CENSUS OF INDIA 1981

Part X-B

SERIES 10

KERALA

TOWN SURVEY REPORT

MUVATTUPUZHA

B. T. PILLAI
Joint Director of Census Operations
KERALA
 CONTENTS

Page

Foreward (v)

Preface (vii)

Acknowledgements (ix)
Chapter Introduction

Chapter II History of growth of tne town 9

Chapter 1II Amenities and Services-History of growth and present position 13

Chapter IV Economic life of the Town 26

Chapter V Ethnic and ,clecteJ ~ocio·Jemographic characteristics of the population 43

Chapter VI Migration and Settlement of families 59

Chapter Vll Neighbourhood Pattern 63

Chapter VlU Family life in the Town 64

Chapter IX Housing and material culture 68
Chapter X Slums, blighted and other areas with substandard living conditiom 74
Chapter XI Organisation of Power and Prestige 76
ChaI,Jter Xll Leisure and recreatlon, Social Participation, Social awarene,~, Religion and Crime 78

Chapter XIII Linkages and continua 83

Chapter XIV Conclusion 87

Appendix Type of Households-Kolenda Paulin\ clas:;ification 91
Appendix U TabJ~ 1 tu 40 92

iii
 FOREWORD

Apart from the decennial enumeration of population, the

Indian Census is steeped in the tradition of undertaking a variety of
studies of topical interest. In fact, the publications brought out in
connection with the earlier censuses contained veritable mines of in-
formation on racial, culturaL linguistic and a number of other aspects
of ljfe of the people of this country. With the advent of freedom,
however, the scope and dimension of these special studies had to be
restructured in a manner that would provide the basic feedbacks on
the processes of development taking place in different spheres of
life of the people especially under planned development.

Thus, in connection with the 1961 Census, a massive pro-

gramme was launched infer-alia to conduct socia-economic survey
of about 500 villages selected from different parts of the country.
The main objective of this study was to know the way of life of
the people living in Indian villages which accounteLl [or S2 per cent
of the total population as per the 1961 Census. Thefl~ was, how-
ever, an imperative need to extend the area of the study to urban
centres as well. to provide a complete coverage of the people living
in uivcrse socjo-ccollomjc conditions. It was with t his objective
in vi~w, alldllary ~tudies Ull towns Wl.:rc launched as part of the
social studies prognuHllle· in cunnc,;:ctioll with the 1971 Census.

The programme of sucia} stlldies taken up in connection

with the 1971 Cellsus, was continued without any major change at
the 19~ 1 CensLls as well. A study on In.-tuitional rural based han(1i-
crafts was, howt::ver, added as a new item under the sod al study
projects of the 19~ I Census. For the conduct of urban study. 64
small and medium towns were selected from different parts of the
country following the criteria such as (a) size, (b) demographic fea-
tures. (c) functional characteristics, (d) specific industry or occu-
pation dominating the economy, (e) location, (0 concentration of
different castes and communities, and (g) other social and cultural
phenomenon like temple town. health resort etc.

The research design, tools for data collection and formats for
data tabulation and report writing required for urban studies were
originally formulated by Dr. B. K. Roy Burman, the then Deputy
Registrar General. Social Studies Division. His successor,
Dr. N. G. Nag took considerable pains to revise all the formats to
v
make them more comprehensi\ e. Dr. K. P. Ittaman, the present
Deputy Registrar General heading Social Studies Division, coordi-
nated these studies at different levels as well as rendered necessary
guidance to the Directorates of Censns Operations for their success-
ful consummation Sri 1\1. K. Jain, Senior Research Officer with
the able assistance of Sri R. K. Mehta, Investigator did a commen-
dable job in scrutinising the reports and communicating the com-
ments thereon to the Directorates. I am grateful to all of them.

The present report is the out-come of a study on Muvat-

tupuzha town undertaken by the Directorate of Census Operations,
Kerala. I am indebted to Sri B. T. Pillai, Joint Director and his
colleagues in the Census Directorate for their painstaking efforts in
bringing out this report.

New Delhi, V. S. VERMA,

1st of June, 1988. Registrar General, India.

vi
 PREFACE

1t is a practice by the Census Organisation to take up several

anci11ary studies after the main Census Operations. One such pro-
ject is the study of selected towns. Tn Kerala 5 towns were studied
in 1971 Census as part of the all India project and it was decided
to undertake the study of 3 towns in 1981. Accordingly, Muvattu-
puzha, Gl1ruvayur and Nedumangad towns were selected for study
on various considerations.

Besides making lise of the 19R 1 Censlls data the scheme

of town study involves the collection of detailed information on
different charac;teristlcs of the town in general through a town
schedule from various offices, institutions, organisations and jndi-
viduals and the collection of demographic. socia-economic and
cultural data relating to the people through household schedules
from sample households selected from different parts of the town.
In Muvattupuzha the household schedule was canvassed in 225
sample households. The information on neighbourhood was
collected from only 50 of these sample households. The study of
Muvattupuzha town was conducted during 1984-85 and this report
is based on that study.

This study was initiated by Sri S. P. Grover. Deputy Director

and· the field work and major part of tnhulation was done under
his snpervision. He left on transfer ~trter preparing the first report
of some chapters. Thereafter, it was Sri K. Gopinathan, Assistant
Director who completed the report by writing the remaining chapters
and editing the other chapters. The final report was also prepared
hy him incorporating the suggestions offered hy the Social Studies
Division of Registrar General's Office. It is with genuine pleasure
that I acknowledge the services of these officers especially
Sri K. Gopinathan, Assistant Director who worked with a sense
of persona] responsibility in hringing out this report. He deserves
the credit for this publication. The services of a hand of dedicated
members of staff of my office mainly associated with this work are
thank:fully acknowledged and their names are given separately.
Among them, the services of Smt. N. Radha Bai, Statistical
Assistant in connection with tabulation is to be specially mentioned.
vii
 I am also grateful to Sri V. S. Verma. Registrar General,
India for the guidance and directions given to me in bringing out
this publication.

I am also grateful to Dr. K. P. Ittaman, Deputy Registrar

General and his co11eagues in the Social Studies Division for scru-
tinising the report and tables and offering valuable suggestions in
finalising the report.

I wish to p]ace on record the help and cooperation extended

by Sri P. T. Mathew and Sri P. C. Rajan, MUnicipal Commissioner,
Muvattupuzha and their colleagues for the successful conduct of the
study. I am also thankful to the organisations and individuals in
the town who snpplied useful information and to the members of
the sample households for their cooperation while canvassing the
household schedules.

Trivandrum, B. T. PILLAI
30-12-]988. JoinT Director of Census Operations,
KERALA

viii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Canvassing of Schedules
(a) Town Schedule
Sri. R. Devarajan Investi(ator

(b) Household Schedule

1. Sri P. Venu Statistical Assista"nt
2. Sri Babu Philip Stl(iliiiical Assi~tant

Tabulation of data
1. Smt. N. Radha bai Statfstical Assistant
2. Smt. L. Retna bai sfatisticaf As;r~ant
3. Smt. 1. A. Maria Clara m'l!~tnfa[ Assistilnt
4. Smt. G. Kamala bai Statiltical Assisfant
5. Sri N. Iiajagopalan Nair ~iati;tiCai Ass"isfailt
6. Smt. J. Suseela Devi Computor
7. Sri S. Jayaram eonipulor
8. Smt. A. Krishnakumari C6mputor
9. Sri Albert Thomas A"'ssistartt Compiler
Maps and Sketches
, ~

1. Sri S. Krishna pitl3.i Senior Artist

2. Sri M.T. Pillai Artist

3. Sri A. Sadasivan At:hari Dt'lfftshlan
4. Sri V. Thulaseedharan Ora-rtsinan
Cover design

Sri N. V6nu Nair Artist

Xeroxin·g

Sri S. Rajas~khara Panicker Seoidr Gestetner-Operator

Typing
1. Smt. E.C. Philomina sg&Jr' st~clgripiiei
2. Smt. C. Sarojini Amma U.D. Clerk

3. Sri S. Sasidharan Nair L.D. Clerk

Printing
Sri. M. P. Raghunadhan Printing Inspector

ix:
2- 19 RGIfNDf88
 MUVATTUPUZHA MUNICIPAL TOWN
(A NOTIONAL MAl')

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'.'-.- .....
\.

