series Data Dissemination Wing, Office of the Registrar General, New Delhi. Note: # Union Territory _ Not Available (No Scheduled Caste Population). AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 58
Drinking Water It can be seen in Table 1 that there is a great variation in availability of drinking water among the states and union territories for scheduled caste population in the country. The percentage of availability of drinking water varies from 12.99 per cent in Manipur to 79.80 per cent in Daman & Diu. The entire range of variation is grouped into three categories of high (above 55.04 per cent), medium (33.95 per cent to 55.04 per cent) and low (below 33.95 per cent). Table 2: Availability of drinking water for scheduled caste population in India No. of Category Percentage Per cent of Total States/UTs High Above 55.04 10 32.26 Name of States/UTs Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, NCT of Delhi, Gujarat, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Goa, Kerala, Puducherry Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Medium 33.95 To 55.04 9 29.03 Maharashtra Rajasthan, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Low Below 33.95 12 38.71 Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu Total 31 100 - Source: Based on Table 1. An analysis of data given in Table 2 shows that five states, namely Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Goa and Kerala and fives union territories, namely Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar, Haveli and Puducherry fall in the high level (above 55.04 per cent) of availability of drinking water. Nearly, one third states/uts witnessed the high level of availability of drinking water for scheduled caste population in study area. Among these states only Punjab and Haryana form a region in the north-western part of the country and remaining three states namely, Gujarat, Goa and Kerala do not form any region. AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 59
There are nine states namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam and Maharashtra which have medium level (33.95 per cent to 55.04 per cent) accessibility of drinking water. The states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in the northern, and Mizoram, Tripura and Assam in the north-eastern constituted two remarkable regions in the country while Maharashtra and Sikkim do not share the boundary with adjacent states of same category to make any region. However, nearly thirty-nine per cent states come under low level (below 33.95 per cent) of availability of drinking water. All the states form an interconnected contiguous region running from north-western to south-eastern and from north-eastern to southern parts of the country excluding states of Meghalaya and Manipur. Analysis of the Figure 2 shows that the accessibility of drinking water for the scheduled caste population in the country is recorded of low and medium level while only few pockets of high level of availability of drinking water has been identified in the north-western and western parts of India. Electricity An examination of data given in Table 1 reveals that there is also great variation in respect of availability of electricity for scheduled caste population in the study area. The percentage of availability of electricity varies from 9.77 per cent in Bihar to 98.43 per cent in NCT of Delhi. The whole range may be categorized into three groups i.e. high (above 86.93 per cent), medium (62.63 per cent to 86.93 per cent) and low (below 62.63 per cent) as shown in Table 3. Table 3 depicts that more than forty per cent states i.e. eight states namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Gujarat, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and five union territories namely Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Puducherry come under high category (above 86.93 per cent) of electricity. Among these, the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in the north, states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the south-eastern and Gujarat in the western part make three identifiable regions in the country but Sikkim does not form any region. Table 3: Availability of electricity for scheduled caste population in India No. of States/ Category Percentage Per cent of Total UTs High Above 86.93 13 41.94 Name of States/ UTs Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Gujarat, Goa, Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry Uttarakhand, Haryana, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Medium 62.63 to 86.93 11 35.48 Karnataka, Kerala Low Below 62.63 7 22.58 Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha Total 31 100 - Source: Based on Table 1. Eleven states namely Uttarakhand, Haryana, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala come under medium level (62.63 per cent to 86.93 per cent) of availability of electricity for scheduled caste population in which the five states Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala in the central and southern, Uttarakhand and Haryana in the northern part, and Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura in the north-eastern parts also constituted three dominant regions in the country. Remaining seven states out of thirty one states and union territories having scheduled caste population fall in the low category (below 62.63 per cent) of availability of electricity. All these states form an interconnected long-linear region running from western Rajasthan to Assam over the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. The analysis of the Figure 3 exhibits that availability of electricity for scheduled caste population who are living in the Indo-Ganga plain experienced lower accessibility of electricity in comparison to Deccan Plateau and north mountainous regions in India. AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 60
