A Comparative analysis of Education and Health Status of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe female child in the Northern Himalayan District of Jammu, India

Good health is the indispensable intent of any developmental aftermath. Health status is inclined by biological, social and cultural factors that are highly inter-related. These factors affect male and female in a different way. Girl child health of Scheduled caste and scheduled tribes can be examined in terms of multiple indicators which vary in geography, socio-economic standing and culture. The qualitative study highlights the existing obstacles and enables to Scheduled castes/ Scheduled tribes adolescent girls entering into and completing education. Multiple barriers identified to disadvantaged caste adolescent girls into retention in education in this individual, family, community and school levels. The present paper attempts to find out the comparative analysis of Education and Health scenario in the three selected places of Jammu i.e. Gujjar Nagar and Bahu Fort, Chowadhi and Sehora so that an understanding about the female child among Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population will be made so as to brought it in public domain for policy makers and planners to improve their plight in a more better way


Introduction
Caste system, a structure of social stratification in antique India and still continues to upset the present day India society. The ancient India civilization was not only stratified but also demarcated into different Varnas and Jatis, which were resoluted by the catastrophe of birth (Anand 2005). Caste system with its many inflexibility is accredited to the writings of Manu (Prvthama 1989).There were three ranks in the ancient Rigvedic society. The occupation of all the three was well divided. ( Gopal and Harilal 1995).The Pursha Sukta contains a saga about the origin of the four fold social structure.Here all the four ranks are mentioned together. (Shamria 1985). In the later Vedic period the class stratification grew more rigid.
The members of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Tribes were measured as lesser human beings and consequently were deprived of the right to be human. They were the recipients of severe social disabilities, slavery and indignity. Carnage is day to day phenomena and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are facing indignities and inequity due to various historical, social and economic reasons.( Narula 2008) Scheduled Castes (henceforth SCs) from the rehearsal of untouchability as most of them practice low and menial occupations.Scheduled Tribes (henceforth STs) are recognized on the basis of certain criteria such as primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation and universal backwardness (Singh, 1994).There is dire need for commitment to uplift the weaker sections and SCs and STs in the country and is depicted in the Constitution:"The State shall promote with special care educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation" (Article 46). The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in its report stated that "police resort to various machinations to discourage Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from registering cases, to dilute the seriousness of the violence, to shield the accused persons from arrest and prosecution and, in some cases, the police themselves inflict violence (NHRC 2005). The query of entrance to water for the untouchables continues to be a foundation of discord and sometimes violent conflict. The commissioner reported a case from Gujarat in 1974 which involved the murder of two untouchables and the injury of a number of others(SC&ST report 1973) The caste system shaped such a civilization which had untouchables, who were distant and unshadowables. Furthermore, the Hindu society had in its fold various criminal tribes as well as several primitive tribes (Lokhande 1982). The era after the 1970's has seen a marked expansion in the literature on SC and ST population, particularly in relation to their economic, educational and health status. Studies also abound on the schemes and programmes meant for the upliftment of these communities, and more recently on the implications of globalisation on SCs and STs5, and on the condition of the communities from the human rights perspective ( Thorat, 2002). It is a well-established fact that human deprivation and inequalities in general; particularly in the case of SCs and STs are not merely the result of economic factors; rather they go hand in hand with social and political factors rooted in poor governance (UNDP, 2002).
However , the fact remains even the most efficient of public health system cannot achieve the best possible results unless they are supported welfare input we started with, food availability and nutritional status of populations, drinking water supply, housing, transport, education, employment and gender inequality. However, in some countries girls remain disadvantaged e.g. by their social and economic status they further marginalized. The present study is focused on a contextualised understanding of the field situation of SCs and STs, on four major aspects of livelihood, health, education and participation in socio-economic programme which together reflect the quality life of SC and ST communities in different villages of the Northern Himalayan District of Jammu. This study is thus, conducted, to better understand the socio and cultural factors and living standard of SC/ST girls to drop out of school and also aims to study the vulnerability of health conditions affecting by their normal living conditions Study Area Jammu district lies between 32°27'N to 33°50'N latitude to 75°19'E to 75°20'E longitudes. The city is well connected by roads with the parts of J&K as well as other cities.

Status of SC/ST girl child in Jammu and Kashmir
Health status is influenced by biological, social and cultural factors that are highly inter-related. These factors affect male and female differently. Girl child health of Scheduled caste and scheduled tribes can be examined in terms of multiple indicators which vary in geography, socio-economic standing and culture. To adequately improve the health of SC and ST Child in Jammu and Kashmir multiple dimensions of well being must be analysed in relation to India's health averages and also in comparative to male in Jammu and Kashmir. There are various determinants of SC and ST Child's health. Some of them are Social conditions, domestic violence and malnutrition. The factors of poverty, cultural incoherence, parental illiteracy, suitable teacher etc affect the education level of both scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Objectives
➢ To access the status of health of SC and ST girl child. ➢ To access the level of education among the SC and ST children below the age of 14 years.