_._ MIINICIPAL eOUIIlAAY

- - ....R06OUNOA'"
- NAJ09 ROAnS
- W!OII ROAI)S
~ RiveR

>
•
I
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Muvattupuzba, a small municipal town, is the head-
quarters of Muvattupuzha taluk in Ernakulam district.
Three rivers viz. Kothamangalam, Kaliyar and. ThOOu-
pUzha meet here to form the Muvattupuzha river
which gives the town its name. The town is situated
about 209 kilometres north of Trivandrum, the state
capital, on the Main Central Road to Angamaly and
43 kilometres east of Cochin, the district headquarters.
1.2. The ruins of a fortress of the Vadakkumkur
Rajas are the only historic remains in the town. Being
the production centre of lemon grass oil and a market
centre of hill produce, the town is also a key com-
munication centre with three state highways viz. the
Main Central (M.C.) Road, the Kothamangalam-Thrip-
punithura Road and the Muvattupuzha-Thodupuzha-
Punalur Road, passing through it. The Muvattupuzha
bridge in this town built in 1914 is one of the oldest
concrete bridges in the state. This bridge has with-
stood the flow of ~onstant and heavy traffic all these
years.
heights ranging from 30 to- 62 metres mainly in the
northern, eastern and so-uthern portions. Most of
the low lying areas upto 20 metres above the mean sea
level surrounding the town are paddy fields.
1.6. The climate of the town more or less repre-
sents the equatorial conditions. Like other parts of
the district and state, the town has four seasons viz.
dry weather from December to February, hot weather
from March to May, south-west monsoon from June
to September and the retreating or north-east monsoon
from October to November.
1.7. Though there is no observatory in the town.
the nearest one at Kottayam is only 38 kilometres
away from the town and, therefore, the temperature
and rainfall recorded there may relate to Muvattu-
puzha town as well. The monthly average temperature
data for 5 years viz. 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1983
recorded at Kottayam are. given below:

1.3. Portions of Velloorkunnam, Muvattupuzha and Table 1.1

Marady villages are included within the limits of the
present Muvattupuzha municipal town. Kavumkara, MONTHLY AVERAGE OF TEMPERATURE FOR 1978,
Velloorkunnam, VazhappiIly (pmtion) and Kadathy 1979 AND 1981 TO 1983 AT KOTTAYAM
(portion) karas of Velloorkunnam village, Randar
(portion) and Muvattupuzha (portion) karas of Muvat- Maximum Minimum
tupuzha village, Peringazha (portion), Ramamangalam Months (cC) (0C)
(portion) and Marady north (portion) karas of Marady
villages constitute the Muvattupuzha municipal 2 3
town with an extent of 13.18 sq. kilometres. The
population of the town according to 1981 Census is January 32.6 23.4
25,313 persons with 12.,784 males and 12,529 females.
February 33.3 24.3
1.4. Except for the congested commercial areas March 34.4 24.0
concentrated along the Main Central Road in the
April 34.8 24.1
vicinity of Bus stand and Muvattupuzha bridge and
Kothamangalam-Thrippunithura road, the town has May 34.3 23.9
mainly a rural outlook and setting. There is no re- June 31.4 22.9
serve forest in the town though some of the hilly areas
around the town are covered with rubber and teak July 30.9 23.0
plantations. August 30.7 22.9
September 31.2 23.4
Physical features, dirnate and rainfan October 31.7 23.6
1.5. With reference to the height from the mean sea November 31.3 23.1
level. the land is divided into lowland, midland and
highland. The region which lies below 25 feet above December 31.8 23.5
the mean sea level (M.S.L.) is classified as lOWland, the
region which lies between 25 feet and 250 feet above
the mean sea level is classified as midland and the 1.8. The mean maximuDl temperature varies from
remaining region which is covered by forest and 30.7 in August to 34.8 in April and mean minimum
mountains is called highland. Muvattupuzha town temperature ranges between 22.9 in August and
lies in the midland region. The town is located at an 24.3 in February. The town thus enjoys a moderate
altitude of 24 metres above mean sea level and is climate without considerable variation between mini-
mostly undulating with a few scattered low tops of mum and maximum temperature.
 1.9. The annual average minfall is 3.457 mm. and
the average number of rainy days per annum. IS
145.5 days. Monthly and annual rainfall data for
S years is given in the following table:
MONT~Y.l~AINFALL AND NU~ti OF ~'1N ~~;~s)
,,,,, ,. " bUtuNG'FMt~RS A.
.:r-::.;f"'~' "i'
heavy rains during the two monsoon pc~Dds i!l !he
year and a modemte climate.. The mam. culnvatlOn
is paddy. Tapioca is also cultlYated. BesIdes, cocoa·
nut trees and plaintains also grow in abundance on
the' banks af the three rivers and other low lying areas.
Cwnrp,on trees found in ot~er pa~s of the state like
Table 1.2 jact,'''tnango and other frUIt beanng trees are found
everywhere in this town as well.
o:rr~,
1.12. As there is no forest ar,ea, 110 wild animals a:t;c
!'.' (C 1)-:.. " • /', \ ,~~'!

Ypll' found' here. Jackals, rabbits and wild cats:1iowever,

-~-----"""\ may be fouud neaf the rivulets. and paddy fields or ip
Month ~-1980 1981~ 1982 1983 the hides of the buslles. PoisOnous reptif~s art( also
2 3 4 5, 6 stated to be fouild 'in 'these hideouts,' .. '
1 . t .,.

J~n_uary (a) q.O D.!). 0,.0 0.0 0.0 Fondional areas

(b)
1.1;3~ ~.e town. is cij.ar,acterised by an undulating
February
~,' H -1'... '1;'
(a)
(13)
0.0 29.4
"2"
3Q.4\
"t, '.
0.6 tQ~.gl;ap.kv: No a~~ Itave been specifically, demir·
catedl'~{l[ tbe use, of residential. commercial, adminis·
March (a) 0.0 37.2 83.5 43.9 trAtive,' {nduslfiAi al\d t;<iucational punmses. How·
(b) 1. 7, 4 exei,' by proce&S of t;yqlution rather than deliberate
i
panqi~, WI,tp, q~ 1;11<; tQwn are possessing 'the cbarac·
(a) 66.6 75,.0 122.4 41.4 27.6
""prj) tejjf,Y~S. 01 nN;~nt, f~ti(}nal ~r.eas s-!lch. as (1). ~dthi~·
(b) 4 8 1 5 l strf!tjv~: (,2). comwC{rcml, (3) mdustnal, (4) r~~ei1tiaI
apJt GS) lWicult~ral. .
May
,",:.,",
(a) 109.6
',~
111 .. 2,
r(1
,
185.3
1.,
240.8
._ ~'" .. 9,} .. 2!
.
q,i,
(al
;
loll
821.5
5
326.5 (/) AdmilJiS'tra[ive area
June 79~·7, 879S 1,1)7.9
(b) 20 25 29 27 19 1.14. The administrative offices and other related
July (a) 415.7 87qA 435.5 470.9 469.0 aXU!!J1iti!!.s. ar~ tbe ma.in attraction of the fo~n 'from
(b) 21 30 18 24 20 ,~cy early time.s., MOst of the administratIve offices
ar~ locat~d in ward 12 (Sivankunnu). Though s()me of
August (a) 332,6 4~.3 49?,2, 3~p; 461.8
t~. GQ.~ecmrttent offices are, located in wafd· 11 and
$I f4 (9' , Ii' . 19' 23
a feY! in ot~r wards, strictly speaking warii 12' is tbe
September fa) 35(l.9 lOO.7 586.0 66.1 524.7 mtljQr.adrnjnistrati've area. " .
:I}', :.
(b) '14' 7 19 5, 20
October (a) 290.4 415.9 203.4 230.8 99.0 (i'l Comllwcim·
,.. area
(b) 14 17 11 11 8 1115. ¥ar~1\4 Jlaz3\1r, Stadi~m and Sree Narayana
21.5,.5 D:Jlarma '~npalflng, ~I1gham (S,N.D.P.) High School
November Ca) 299.4 263.8 123.9 ,, Wilfflt at;' ~~ c;om.I1J,er~i\l1;cum7r~sidential: waT~. 'T~e
(b)) '15 13 6 8
commercIal areas are concentrated along the Mam
December Ca) 100.4 30.2 31.4 11.8 60.7 Ce.:tttrAl (M.G.), ~qad and Kothamangillm.T.rippuni.
(b)' 3 2 4 1 7 thji~ Rp~. ~d o~lter link.roads. Th~ restrictio-ns'im·
po~~ qY,' tb..e t~wgraphy' lias. resulted in a' . n'lSbOil
. (~) Rainfall i~ ~m. (b) Number of rainy days. dej'~()p»t and I:!a} di~Qurage.d 'fl'ie cbncentr~t¥,
de:£~oJ?meAt of ¢~ are~" fQr commercial use. The mUDI-
LlO. The data r~veals a lot of variation. in ci~.rpalkpt ]8toO, small a~d.old,notdesigned,to meet
avera,ge annual Tdinfall. the highest annual ~1n­ eve\]; the, needs of, the pres~nt population of the town~
faIT:' 'M 3,558.8, inm occurring during th~. y~ar Tlie' 'streets in the market are not broad enough . -for'
1981 with 133 rainy days and the lowest nunt!ll free and smooth traffic flow. The mixed land uses
of 2J.76 mm occurring during the year 19.&3, ·.with are contributing to th~, e,lw\ron~ental de1yriQrati~J,l;..
112. 11!jny days. 1'jorrnally the highest r~inf«~. I~t in
the'month of June: But in 1983. the raInfall dunng lJ6., AU ki:p,ds of shops ranging from pan shops
June was compatlltively very low and the higlr~n:,ath. to . sl\9ps. seJling construction materials ine fauna, 11),
falLw~s in Septe~¥r. the, towp along.,b{)tb_sides.of the Main Central Road
and. Ki)~l;lngalaru.-Tlippunithura road and other
Fora and Faona ma]9r.'dism.ct
. . . roads and .taluk roads.
, .
. , , ,.,:
1.11. As mentioned earlier, the town lies,in tlw" {iii} Residen,tial, area
midland. region 'in' lie'tween' the 'ffio~titairi regf6n irl;' ~'e.'
east and the coastal (region hi ttte'w~:r 'Thet~ Ii Db' I, 17. R~s\d~lltial ;ll,Ou,ses, are .scattered allover tbe
forest area 'wittin the 'tbWl1 ·lirttitS. H~Vei:, lIt]{e I
to~. N:?, area, can ~ ca~ego!lSed as exclusively resi-
town 'is rich in -Vegetation 'which' iit<a.y· be lat~kt"t~ 10" denUa\ excep.t the housing colony in ward 15. The
''I.-l,,.t ",l > p\ ~r'r'jIC
,,/ I ,}"I I

