An overview of Bangalore Rural District

Bangalore Rural District is one of the 25 districts in Karnataka. It was formed in 1986, when Bangalore district was divided into Bangalore Rural and Bangalore (Urban). Presently in Bangalore Rural district, there are 2 divisions, 8 Talukas, 35 Hoblis (cluster of villages), 1713 inhabited and 177 uninhabited villages, 9 towns, and 229 Gram Panchayats.

Population

Proximity to the city of Bangalore has its own impact on the district, with a considerable daily floating population. The rural people are mostly agriculturists with their other occupations serving only as subsidiary to agriculture. The eastern borders of the district are largely influenced by the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu. According to the 1991 census, the total population of the district is, 1,673,194 i.e. 860,231 males and 812,963 females with a population density of 309 persons per sq. km. Bangalore Rural district has 22.5% of its population belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe. Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are the three main religions in the district with a sizeable population following each of these religions.

Education and literacy

As per the 1991 census, only 50.17% of the total population in the district is literate, (of whom 61.5% are males, and only 38.5% are females). Prior to the establishment of the British system of education, primary education was imparted in indigenous schools called the Grama Pathashalas or village elementary schools. The Education Department was made a separate unit as early as 1866, and placed under the Director of Public Instruction. Though Primary Education was transferred in 1931 to the local bodies like District Boards and Municipalities, it was resumed by the Government in 1941. After the States Reorganisation in 1956, the term primary education underwent a change in its connotation, to mean four years of primary and four years of middle school. However in the current scenario, it refers to an integrated course of seven years. There are 1462 primary schools in Bangalore Rural district, with 64,979 children between the age of 0-14 enrolled to the schools. As against the existing number of primary schools, there are only 162 high schools in the district.

Occupation

Though agricultural activities have largely predominated the district, the current trend includes more daily wage occupations, as a result of the increasing influence of Bangalore city. Proximity to the city has provided easy access to a daily market for milk, eggs, vegetables, and fruits. The district is not industrially very well developed, though there is ample scope for the development of middle and large-scale industries. Majority of the people living in this region are small farmers who grow mainly vegetables and pulses. Of the total population, 37% are main workers, 5% are marginal workers while approximately 57% are non-workers. Close to 28% of the working population are women, majority of whom are marginal workers. Women today are employed as cleaners (safai karmacharees), for agarbathi/ beedi-rolling, filature units, dairy farms, construction work, domestic work, etc. besides working as agricultural labourers. There are a total of 55,000 child labourers in the four talukas of Ramanagaram, Channapatna, Magadi and Kanakapura talukas of Bangalore Rural district, employed in different sectors such as sericulture, agriculture, beedi-rolling, garages, hotels, some processes of toy making, rag picking, coir factories, sheep breeding, tile factories, brick-kilns, tailor shops, tea shops and at construction sites.

Industries

As mentioned earlier, Bangalore Rural district is essentially an agricultural district but it has sufficient scope for industrialisation, dairy development and sericulture. The district is endowed with agricultural and horticultural crops such as ragi, rice, groundnut, sugarcane, castor, grapes, mulberry, etc. There are adequate infrastructural facilities such as transport and communications, banking, credit, and marketing. Though the region is not rich in mineral resources, its non-metallic mineral resources are utilised for bricks, tiles, and stoneware manufacture. For many years now, weaving has also been a major occupation for a large section of the population. The soil and such climatic conditions are congenial for the cultivation of mulberry, rearing of silkworms, and production of silk, besides other agro-based industries.

Some statistics regarding sericulture in Bangalore Rural district 13

• Area under mulberry (km²) 213
• Chawki Rearing centres 219
• Cocoon Production (tonnes) 1605
• Total Cocoon Production(MT) 19,997
• New Mulberry varieties 111
• Sericulture talukas 8
• Sericulture families (SC) 2,118
• Sericulture families (ST) 44,152
• Govt silk farms 10
• Govt cocoon markets 8
• Govt silk filatures nil
• Reelers 4,618
• Charaka units 2,698
• Cottag basin units 110
• Filature basin units 10,994