Latrine The spatial variation in the availability of latrine facility for the scheduled caste population in different states and union territories can also be seen from Table 1, it is clear this table that percentage of availability of latrine in different states varies from 10.37 per cent in Bihar to 95.16 per cent in Mizoram. This range is categorized into high (above 65.64 per cent), medium (38.32 per cent to 65.64 per cent) and low (below 38.32 per cent) groups (see Table 4). Table 4: Availability of latrine facility for scheduled caste population in India No. of States/ Per cent of Category Percentage UTs states/uts High Above 65.64 13 41.94 Name of states/uts Punjab, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Goa, Kerala, NCT Delhi, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli Medium 38.32 to 65.64 6 19.35 Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Low Below 38.32 12 38.71 Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry Total 31 100 - Source: Based on Table 1. There are nine states namely, Punjab, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Goa and Kerala and four union territories namely, NCT Delhi, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli which have high level (above 65.64 per cent) of availability of latrine facility for scheduled caste population and This category constitutes more than forty per cent Indian states, in which, five states namely, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya form an outstanding region in the north-eastern India of high level of availability of latrine facility AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 61
for scheduled caste population while the remaining states of high level of availability of latrine facility do not form any region and they are scattered in the study area. The six states have medium level (38.32 per cent to 65.64 per cent) of availability of latrine within the premises and they are Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, In which, barring the West Bengal, the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana in the north part, and Gujarat and Maharashtra in the western part constitute two remarkable distinct regions in the country. In the low category (below 38.32 per cent) of availability of latrine within the premises of scheduled caste population, there are eleven states and one union territory, namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, in which, except the state Jammu & Kashmir, all the states form a big outstanding inter-connected contiguous region in the whole central and southern parts of the country. It means that except some pockets in north, west and north-eastern parts, latrine facility is not available for the scheduled caste population of the country. Kitchen Table 1 show that there is a great variation in availability of kitchen among the states and union territories of the country. The range of percentage in terms of availability of kitchen varies from 14.17 per cent in Bihar to 88.83 per cent in Kerala. The entire range can be grouped into high three categories like (above 69.29 per cent), medium (47.83 per cent to 69.29 per cent) and low (below 47.83 per cent) groups (see Table 5). Table 5 exhibits that nearly seventy one per cent states have high to medium level of availability of kitchen, which includes eleven states/union territories in each category. The states and union territories in the high category (above 69.29per cent) of availability of kitchen are Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 62
Assam, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Goa and Kerala. All these states excluding Himachal Pradesh form two distinct regions in north-eastern and south-western parts of India. Table 5: Availability of kitchen for SC population in India Category Percentage No. of States/ UTs Per cent of Total Name of States/UTs High Above 69.29 11 35.48 Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala Medium 47.83 to 69.29 11 35.48 Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, NCT of Delhi, Sikkim, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry Low Below 47.83 9 29.04 Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Total 31 100 - Source: Based on Table 1. Moreover, the states and union territories of the medium category (47.83 per cent to 69.29 per cent) of availability of kitchen are Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, NCT of Delhi, Sikkim, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry wherein Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Punjab in northern part, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the western part and West Bengal and Sikkim in the eastern part form three distinguished regions, while Tamil Nadu do not form any region. In the lower category (below 29.04per cent) of availability of kitchen there are nine states namely Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh and all these states constitute a dominant contiguous region in the whole central part of the country propelling from Rajasthan in the west to Odisha in the east. Thus, the availability of kitchen is decreasing from all the sides towards the middle part of the country. AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 63