2
 Muvattupuzha Bridge

A view of the town

17-19 RGI/NDj88 2(a)

people of the town do not like to livl;: huddled toge-
ther in crowded streets. The dwellings are generally
sep¥atetd froI;Il. each other by compounds protected ?y
walls or fences except in very crowded commercml
areas. According to 1981 Census, there are 4,176
residential houses in Muvattupuzha town,. accomm{)-
da,ting 4,490 households. Kadathy ward WIth ~n ar..ea
of 0.91 sq. km. has the highe~t number of resl~entJal
houses (355) and S.N.D.P. Hlgh Sl'hol ward with a~
are.a of 0.38 sq km. has tht: lowest number o( resI-
dential houses (l26). The number of residentIal hou.ses
per' sq. km. is highest (1,004) in Market. wa~ WhICh
has an extent of only 0.25 sq. km. a~d l~ mamly the
centre of (;ommerce. trade and commUlllcatlOn. The dttn-
sity of residential houses in this ward is more than 5
times that of Central Vazhappilly ward with an are~
of 1.13 sq. km. which has the lowest denSIty of 193
residential huuses per sq. km. As a (;onseque?ce of
unplanped development, the .bu~i~st commercIal area
is also the most crowded resl'Ciential area. The deve-
lopment of some of the housing colonies ~way fr?m
the heart of the town is a welcome trend In the Im-
provement of residential conditions of the town.
(iv) Industrial area
1.18. There is no dear cut industrial area as such
in the town. Except for one small tin factory and
milk chilling plant in Block (8) ward and match fac-
tories in Kadathy (10) and Marady (15) wards of the
town there are no other industrial enterprises in the
town: Besides these, SOUle hpl.Isehold industries suc~
as oil mill, rice mill, saw mill, manufacture of furm-
ture, making of pappads, ayurvedic ~edicines, rolli.ng
shutters etc. are scattered in vanous wards like
Mark"l, Stadium, Velloorkunnam, Kadathy, Asramam
and Randar.
(v) Agricultural area
1.19. All the wards of the town, except BaZ8Jl:r,
Sivankunnu and Peringazha, are havrng some lal!d
which is being used mainly [or pac!dy cultivation. The
wards with more than 20 per cent of its extent being
used for agricultural purposes are Stadium (27.47 per
cent), Va2happilly (21.90 per cent) and Perumattam
(20.33 per cent).
(vi) Educational area
1.20. There is no educational area as such in the
town. However, three wards of t11e, town are named
after the high schools situated in them, ie. ward 7 as
Nair Service Society (NSS) High School ward, ward
II as Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana San-
gham (S.N.D.P.) High School ward and ward 12
as Goxemment High School ward. There are
two high schools in ward 14, one High School and
Upper Primary {lV.P.) school in ward 7 and one High
School and Lower Primary (L.P.) School each in wards
3, 12 and. 13. There is one High School in, w.ard 11.
one U.P. school each in wards 15 and 19 and one
L.P. School in ward' 8. The above mentioned areas
can be considered as educational areas.
LaDd~use pattern '
l.21. The land in Muvattupuzha town can be divid-
ed into wet and dry land. The wet land is almost
exclusively used for paddy cultivation. About 11.39
per cent of fue total land extent of the town is under
pa9dy cultivation. Maximum percentage of the Jand
area (77.50 per cent) of town comprise the residential
area. ijlling a, communication centre with a number
of 'state highways and major district roads, besides
many arterial roads, passing through the various wards
of the towp, the area set apart for Transport and
Comm4,nication comes to 5.82 per cent. The land used
for various Public offices and Eduoational institutions
loc~ted in the town Comes to 2.78 per cent· and Water.
body 1.()(j per cent. The extent of area of the town
1!nder commercial use is 0.69 per cent and for indus-
trial purposes 0.48 per cent. Parks an):) open spaces,
O~upy 0.28. per cent of the total area of the town.
J:he warclnvise land-use pattern is depicted in tables
1.3 and 1:4,

Table 1.3
WARD-WISE LAND-USE PATTERN. IN Mj.JVATTUPUZHA TOWN

Category of Land-use (in hectares)

r- ---
.. -------~-~---------.--.-----,
Public
Offices
and edu- Trans-
cational pprt &
instilu- Agricul- Water commu- Residen-
P-drks & Total
Name of Town/Ward Commer- lndustry Open
lions tllre body nication tial cial spaces
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9, 10
MUVATTUPUZHA 36,96 151,54 14.12 77.40 1,030.85 9.11 6.39 3.74 1,330.11
Central Vat:happilly 0.09 10.53 2.12 2,93 96.82
Vazhappilly 0.40 14.12 112.49
2.75 2.12 44.92 0.13
Perumattam 0,18 9,15
64.44
2.03 3.92 29,75
Market 0.27 3.29 45.03
1.62 20,31 0.50
Bazaar 0.81 25.99
1.81 14.92 I. 35 1.58 20.47

3
 Table 1.3-concld.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Stadium 1.58 11.17 1.26 1. 35 19.29 1.17 2.25 2.57 40.64
N.S.S. High school 0.09 5.70 2.70 49.48 0.27 0.23 58.47
Block 0.63 9.86 3.25 68.43 82.17
VclIoorkunnam 0.09 7.53 3.20 61.90 72.72
Kadathy 15.85 3.79 4.78 71.05 95.47
S.N.D.P. High school 3.38 1.49 1.67 26.88 .8J 0.13 35.36
Sivankunnu 9.56 4.15 20.57 1.04 0.13 35.45
Petta 5.50 0.72 2.84 15.76 0.81 0.68 26.31
Gov!. High school 4.96 0.63 8.75 51.55 0.45 0.45 .17 67.96
Marad,. 0.36 19.88 4.64 ~2.95 107.83
Hospital 2.44 3.02 7.48 45.81 0.68 0.31 59.74
Peringazha 5.81 9.51 133.92 0.90 O. S9 150.73
Municipal Bus stand 0.45 5.77 3.92 41.88 0.04 52.06
Asramam 18.22 0 ..l6 3.38 74.15 96.11
Randar 0.36 14.61 1.81 3.38 fiO.51 80.67

'fable 1.4

PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF LAND-USE IN EACH WARD

Public
offices
and edu- Trans- Park
cational port and and
institu- Agricul- Water commu- Residen- Commer- open
Name of Town/Ward lion, tural body nleation tial cial Industry spaces

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
MUV ATTUPUZHA 2.78 11.39 1.06 5.82 77.50 0.69 0,48 0.28
Central Vazhappilly 0.08 9.36 1.89 2.61 86.06
VazhappiJly 0.63 21.90 4.27 3.29 69.70 0.21
Perumattam 0.40 20.33 4.50 8.71 66.06
Market 1.04 12.66 6.24 78.14 1.92
Bazaar 3.98 8.82 72.88 6.61 7.71
Stadium 3.88 27.47 3.11 3.33 47.46 2.89 5.54 6.32
N.S.S. High school 0.15 9.75 4.62 84.63 0.46 0.39
Block 0.77 12.00 3.95 83.28
Velloorkunnam 0.12 10.36 4.40 85.12
Kadathy 16.60 3.97 5.01 74.42
S.N.D.P. High school 9.56 4.21 4.72 76.02 5.11 0.38
Sivan"kunnu 26.97 11 .70 58.03 2.92 0.38
Petta 20.90 2.74 10.80 59.90 3.09 2.57
Govt. High School 7.30 0.93 12.87 7S.85 0.66 0.66 1.73
'Marady 0.33 18.44 4.30 76.93
Hospital 4.08 5.05 12.53 76.70 1.13 0.53
Peringazha 3.86 6.31 88.84 0.60 0.39
MuniCipal Bus stand 0.86 11.08 7.53 80.45 0.08
Asramant 18.95 0.38 3.52 77.15
Randar OA5 18.11 2.24 4.19 75_03

4
 MUVATTUPUZHA MUNICIPAL TOWN
lAND \JSE PATTERN
(&IIO'."""_'

.' ..