Data Base and Methodology
Primary data is collected from field survey and well framed questionnaires on the basis of desired information about education and health of female child in deprived classes of thee society. We have selected three sites for the survey; first from the municipal limits of Jammu city i.e. Gujjar Nagar and Bahu Fort, Second from the sub-urb of Jammu city i.e Chowadhi and Third from the rural area of the Jammu Tehsil i.e Sehora village. We have randomly selected the 80 households of both the communities from each site and conducted survey. After survey, the collected data is compiled and suitable methods are applied to get the desired results as follows. Source: Field Survey 2019

Fig 1. Percentage of Children getting Education
The    Source: Field Survey 2019

Fig 2. Reasons for discontinuation of study (in %age)
The above table 2 shows the percentage of reasons of discontinuation for study of non school going children. It is seen that maximum children who are not going to the school are due to the least preference to girl education and economic problem also. 86.6% of girls in the Sehora are not going to school due to the least preference to female education and 60% of the girls in Bahu Fort and Gujjar nagar are not going to school due to economic problem and same is the case with Sehora where 73.3% of girls are not getting education because of economic problems and there are some girls also (13.3%) in Gujjar Nagar and Bahu fort who are physically handicapped and are not able to go to school.

Fig 4. Percentage of distance covered by children to reach the School in (mtrs)
The above table 4 shows the percentage of distance covered by children to reach the school. In Gujjar Nagar and Bahu fort 73.6% SC cover 100mtrs and 53.3% of ST children cover about 200 mtrs distance to reach the school. In Chowadhi 53.3% of SC and 73.3% of ST children cover only 100mtrs of distance to reach the school and only 6.6 % of SC students go more than 500 mtrs to school but in Sehora 40% SC cover distance of 100 and 200 mtrs and 13.3% more than 500 mtrs and in ST caste groups 53.3% students cover 100 mtrs distance, 26.6% cover 200 mtrs, 13.6% cover 500 mtrs and 6.6% covers more than 500 mtrs distance.

Fig.9 Percentage of distance covered to dispose the waste in (mtrs)
The above table 9 shows the percentage of distance covered to dispose the waste from the households, it shows that in all the surveyed areas maximum of waste is dispose in between 50mtr of distance and minimum of waste is dispose off more than 150mtrs by SC caste groups. In ST caste groups maximum of waste is dispose off nearby to houses of the distance of 50mts and minimum of the waste is disposed above 150mtrs the main reason behind this may b the accessibility to the area where the waste is disposed off and also the availability of the open areas.

Fig 10.Percentage of main source of water in the households
The table 10-shows the percentage of main source of water in the households and it clear that in Gujjar Nagar and Chowadhi maximum households of both the caste groups uses govt hand pump and PHE connection where as in Sehora for both the caste groups the main source of water is personal hand pump and PHE connection. Source: Field Survey 2019

Fig 11. Percentage of water borne diseases in the households
The above 11 table shows the percentage of water borne disease in the households of SC and ST caste groups, it is clear from the table that maximum number of child suffers from cholera and the least found water borne disease is dysentery. In Sehora about 66.6% of SC and 73.3% of ST suffer from Cholera and but on Sehora the least found disease is Typhoid 6.6% but in Chowadhi the most found disease is Cholera in ST caste groups in Gujjar Nagar and Bahu Fort the percentage of water borne disease is less comparatively. Source: Field Survey 2019

Fig 12 Percentage of Place of Treatment of diseases
The table 12 gives the information about the place of treatment preferred by the households of the surveyed areas and the information shows that in Gujjar Nagar and Bahu Fort maximum number of SC and ST prefer to go Govt. hospital (60-70%) and rest of prefer private hpspital (20-30%). Same is the case for Chowadhi where maximum households go for Govt hospital and others for private hospital but Sehora with Govt. hospital about 30% of SC and ST also prefer to go to Hakims for checkups.  ➢ The number of school going girls are maximum in Gujjar Nagar & Bahu Fort and Chowadhi as far as Sehora is concerned the number of school going girls is comparatively less. ➢ The study shows that the main reason for the discontinuation from the study is least preference to female education in ST households and economic problems in SC households and about 13.3% of girls are physically handicapped due to which they are not going to school. ➢ In SC household's equal number of girls is going to private school as well as Govt. School for study while in ST households the concentration of girls going to Govt School is more as compared to the private schools and this is due to the economic problem of these households and also migration among some ST's in Sehora. ➢ In both the caste groups, girls are not going far off to study. They are studying only within 100mtrs to 500mtrs of distance from home and usually go to school by foot and small number of girls about 11.6% goes to school by private vehicle and 13.6% by School bus.
Besides this, due to low level of income in ST and SC households girls are not getting proper diet they are not getting the milk and other fruits and vegetables daily due to which their health is getting affected. Girls also forced to do domestic works due to which they are neglecting from their study. Gender issue is also responsible for it because boys are seeking more attention than girls in these caste groups. On the whole we can say that due to low living standard, least preference to girl's health and education, economic problems, social and cultural backwardness etc may affect the status of education and health in ST and SC households in Gujjar Nagar , Bahufort , Chowadhi and Sehora.