Bathroom Table 1 also reveals that there is also a great variation in the availability of bathrooms among the scheduled caste population of different states and union territories. The data of availability of bathroom varies from 14.17 per cent in Bihar to 88.83 per cent in Kerala. The entire range of percentage is categorized into three groups i.e. high (above 51.46 per cent), medium (16.78 per cent to 51.46 per cent) and low (below 16.78 per cent) (see Table 6). The states and union territories in the high category (above51.46per cent) of bathroom facility are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi, Sikkim, Mizoram, Gujarat, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, and Kerala. The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala form a long linear remarkable region on the whole western fringe of the country, while Punjab and Himachal Pradesh form a region in the northern part, but, Sikkim and Mizoram do not form any region. Table 6: Availability of Bathroom for SC population in India Category Percentage No. of States/UTs Per cent of Total Name of States/UTs High Above 51.46 13 41.94 Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, NCT of Delhi, Sikkim, Mizoram, Gujarat, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala Medium 16.78 To 51.46 11 35.48 Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, PuduCherry Low Below 16.78 7 22.58 Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Total 31 100 - Source: Based on Table 1. AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 64
In the medium category (16.78 per cent To 51.46 per cent) of availability of bathrooms, there are ten states, namely, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Manipur, Meghalaya, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu and one union territory (Puducherry) and they constitute three distinct regions in north-western, north-eastern and southern parts of the country except Jammu & Kashmir. The seven states experienced the low level of (below16.78 per cent) availability of bathroom facility they are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Tripura. All these states form an outstanding region in the eastern part of the country except the state of Tripura in north-east. Analysis of the Figure 6 depicts that the pattern of availability of bathroom increases from low to medium and medium to high from eastern part towards the northern, western, southern, south-western parts of India. III. Conclusion and Suggestions The overall analysis of study reveals that the accessibility of drinking water for the scheduled caste population in the country is recorded of low and medium level while only few pockets of high level of availability of drinking water has been identified in the north-western and western parts of India. The availability of electricity for scheduled caste population who are living in the Indo-Ganga plain experienced lower accessibility of electricity in comparison to Deccan Plateau and north mountainous regions in India. As far as, accessibility latrine facility for scheduled caste population is concerned, except some pockets in north, west and north-eastern parts, latrine facility is not available for the scheduled caste population of the country because in all the states scheduled caste population availed lower level of latrine facility. The availability of kitchen facility within the premises of scheduled caste populations households is decreasing from all the sides towards the middle part of the country. The pattern of availability of bathroom facility scheduled caste population increases from low to medium and medium to high from eastern part towards the northern, western, southern, south-western parts of India. The following measures may be adopted for minimizing the inter-states/ut variations in respect of availability of household amenities in scheduled caste households in India. 1. Proper implementation and regular monitoring of schemes and programmes launched by Government of India for better housing and poverty alleviation. 2. Decentralization of urban civic amenities and facilities in the areas where these facilities are least availed by scheduled caste population. 3. Devolution of big industrial units in the form of growth poles in the interior backward areas so that the scheduled caste population can have an easy access to the modern household amenities and assets by earning income. In other words, economic activities will provide employment opportunities to the scheduled caste population. So, government should have to provide incentives to them to perform the economic activities like, poultry, sericulture, silviculture, piggery, fisheries, animal husbandry, etc. It will enhance their income level, and surely, it will also pave the way of their accessibility in household amenities and facilities. IV. References [1] Shaw, A., Basic Amenities in Urban India: Analysis at State and Town Level, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, WPS No. 616 Available at: http://www.iimcal.ac.in/res/upd/wps%20616.pdf. 2007. [2] Nayar, K. R., Housing Amenities and Health Improvement: Some Findings, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 32, No. 22 (May 31 - Jun. 6, 1997), pp. 1275-1279. 1997. [3] Dreze, I. and M. Murthi, Fertility, Education and Development: Evidence from India, Population and Development Review, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 33-63. 2001. [4] Gupta, I. and A. Mitra, Basic Amenities and Health in Urban India, National Medical Journal of India, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 242-244. 2002. [5] Mohammad, M., Caste and Primary Occupations: A Geographical Analysis, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, p. 17. 1987. [6] Chatterjee, S.K. Scheduled Castes in India Vol.1, Gyan Prakashan, New Delhi, pp. 162. 1996. [7] Census of India, Data Dissemination Wing, Office of the Registrar General, Table- H series: India, New Delhi, 2011. [8] Census of India, Primary Census Abstract, Total Population, Series-1, Table A-5, Ministry of Home Affairs, Office of the Registrar General, Govt. of India, New Delhi, 2011. AIJRHASS 13-329; 2013, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 65