5
Distribution of area, households and population
1.22. The town was divided into 20 wards at the and density of the (own in the last census is given in
time of 1981 Census. The ward-wise area,. population the following statement:

Table 1.5
DISTRfBUTlON OF ARE~, POPUL>\TIO:'ll, lIOUSEHOLDS AND DENSITY, 1981

Sex ratio
Area in Persons per No. of Population, 1981 (females
sq. kin, sq. krn, households r- _ _ _ _ _ A _ _ , _ _ _ --. per 1000
Town/Ward
Perwn~ Male~ Females males)
1
2 4 5 6 7 8
MUVATTUPUZHA
13,18 1,921 4,490 25,313 12,784 12,529 980
Central Vazlnppilly 1,13 1,216 234 1,314 676 69& 1,0:33
Vazhappilly
0,73 2,041 226 1,490 752 738 981
Perumattam
0.54 3,m 2g2 1,732 861 H71 1,012
Market 0,25 6,288 270 1,572 838 734 876
Bazaar
0.20 4,800 183 960 563 397 705
Stadium 0,35 2,797 170 979 534 445 833
N.S.S. High School 0,49 2,761 2-t5 1,353 700 653 933
Block
1.01 1,358 266 1,372 703 669 952
Velloorkunnam 0.86 1,642 251 1,412 699 713 1,0:1.0
Kadatby 0,9[ 2,138 371 1,946 975 971 996
S.N.D.P. High School 0,38 1,926 140 732 383 349 911
Sivankunou 0.39 2,336 186 911 420 491 l,f69
Petta 0.20 4,895 169 979 494 485 982
Govt. High School 0.67 1,612 178 1,080 413 6()7 1,283
Marady 1.06 1,235 255 1,30:) 659 650 986
HOsDital 0.58 1,626 167 9B 469 474 1,011
Peringazha 0,96 1,360 225 1,306 654 6U 967
Municipal Bus Stand 0.63 1,710 209 [,077 527 550 1,044
Asramam 0.95 1,483 237 1,40c} 701 708 1,010
Randar 0.89 1,547 226 1,377 693 684 987

1.23. There is no uniform criteria based on which
the wards have been demarcated with the result that
meir area varies between 0.20 sq. km. in the case of
lJiazaar and Petta wards and 1.I3 sq. km. in Central
Vazhappilly ward. Similarly the population of. the
wards varies between 732 persons in S.N.D.P. High
School ward and J ,946 persons in the neighbouring
Kadailiy ward.
1.24. The density of Muvattupuzha town is 1921
persons per sq. kilometre which is much lower than
the density in urban areas of the district coming to
2,656 persons per sq. km. However, the town has a
density considerably higher than the density of the
district which is 1,053 persons per sq. kilometre. There
are I I wards which have a density range of 1000-2000
persons per sq. kilometre and they are Central Vazhap-
pilly, Marady, Block. Asramam, Randar, Government
High School, Hospital, Peringazha, Velloorkunnam,
S.N.D.P. H.S. and Municipal Bus Stand. Of theSe
Central Vazbappilly is having the lowest density of
1,216 persons per sq. kilometre. The restrictions im~
posed by the rugged terrain and inaccessability are
the factors contributing to the low density of thes~
wards. Kadathy, Vazhappilly, Sivankunnu, N.S.S. High
School and Stadium wards are in the density range
of 2,000 to 3,000 persons per sq. km. Perumattam ward
is the only ward with a density of 3,207 in the density
range of 3,000 to 4,000 persons pet sq. km. Market
ward with a density of 6,288 persons is the mO!t
densely populated ward followed by Petta with 4,895
persons and Bazaar with 4,800 persons per s.q. km,
The commercial character of Market and Bazaar wards
and their plane topography are responsible for their
high density. Petta ward boardering Thodupuzha river
also has a plane topography.
 MUVATTUPUZHA MUNICIPAL TOWN
DENSITY OF POPULATION BY WARDS 1981

DENSITY C!' 1'0000000TION PER KnL

1111111IJOO AND ASOV[

~ :2"500-34"

~ ~SOO -24t-~
o KtOW 1500

7
3-19 RGI/ND/88
 with 20.87 per cent of total population: The propo~­
1.25. The sex ratio of 980 females per 1,000 males tion of Muslims in the town 18 much hIgher than their
in 1981 Census in the town is lower than the district
proportion in Ernakulam district.
urban sex ratio of 993 and state urban sex ratio of
1021 The sex ratio in the town varies between 705
f~maies per 1,000 males in Bazaar war~ to 1.283 1.28. Among the Hindus, Nairs are the predomi-
females per 1,000 males in Government HIgh School nant communitv in N.S.S. High School, Velloorkun-
ward. Thus the sex ratio is not uniform in all areas nam, Kadathy,' Siwmkunnu and Asram.am. wards and
of the town. Ezhavas are the predominant commull1~Y In S.~.D.~.
High School ward. Muslims are found III maJortt~ III
VazhappiUy, Perumattom, Market, Bazaar, Stadl~m
RCMdentiaI pattern with reference to ethnic group and Pettah wards. Jacobite, Christians form the maJo~
1.26. The distribution of population of the town rity commumty in Central Vazhappi1ly and Block
bv religion, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in wards and Syrian Christians are found in large num-
comparison with the district and state is given in the bers in Government High School ward.
following table.
1.29. There are 1,486 persons belonging to sche-
Table 1.6 duled caste and 30 persons belonging to scheduled
tribe in the town constituting 5.87 and 0.12 per cem
mSTRlBUTIO'l" OF POPULATION BY RELIGION, SCHE- of total population respectively. The proportion of
DULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES IN MUVATTU- scheduled caste and scheduled tribe nopulation in the
PUZHA TOW:'l AND URBAN AREAS OF ERNAKULAM town is less than the corresponding proportion in the
DISTRICT AND KERALA STATE, ]981 district and the state.
(Percentages in Brackets)
Ernaku- 1.30. Higbest proportion of scheduled castes form-
Muvattu- lam Koral a ing 19.83 per cent IS found in Randar ward follow-
puzha district state
ed by S.N.D.P. High Sch(}{)l ward with 1~.25 ~r
Religion/SC;ST town (urban) (urban)
cent. The highest percentage of scheduled tnbes IS
1 2 3 4 0.57 per cent in Kadathy ward.
Total populatlon lS,l13 1,002,892 4,771,2.75
Hindus 10,969 476,282 2,779,184
1.31. There are five separate Ranjan colonies in
(43.33) (47.49)
the town viz. Molekkudy and Oravankuzhy Rarijan
(58.25)
colonies in VazhappiUy ward, Pulparambil colony in
Muslims 9,050 155,614 1,048,218 Marady ward, Pandrimala Rarijan colony in Perin-
(35.75) (15.52) (21.97) gazha ward and the Rarijan colony in Block ward.
Christians 5,282 368,543 939,802
There is also a Parava colony in Randar ward. Apart
from. this, scheduled caste households are found liv-
(20.87) (36.75) (19.70)
ing scattered in a!most all wards. As already seen,
Scheduled Castes 1,486 58,841 309,371 scheduled tribe households are very small in number
(5.87) (5.87) (6.48) in this town.
Scheduled Tribe, 30 1,696 4,990
(0.12) (0.17) (0.10) 1.32. Slum areas exist in most of the wards of the
town. Various Slum Improvement Schemes are undeI
the process of implementation by Municipa Com-
1.27. People of the town belong to the three reli- mittee, Muvattupuzha and these schemes are expected
gious groups viz. Hindus, Muslims and Christians. to improve living conditions for various communities
Only stray cases of other religions such as Sikhs are of the town. Three detailed Town Planning Schemes--
found in the town. Though no religious group can one for market area, second for central area and the
claim absolute majority in the town as a whole, Hindus third for bus stand complex-are also under the pro-
constituting 43.33 per cent form the largest group cess of preliminary stage of implementation and these
followed by Muslims with 35.75 per cen~. Though schemes along with the various slum improvement
Christians arc the largest group in Muvattupuzha schemes are bound to improve the housing conditions
taluk and the second largest group in Emakulam particularly of the weaker and backward communities
district. in Muvattupuzha town. they rank only third of the town.

8
 CHAPTER II
HISTORY OF GROwrn OF THE TOWN

Lotation and name completed the main line of communication from

2.1. There is no record of any myth or legend con-
nected with the origin of the town. The location of
the town on the bank of Muvattupuzha river may be
the rea.o,on for naming it as 'Muv<attupuzha'. The
taluk also bears the same name. The Muvattup1,.lzha
liver is formed by the confluence of the three rivers
namely Thodupuzha. Kaliyar and Kothamangalam,.
Thodupuzha river joins the combined rivers of
Kothamangalam and Kaliyar in the town and from
this point the river is known as Muvattupuzha which
is a Malayalam word meaning a river formed by the
union of three rivers.
Historical background
2.2. Ruins of a fortress of Vadakkumkur Rajas
are found m this town which gives the cIue that the
place was the seat of Vadakkumkur Rajas. Siva
was the main deity of Vadakkumkur Maharajas. It
is believed that the Ramamangalam Siva temple aM
Sivankunnu Siva temple were attached to the armou-
ries of Vadakkumkur Rajas. Later when Vadakkum·
kur was annexed to Tranvancore, Muvattupuzha be·
came a part of the northern division of Travancon::.
2.3. The location of the town on the bank of the
river, the hospitable climate of the area and the com-
munication facilities to important towns induding the
capital of the state and the surrounding rural· hinter-
lands helped to develop the place as a market centre
of hill produce. These are some of the factors which
earlier contributed towards the development of the
area into a town. The construction of Kottayam-
Angamaly section of the Main Central Road starting
from Trivandrum was completed in 1877-78 (1053
M.E.) and this was a great step forward in accelerating
the process of development of the area. The Muvattu-
puzha bridge which was opened in 1914 also added
greatly to the facilities of communications. This
Table 2.1
JURISDICTION OF MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN IN DIFFERENT CENSUSES
Trivandrum to the northern frontier of Travancore.
2.4. Muvattupuzha was one of the 9 taluks of the
northern division of Travancore State which had 4
divisions viz. Southern, Central. Northern and High-
land. The four divisions were later reorganised imo
3 divisions. After the integration of Travancore and
Cochin States, the divisions were changed as districts
and then Muvattupuzha was part of Kottayam district.
In November, 1956, as a result of the States Reo;:gani-
zation Act of 1950 (Central Act 37 of 1956;, the state
of Kerala was formed and later when Ernakulam
district was formed on 1st April 1958, Muvattupuzha
taluk was included in it. During the decade 1911-21,
nineteen places were declared as conservancy tcwns
under the Police Regulation and they were provided
with sanitary staff. Muvattupuzba was one among
them. Consequently in the 1921 Census, it was treated
as a town. It continued 'as a town in later censuses also
till it was declared as a statutory town (Municipal
town) on 1-4-1958. It continued to be a grade III
municipality upto 1-4-1981 and thereafter a grade II
municipal town.
2.5. A$ the town became the headquarters of the
tal uk, a number of public offices and institutions,
Hoopitals and Educational institutions of various
grades w~.re 19s:akd here. The criminal and civil
courts, the statistical office and some other offices in
the town have jurisdiction extending beyond the limits
of the town.
Cban~~ in the size and bound'ary
2.6. Muvattupuma had a chequered history since
1921 when it first became a census town. There were
additions and deletions of area of the toWn in different
censuses. The following table gives the details
of areas included within the jurisd' ~tion of the town
in different censuses.

Villages and karas* included

Censu~ Total area of the ----------.~------------.
year town (in sq. km.) Village Kara* Areas added/deleted
2 3 4 5

1921 Not available 1. Marady Ramamanga!am

2. Velloorkunnam Kavumkara
Ve1loorkunnam
1931 5.18 1. Marady Ramamangalam
2. Vel100rkunnam Kavumkara Kadathy kar~~
Velloorkunnam added
Kadathy

9
 Table 2.1-concld.

2 3 4 5

1941 9.58 Details not available

1951 8.73 L Marady RamamangaJam Vadakkan Maradyand Vama-

Vadakkan Marady ppilly karas auded over 1931
jurisdiction.
2. Velloorkunnam Kavumkara
Velloorkunnam
Kadathy
Vazhappilly

1961 19.18 1. Marady (P) Ramamangalam (P) Tbekkan Marady

Vadakkan Marady (P) Perumattam
Thekkan Marady (P) Kadavoor
Muvattupuzha
and Randar karas added.
2. Velloorkunnam (P) Kavumkara
Vel100rkunnam
Kadathy (P)
Vazhn.ppilly
Perumattam
Kadavoor
3. Muvattupuzha (P) Muvattu!,u;;ha (P)
Randal'

1971 13.18 I. Marady (P) Ramamangalam (P)

Vadakkan
Marady (P)
Peringazha (P)
2. Vel100rkunnam Kavumkara Thekkan Marady
Velloorkunnam Perumattal11
Kadathy (P) Kadavoor and portion of Vazh:,
Vazhappilly (P) ppiUy deleted and Peringuzh~
added.
3. Muvattupuzha Randar(p)
Muvattupuzha (P)

1981 13.18 (Same jurisdiction as in 1971)

*Kara is the lowest sub·unit of a revenue Village.

(p)-Portion.

Growth of Population
2.7. The growth of population of the town during the last six decades from 1921 is given in the
following table.

Table 2.2

DECADAL VARIATION OF POPULUION OF MUVATfUPUZHA DURING 192I·S1

Census year Percentage Density

Area in sq. Decadal decada1 ofpo'Pll-
km~. Population variation variation Males Females Sex ratio lation
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1921 4,517 2,431 2,086 85S

1931 5.18 5,626 +1,109 +24.55 2,991 2,635 881 I,Oll6
1941 9.58 9,079 +3,453 +61.38 4,663 4,416 947 948
1951 8.73 10,159 + 1,080 i-l1.9iJ 5,155 5,004 971 1,164
1961 19.18 22,900 +12,741 +12S.42 11,837 It,063 '>35 1.194
1971 13.lS 22,137 -763 -3.33 11,396 ]0,741 943 1,680
1981 13.18 25,313 +3,176 1-14.35 12,784 12,529 980 1.921

10
Muvattupuzha-Confluence of three river~- Tho-Jup'lZha river joining the combined
Kothamanga!am and Kaliyar rivers

8(a)
 2.8. The jurisdiction of the town, when it became
a census town in 1921, comprised only Kavul1!kara
and Velloorkunnam karas of Velloorkunnam vIllage
and Ramamangalam kara of Marady village. ihe
Jurisdiction was extended slightly in 1931 including
Kadathy kara also of Velloorkunnam village, The
growth rate during 1921-31 was 24.55 per cent and
this can 1>1; attributed to the natural growth rate, the
extension of the area, and the setting up of various
public offices and thc addition of amenities after the
place became a census town and a taluk headquarter.
Persons from other parts of the taluk were naturally
attracted to the town due: to the additional economic
oppurtunities that were available in the. town. ~hc
growth of population was abnormally hIgh dUrIng
the decades 1931-41 and 1951-61. Apart from the
natural growth rate this can be attributed to the ex-
temion of town limits. The area of tlle town has
increased from 5.18 sq. kilometres in 1931 to 9.58 sq.
kilometres in 1941 resulting a growth rate of 61.38
per cent of population. Similarly, the .abnormally
high growth rate of 125.42 per cent dUrIng 1951-61
was the result of doubling the area from 8.73 sq.
kliometres to 19.18 sq. kilometres. During the de-
cades 1941-51 and 1961-71 the area of the town has
decreased. As the reduction in area during 1941-51
was very small. the popUlation of the town had shown
an overall increase of 11.90 per cent. But during
1961-71 the extent of the town was reduced by about
Table 2.3
GROWTH OF POPULATION IN DIFFERENT REGIONS
Wards in
Region, , - - - - - - " - - - - - - - -..,
1971
Area be(\\cen Kaliyar and Muvattupuzha river I to vn
Area between Thodupuzha and Muvattupuzha river VIII to XlII
Arca bctween Kaliyar and Thodupuzha river XIV
The ·section of the town between Kaliyar and
Thodupuzha river has recorded the highest growth
rate of 30.02 per cent followed by the section of the
town between Kaliyar and Muvattupuzha river with
16.92 per cent. The section of the town between
Thodupuzha and Muvattupuzha has recorded a growth
rate of only 3.24 per cent. This area has developed
more as an administrative-cum·commercial-cum-edu-
cational area than residential area and consequently
there is less population growth compared to the other
two residential sections of the town.
2.10. The cxknt of inmigratioll and outmigration
and their impact on the growth of population in
Muvattupuzha town is obscure. On the basis of the
details coneeted from the sample households in the
town it has been found that 31 per cent of the house-
holds and 27 per cent of the population are migrants.
Sixty per cent of migrant householus and 61 per cent
11
one third and consequently there was negative growth
rate of 3.33 per cent. It may be seen that Muvattu-
puzba was first declared as a Municipal town in 1958
and contrary to the normal practice of extension of
areas in the case of other municipalities the area of
this municipality was reduced before long. There is
no change in the area of the municipality s.ince 1971.
The town registered a growth rate of 14.35 per c~nt
during the decade 1971-81. During the same dccade,
the growth rate of population of Emakulam di&trict
was 17.18 per cent and that of Kcrala State was 19.24
per cent. The urban growth rate was 57.68 rer cent
in thc district and 37.64 per cent in the stat;;. Thus
the growth rate of the town is not only less than
the total growth rate in the district and tlle ~tate but
is far less than their urban growth raTe.
2.9. The g.rowth rate in all areas of the town h 1I0t
uniform. While some areas have shown very low
growth rate, some other areas have shown compara-
tively higher growth rate. The town can be divided
into three regions viz. (i) the area between Kaliya!
and Thodupuzha rivers, (ii) the area between Kaliyar
and Muvattupuzha rivers and (iii) the area between
Thodupuzha river and Muvattupuzha river. Corres-
ponding to the twenty wards in 1981, there were only
fourteen wards in 1971. The wards falling in these
three regions in 1971 and 1981 and the growth rate of
population during 1971-81 is given in the following
statement.
Populafion ill Pe-centa/;o;;
, . . - - _ _ .A._ _ _ _ _ , de;-adal
198J 1971 198J Yaria, ion
I to X 12,136 14,190 16,92
XI to XVII 7,032 7,260 3.24
XVIII to XX 2971 3,%3 30.02
of migrant population arc from other parts of Erna-
kulam district itself. Others have come mostly from
other districts, especially the neighbouring districts of
Kottayam and Idukki. Those who have migrated from
outside the state are insignificantly small in number.
Data on outmigrants are not available. However, there
is eve~y possibility that some of the enterprising agri-
cultunsts who moved from the northern distr.icts of
Travancore State about two decades back to the hilly
tracts of Malabar for cultivation, belong to Muvattu-
puzha town also. Though many people from Kerala
have gone to Gulf countries there is no indication
that there is any significant outflow from Muvattu-
puzha town.
2.11. The sex ratio in the town ha~ increased frum
858 females per 1000 males in 1921 to 980 females
pe\ 1000 males in 1981. The increasing trend of sex
r.atlO has suffered a set back in 1961 when the jurisdic-
tIOn of the town was extended considerably. However,
the increasing trend was shown again when some areas
were excluded from the town during the next decade
and this trend bas continued in 1981 also. At this
rate in the next two or three decades females are
likely to outnumber males in the town.
2.12. The pressure of population on land is i~creas­
ing in the town as in other plac~s. 1 he densIty of
pcpulation per sq. kilometre has lllcreased from 1.~86
persons in 1931 to 1921 in 1981. Except for a ?ec1me
in 1941 when more areas were added the densIty has
always shown an increasing trend irrespective of
whether there were addition or reduction in area.
Development
2.13. Although Muvattupuzha is the headquarter of
the taluk and many institutions and offices usually
associated with the taJuk headquarter have come
up there. the town has not developed sufficiently. Ex-
cept for central area, ie. area on both sides of the
Main Ct'~tral Road (Perumbav-oor-Kotlayam road)
where the activities are mainly <:onfined with Govern-
ment hospi1'al, post office, schools, churches, commer-
cial establishments, hotels and lodges, the town is
strictly speaking an agricultural area retaining the
rural characteristics.
Land Value
2.14. The price of land in the town is subject to
l1uctuations and varies from ward to ward and within
each ward depending on the importance of the plot.
While the land in the heart of the town comprising
the area boardering both sides of Main Central (M.e.)
Roa~ and other state highways have very high market
value, land value in the interior parts of Central
Vazhappilly, Perumattam, N.S.S. High School, Block,
Velloorkunnam, Kadathy, Marady Peringuzha, Ash-
farnam' and Randar is comparatively low. The loca-
tion of various administrative offices. educational in-
stitutions, government hospital, P.W.D. rest house,
good hotels and lodges, proximity of Main Central
(MC) road and Kerala State Road Transport Corpora-
tion (K.S.R.T.C.) bus stand are the main reasons for
the comparatively high cost of land in the core area.
The value of the land in all areas is increasing. But
12
this is not due to any increased tempo of urbanisation
of any particular area. The rise in price is attribu-
table to the general rising trend in the state.
Land Utilisation pattern and pians
2.15. The topography of the town is characterised
by undulating rerrain with substantial level difference
betwe..:n different part& of the town. Proper develop-
ment befittlllg the central area of the town has been
leopardised Clue to this diltcrence in levels and uneven
wpogra phy. The restrictions imposed by the rugged
terrain has restrained the concentrated development o(
commercial area and has resulted in a ribbon develop-
ment. A larg~ part of the residential area of the
town is sparsely populated owing to its inacces8ibility.
As a (;onsequence of the rugged terrain, activities havt
been mainly (;c;nlined to the M.e. Road, with bus
stand complex, government hospital, post officI:,
IScnoots, churches, shops etc. Like many towns the
business centres are scattered all along the road sides
creating problems of traffic congestion. The unplann-
ed growth has also resulted in mixed uses of land,
there being no specially demarcated areas for com-
merce and trade, industry, administrative, residential,
educational purposes etc. and this is attributable to
environmental deterioration. To overcome these
negative trends in development aud to foster a healthy
environment, the Municipal Council, Muvattupuzha
has proposed three Town Planning Schemes-one for
:.:entral an:a, second for market area and the third for
bus stand complex. These schemes are in the preli-
minary stage of implementation. Under these schemes,
there is reservation of lan~l and zoning for various
purposes such as residential usc zone, commercial use
zone, industrial use zone, public and semi public use
zont:, mixed use zone (residential and commercial),
open spaces and play ground use zone. An future
developments in respect of all lands under the three
schemes shall be subjected to zoning regulation evol.
ved under the schemes. The schemes also prohibit
sanction for construction of any building on un-
healthy sites. With the implementation of these
schemes. the town is expected to have a planned and
balanced growth, smooth traffic flow and much
healthier environment for the town. With tile improve-
ment in communication. the town can accelerate the
tempo of growth in trade and commerce.
 CHAPTER III
AMENITIES AND SERVICES-HISTORY OF GROWfH AND TIlE PRESENT POSITION
3.1. The town, a key communication centre and an
important market of hill produce, owes much of its
importance to its, status as a taluk headquarters.
Though it was recognized as a Census Town in 1921,
it was upgraded to the status of a municipality on 1-4-
1958. It wa~ continuing as a grade III municipality
till it was raised to the status of a grade II municipality
with effect from 1-4-198 I.
Pnbllic Offices
3.2. Several offices, such as Taluk Office, Village
Office, Police Station, Criminal and Civil Courts, Post
Office etc. are functioning in the town for a very long
time even before its elevation to the status of a muni-
cipality. Since then, a number or offices have been
opened in the town to cope up with the ever increas-
ing needs of administration and social welfare. Trans-
port sub-district office, office of the Public Health Engi-
neering Department, Block Development Office, Sales
Tax Office, Taluk Supply Office. Central Excise Office,
Iudicial Magistrate Court, P.W.D. (B & R) Sub Divi-
sion Office. Kerala State Electricity Board Executive
Engineer's Office etc. are some of the important offices
functioning in the town which come under this cate-
gory. The jurisdiction and control of the Taluk Office.
Taluk Supply Office. Sub Jail, Munisiff court etc. ex-
tends to the whole of the taluk while the jurisdiction
and control of other offices is confined to a portion
of the taluk including the municipal area. A list of
some of the important government offices in the town
with their jurisdiction. staff strength and functions is
given in Table 3.1.

Table 3,1
DETAILS OF SOME IMPORTANT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN MUVATTUPUZHA
No. of
yea(s since No. of
Name of Office Location estahliqhed Jurisdiction employees Nature of function
2 3 4 5 6
Revenue Divisional office Sivankunnu ward 25 Revenue Division, 15 Supervision of revenue eoUee 0

Muvattupuzha lion, law and order.

Taluk office Sivankunnu wlrd 60 Whole taluk 50 Land revenue administration
and allied matters.
Sub Trea,ury Office Sivankunnu >vard 40 Whole tallik 10 Financial transactions of
government.
Munsifi' court Sivankunnu ward 35 Whole taluk 15 Administration of justice.
Judicial 1st class Magistrate Sivankunnu ward 35 Whole taluk 7 Administration of justice.
court.
Judicial 2nd class Magistrate Si:;ankunnu ward 20 Wholetaluk NA Administration of justice.
court.
Taluk Supply office S.N.D.P.H.S. ward 25 Whole taluk 25 Distribution of essential com-
modities like foodgrains, kero-
sene, :sugar etc.
Employment E~change S,N.D.P.H.S. ward 7 Muvattupuzha town 8 Regi~tration of employment
seekers.
• Block Development office Block ward 25 Within the Develop- 25 Block Development.
ment Block
Office of the Assitant Director Block ward 15 Whole taluk 7 Promotion of industries.
of Industries .
• Office of the Project Officer, Block ward 25 Within the Develop- 15 Developmental activities.
I.P.D. Block. ment Block
Kerala Livestock Development Block ward 10 Whole of the tOwn 15 Livestock development and
& Milk Marketing Board. distribution of milk.
Fire Station Velloorkunnam ward 8 Whole town 10 Prevention of fire.
P.H.E.D. Sub-division Velloorkunnam ward J5 Wholetaluk 8 Waterllupply.
Office of the Deputy Director VelJoorkunnam ward 10 Whole taluk 15 Agriculture and allied malters
of Agriculture

13
 Table 3.I-conchl.

2 3 4 5 (,

Sub-Divisional O!T\;c. Telephone Velloorkul1namward 10 Telephone sub-division 42 Allotment of telephones and

Ex-chan:;e. allied matters.
P. W.D. B &. R sub-jivi,ion office Sivankunnu ward 15 Whole of Muvattupuzha 12 Comtructiol1 and mainte-
nance of Buildings and Roads.
A~lTicult.ural Income Tax offi2c Sivankunnu ward 25 NA 12 Agricultural Income Tax.
Electrical M:ljor Section Sinvankunnu ward 15 Muvattupuzha taluk 50 Power supply_
Taluk Welfare office Pettah ward !O Whole taluk 4 Department of Harijan
Welfare.
Pcttah wanl 10 Muvattupuzha sub- 13 Motor vehicle registration.
district
T~an,nort sub-district office Hospital ward NA Muvattupuzha sub- NA Operation of transport service.
district
Sub-Registrar's office PeHah ward 40 Whole taluk 9 Regi~tratiol1 of documents.
Office of the A"istant Regi~trar Pettah ward 10 Whole talule 10 Administration of Co-opera-
Co-operative Societies. tive Societies.
District Educ:l.1ional office Sivankunnu ward 30 Muvattupuzlla educa- NA Looking after the affairs
tional district of schools.
Taluk H03pitaJ Hospital ward 40 Whole taluk NA Treatment of patIents.
Police station Hospital ward 30 NA 13 l:!w and order.
Excise Range office Hospital ward 20 Muvattup\.lzha taluk Collection or Excise dut:".
Rubber Marketing Co-operative Government higl1 10 NA 2 Rubber marketing.
Society. School ward
Sak; Tax 0 n;~, Mwattupn)n GJwmm:nt H.S. w:!rd 20 Whole ta!uk l2 Collection of sales tax.
OfIbe of the Deputy g·.lperi'1ten- Sivankurli1u warJ NA Whole taluk NA Maintenance of Law & Order
dent of police
Village Office Marady 60 Marady village 5 Village revenue administra-
tion.
Village Office Velloorkunnam NA Velloorkunnam viliagc NA Village revenue administra-
tion.
NA Not available.

3.3. Being a municipal town, the civic amenities are
looked after by the municipality which is the statutory
body of local self-government. Since September 1961,
it is governed by the Kerala Municipalities Act 1960,
(Act XIV of 1961), though it was formerly governed by
the Travancore District Municipalities Act, 1116 ME
(1941). The Municipality has been divided into 20
wards. Each ward elects one member called Councillor
to the Municipal Council on the basis of adult fran-
chise and members are normally holding office for a
period of 5 years. Out of these 20 wards. Velleor-
kunnam ward is reserved for women and Randar ward
is reserved for sched uled castes. The Councillors elect
a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman from among the
members. At the time of the survey, there was no
municipal council as it had been dissolved bv the
government on completion of 5 year period in October
1984 and its functions entrusted with the Sub-Collec-
tor. Muvattupuzha. The Municipal Commissioner has
the Executive Authority. The Municipal Commis-
sioner is appointed by the Government and is directly
under the control of the Director of Municipalities.
3.4. Muvattupuzha municipality has a statutory
standing committee and some non-statutory standing
committees. The Statutory Standing Committee is
constituted according to the Kerala Municipality Act.
This committee, besides being responsible for audit-
ing the a.ccounts of the municipality, takes suitable
decision on various subject matters which come up
for consideration before it. The committee consisted
of five councillors. The statutory meetings of the
committee are convened periodically. According to
necessity. emergency meetings are also conducted.
3.5. The non-statutory committees are Pub1ic Works
Committee, Library Committee, Taxes Appeal Com-
mittee, Health and Sanitation Committee and Arts
and Sports Committee. The main function of public
works committee is to prepare the list of public works
to undertake repairs and maintenance of roads etc.
in different wards of the town and send the list to
the Council f'lr approval and further action. The
main function of the Library Committee is to pre-
pare the list of books and journals required for the
library and send it to the council for approval. Taxes

14
j,
,
L,~:,,*
(\

Revemle Divisional Office

First Class Magistrate's Court

12(a)
Municipal Office

12(b,
Appeal ('ommitlce ~Ic:ar representations Oll matters
relating to tax coUedion and tllkes suitable decision
on it. Matters relating to health and sanitation an;
considered by the He:dth :md Sanitation Committee-
3.6. The amenities and services available in the
town cater to the needs of the town dwellers and also of
the people of the llci"hbouring areas.
Water supply
3.~. The town has a protected water supply system
pro'ilded and controlled by Public Health Engineering
Department (P.H.E.D.) presently known as Water and
Waste Water Authority Board. The total supply of
water per day in the town is 50 lakh litres. The sOurce
of w"ter supply to the town is the MU'/dttupuzha
river which is at a distance of 250 metres from water
L:'~: The water is stored in a tank with a capacity
of 900,000 litres. The water supply is continuous
with no break. The nature of treatment of water
is by coagulation. sedimentation, rapid sand filtra·
tion and disinfection. The treatment plant is spread
over an area of 0.75 hcctares. For distribution of
water, there i~ one cl~ar water pumping station with
two pvmping sets of 20 H.P. each. The main con-
duit is of cast iron (350 rum diameter). The total
network of pipe laid is 55 km. About 80% of the
town population is served by water supply system.
The total number cf public taps in the town is 300
and outside the town is 106. 94 offices and 1 856
houses in the town and 5 offices and 68 houses ~ut­
side the town have pipe connections.
ConSffVancy
3.8. The undulating. terrain of the town, with Muva-
ttupuzha river and paddy fields at the lowest level
provides natural drainage facilities. The roads and
residential areas are at a higher level l1ml consequen-
tlv rain water runs off speedily into the river or paddy
fields and as such dirty cI"ains and stagnating water
are hardly seen in the town. Therefore. there is no
sewera!!e svstC'll in the muuicipal town provided
either by the Public Rea1<h Enl.!ineering Department
or by the municiP'llity. Muvattupuzha mll1iicip,,'itv
has an open rlraimlfl'c amJ conservancy. The rmmici-
paHtv has umier its control an area of 17 km. of
open drainage and the cleaning is being done by
'Municipal cOllt1n"('11t worl;;crs. Out of 1h;~ 17 kill.
of open dr~imH!e· 10 km. 's b('inf! dRilv deanr:<1 'lnd
the reIDnininO' is b~in;!! c1'.:nnC'(l twice and thrice in. [!
week. There is '10 ~l'ecific conservancy ,hdf in Muvat-
tllDl17ha mnnicinalitv. However, scaven~ers are bein!!
E'11f!3p'f"'j for c1!'anil1!l rOD_rl~. footl')~ths ;n(1 LIm ins etc
Thr: p1U'1icioaHtv h~s. l 1 r,lcr its contn," 1C) )'lllh1ic
liltrin('~ of seotic tilT]} type. The 'lUmher or ['rival!'
\vater ~~aJed or w~tcr horne or septic 1ank latrines i,
('51 ~nd there IF" 1..471 service latrines \'Jhich arC'
he-in!:' ckaned hv ~i-"Vem!ers, Theff~ are <:'?rtilin fl'lp<
framed bv the Muvattu1}u7ha municina!ity to be
fn1!oWE'd for the C(\~~tfllctio!1 of !::ltnnE's (If differE'nt
tvne5. A 1atriw sh ...n:ld h~ sitl'~~ee1 5(1 111'!tr~~ f'W;'V
f!'f)m t11~ nrhkinrr watc!' welL /~~ pcr thr. drtni1s
15
given by the municipality. 2,232 houses have no
latrine of any type at all. They arc using the muni-
cipal water borne latrines or resorting to open air
stooling.
Electricity and road lighting
3.9. The town was electrified in 1941 (1116 M.E.).
The Kerala State Electricity Board is responsible for
supplying power to the town from the Kerala grid
connected to varioui> hydel generating stations like
Pallivasal, Muzhiyar. ldukki, Peringalkuthu and
Neriyamangalam bydro-electric stations. The jurjsdic-
tion of the Electrical SUb-division located in the town
extends over a vast area outside the town also. During
the year 1984-85, there wcre 5,051 demostic connec-
tions, 146 industrial connections. 745 connections for
irrigation, 1,194 commercial connections and 9 road
lighting connections. The number of pending appli-
cations are I J for domestic lighting and 3 for irriga-
tion.
3.10. The municipality pays for the street lights pro-
vided by Kerala State Electricity Board. Dmjng 1983-
84, there were 1,318 road lighting points in the town
.comprising 968 metal filament lamps, 345 florescent
lamps and 12 mercury vapour lamps. The total ex-
penses paid by the municipality were Rs. 25,417. 50-.
!The daily electricity supply is for 12 hours.
Trans!~ort and communication
3.1 J. The completion of the construction of Kotta-
yam-Angamaly section of Main central (M.e.) Road
as early as in 1877-78 (1053 M.E.) was a great step
forward in the development of communications in
the town as it opened the main line of communica-
tion from Trivandrum. The Muvattnpuzha bridge
opened in 1914 also added greatly to the facilities of
communications in the town. Now there ilrc good
road communication facilities in MuvaHllDu7'ha town.
The length of roads maintained by the Public Works
Department and the Municipality comes to 73 km.
Out of 29 kilometres roads maintained by tbe Public
Works Department, 15 kilometres are State HiRh-
ways, 5 kilometres major district roads. 3 kilometres
other district roads and the rest town roads. All
these roads ~~re bitumen surfaced (tarred). The
State Highways passing throu:,-h the town are M.e.
Road from Trivandrum to Angamaly (9 km.).
Kothamangalam·Tri~JPunithura road {2 km.) and
Muvattupuzha-Pumllur road (2 km.) which is knOWil
as the main eastern highway. Maior districts roads
are MuvattnplJ!.ha-Palakmha road (2 km.) Muvattu-
puzha-Pir::lVom road (~ km.) and MuvattuPl1:zha-Eda ..
ppally road (1 km.). Out of the 44 kilometres of
roads maintained by the Municipality. 9 kilometres
;]re tarred road,_ 6 kilometres metalled road" and the
rest unmetallee1 roads.
3.12. The town has not so far been linked by rail,
way 1ine. The nearest railway station is Piravom
ffJ'lrl at a distance of ] 9 kilometres from the town.
 The nearest aerodrome is at Cochin about 45 kilo-
metres away. Though Muvattupuzha river is passing
through the town. it is not used for navigation or
water transport. However, Ferry services are avail-
able at some points linking the places on both sides
of the river passing through some wards.
3.13. There are a number of transport services in
the town. The town is linked to other near and far
off places in the district and the state by these buses.
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (K.S.R.T.C.)
owned by the State Government is the main agency
providing public transport. K.S.R.T.C. has a sub-dis-
trict depot in t1-:is town. At the time of the survey,
the Muvattupuzha Transport sub-district depot had a
fleet strength of 24 buses operating in Ernakulam,
Kottayam and Alwaye routes. The transport office
and garage situated about 2 kilometres away from
the heart of the town is the originating and terminat-
ing point of all important services run by the K.S.R.T.C.
Besides the b1l';es starting from the Muvattupuzh3
garage long distance buses from other parts of the
state also pass through the town. There is a bus every
20 minutes on Ernakulam route and a bus every
hour on Alwaye and Kottayam route, run by the
K.S.R.T.C. About 11 lakh passengers travelIed on
these routes during 1983-84. There is heavy rush and
overcrowding during morning and evening trips.
3.14. In addition to the services provided by the
K.S.R.T.C. about 75 to 80 private buses are operating
in [he town to various destinations like Thodupuzha,
Unnub1. ;\lwayc, Erattupettah. Ernakulam. Erumeli,
Trikkariyur, Thekkumbhagom Veliyamattam, Palai,
Thekkadi, Kottayam etc. Some of these buses operate
from 6. a.m. in the morning to 9 p.m. at night. During
working hours, a bus starts from the town, on an
average, every tcn minutes. These buses pass through
different localities of the town. While some of the
buses start from the bus stand near the bridge on
the Thodupuzha river, most of the buses start from
the Municipal Bus Stand near Kaehcrithazham.
3.l5. Many motor cars/taxis and autoriekshaws, are
also plying in the town. Some of these taxis have
inter-state permits.
Post and Telegraph
3.16. Postal communication was introduced in
Travancore in the year 1857. Even before the intro-
duction of Indian Postal Service, an Indegenous Sys-
tem, knowu as Anehal, was functioning in Travancore.
Sarkar Anchal Department was merged with Indian
Postal Department on 1st April 1951. The Post Offices
in the town are Muvattupuzha Head Post Office,
Muvattuputha market and Muvattupuzha bazaar.
The approximate sale proceeds of postal stationery
in the various post offices of the town during 1983
is given below:

Table 3.2
SALE PROCEEDS OF POSTAL STATIONERY, 1983-84

Post office Details of postal stationery Number sold Total sale

during proceeds duri ng
1983-84 1983-84 R<,.

2 4
TOTAL Post card 40,000 6,600.00
Inland letter card 1,20,000 42,000.00
Cover 24,000 13,200.00
Revenue stamp NA 78,800.00
Postage stamp NA 6,58,347. SO

Muvattupuzha Head Po~t Office Post Card 25,000 3,750.00

I nland letter card 1,00,000 35,000.00
Cover ~O.OOO 11.000.00
Revenue ~tam1J NA 70,000.00

Mltvattup.E 113 Market Post Card JO,OOO 1,500.00

J nland letter card 10,000 3,500.00
Cover 2,000 [.100.00
Revenue starn!) NA (i.1I00.00

Muvattu;Je17.ha Bazaar Post card ~::)()O 750.00

Inlamlletler card 10.OO() 3,500.00
Cover 2,noO 1,100.00
Revenue stamp NA 2.000.00

i'{(}te: Brc.lClk-Ufl of Selle proceeds of stamps for each post ofl'ise i~ not available.

16
Muvattupuzha Water Supply Scheme-Water Tank

Electrical Division Office

l3u~ Station of" Kenda State RI:>ai Tran<,port Corporation

.1
r

,
t'@f

t,'1'I!lIllI-"_ __

Post Offiee

14(a)
 3.17. Receipt and issue or money orders and issue of radio licences during 1983 is given in table below.

Table 3.3
ltECEll'T AND ISSOE OF MONEY ORDERS AND ISSUE O:F RADIO LICENCES, 1983-84

Hem ,-- ... -_. _--_._.- ------------'------------ --- ._-_,

Total
Name of post office
Muvattupuz:ha Muvattupuzhu Muvatlup,,"·\C
ba7..aar market

2 3 4 5

1. MOlley orde,'s
(il Received Number 8,544 7,000 1,544
16.51,500.70 16,36,798.15 14.. 7C2 ~:'
Amoun!
(ii) Jssued Number 21,348 18,276 1,<00 1,672
Amount 3·1,11,760.60 32,83,761.30 52,547.20 75,452.1(,

2. R<ldio l icencCJ'
(D Domestic 1,600 850 350 480
(ii) Commercial Jl)2 80 7 ]5

During 1983-84. the number of money orders received entertainment lax. rCilt Oll lamb and buildings, duty
in all the Pos.t Offices ill lite town was 8,544 which on transfer of property, market receipts etc. Thes"
involved an amount of Rs. 16.52 lakhs. Against this ;~ource5 of illcome provided Rs. 15.90 lakhs forminf!
the number of money orders issued was 21,348 and gL~9 per cent o[ the total income of [he municipalitY
their amount was Rs. 34.12 lakhs. uunng 1982-83. Besides, profession tax an(! bus
stand receipts, taxi stand and cart stand r('ccipis,
3.11\. Thel'e is a Central Telegraph Office in Muva- licence fee, advertisement tax, vehicle tax, licence fee
UupuLha providing telegraphic facilities lo the people. for building construction also contributed substanti-
While all the incoming teiegrams arc distribut.:d from ally to the income of the Municipality providing
the Central Telegraph office, the facility for sending Rs. 2.73 lakhs ie. 14.04 per cent of the total income.
telegrams is available in Head Post Office and Bazaar Other minor sources of income are show tax, sur-
post office. During I f.J83·84, 12,215 telegrams were ..:'harge on show tax, water supply application fee,
delive.red in the tOWlI from the Central Telegraph clttle pond, receipts under Prevention cf Food Add·
t~ratioll (P.F.A) and plac~s of public resort (P,P.R.),
office. During this period, 13,382 telegrams were
booked from the town, of which, 12,964 were from the compos!, installation of mclchines etc. The income
Central Telegraph oHkc, 381 fmm the Head Post of the municipality which was R" 17.52 lakhs. during
omc;: and 37 I'rom tl1c Balaar post office. 1981,,82, increased to Rs. 19.46 lakhs iu 1982-83 show-
ing an i_ncrease of 11.07 per cent. Table 3.4 gives
3.19. There is all automatic telephone exchange in the detaiJs of sources of mcome to the municipal1t".
the lawn and it is under the control of a Sub Divisional during 1981-82 and 1982-83.
oml.:er. The number of telephone connections as on rablt: 3.4
30-6-1984 was 771. The number ot' local calls during
SOURCES OF INCO:vJ:E OF MUVArfUPUZHA
the previous one year was 948,909 and the number MUNICIPALITY
of trUl1k calls during th\O previous ODe year was 93,672.
Th~ number of public telephone booths is L1 and the Sources of lncom;: 1981-82 1982-83
totll1 revenue during last one year was Rs. 12.23,262. 1. Pro"erty Tax 5,29,743.00 5,89,804.00
2. Advertisement Tax 2-1,114.00 19.654.00
Fire Station 3. Profession Tax 1,05,792.00 95,535.00
4. Entertainment Tax 3,82,070. 00 4,11,679.00
3.20. The fire station, located on Muvattupuzha- 5. Show Tax 6,737.00 6,636.00
Ernakulam road about 2 km. away from the heart Tax on Animals and Vehi-
6.
of the town, was established on 16-4-1979. During the cles 1,413.00 1,673.00
year 1983. it attended 37 fire calls. The tctal property 7. Duty on transfer oj pro-
saved from fire was to the tunc of Rs. 10,09,630 perty 1,49,474.00 2,24,855.00
during the year. 8. Water supply and applica-
tion fee 1,030.00 960.00
SOUlCes of finance for Muvattupuzha Municipality 9. Surcharge on Sho'''' Tax 1,684.00 1.65~.:JC
10. Cattle pond 2,489.00 1,97". ,
3.21. The principal sources of income for the muni-
11. Receipt under P.F.A. 3,041 00 ,.-)..._....
\}~ ~
..;. ,
cipality in order of their importance are property tax,

17
 rable 3 4--COllcld, 3.23. In the Yl:af 1981-82. th.: town imprllvt:mclll
,;xper.diture topped tile list with Rs. 2.16 lakhs follow-
J981-S:' 1982 83
ed by contingent expenditure of Rs. 2.14 lakhs while
11. Rrctipt UIH.k:' ~).P.R,> 1,463.00 ~),4U4.00 in 1982·tG general expenditure was highe&t with
.Ks. 2.59 lakhs, contingent expenditure ranking second
13. Rent on lanj, and building 1,30,535.00 2,48,663.00
with Rs. 2.16 lakhs. Public works with Rs. 1.86 lakhs
14. Compcst 1,130.00 1,728.01)
during 1982-83 increased more than four t;mes as
J5. Market receipt 1,19,550.00 1,14,625.00
compared to 1981-82. Other major sources of ex-
}(,. En:. &tand re~cipt 55,000.00 56,020.00
17, Taxi stand and C:l!', stand penditure during 1982-83 arc Town lmprovement
receipt 14,240.00 21,110.00 with R:',. 1.83 lakhs, street light with R~. 1.60 lakhs,
18. Lic~nce fee 39,269.00 35.88(\.00 health with Rs. 1.60 lakhs, dustless surfacing of roads
19. Building c01l3lruction 32,436.00 20,4 18.00 with Rs. 1.47 lakhs and collection charges Rs. 1.20
20. Installati()n of machineries 267.00 175.00 lakhs.
21. Vehicle Ta.'; c'Jmpemation 24,659.00 2-'1,659.00
22. General j)mp.]ie grant 25,310.00 25,310.00 3.24. Some of the activities attended to by the muni-
23. Specj~lc purpl).j~ ~rant 31500.00 36,047.0U cipality are maintenance of roads other than those
24. Lib"~ry grant 1,579.00 2,579.00
llIairltaincd by the Public Works Department o[ the
25. EDA. Grant 16,510.00
~tate within the hm,ndary of the town, provision of
GralYl Iotal j7 .52,U35. 00 19,45,885.00 ,tree! lights, sanitation of the tOWIl, maintenance of
hlWJl library, Maintenance of thc town market at
P.F.A. FreV(;lIii'.l!l of fclod adulteration.
l(a Yllmkara which deals in such items as vegetables,
P.P.R "iclces oi public resort.
eggs, fish, meat, etc., maternity and child welfare
programme and maintenan<.:e of purity of food stuffs.
3.12. 'j he rise in income has resulted in Ii corres-
ponding incft:asc in the volume of expenditure year Educational .Facilities'
after year. In the )car 1981-82, the c"~penditure of 3.25. The 'ow 11 has mad(; good progress ill ph~vidin5
the municipality was Rs. 13.52 lakhs and it increased I.xlucatiollal facilities to its people. Then: is one Gov-
to Rs. J5. 72 lakhs in 19x2-83. The expenditure of ernment Higher Secondary School (vocational guid-
Muvattupuzha municipality during the ;rear 1981-82 ance centre) ano seven Secondary Schools o[ which 2
and 1982-83 is furnj·,11c d in Table 3.5 below: are government schools, 4 aided private 8('/100JS and
one unaided private school. in addition, there is one
Government Basic Training SclJOol and one Govern-
Table 3.5 ment Language Teachers' Training Centre. Besides
EXPENDITURE OF MUVATTUPUZHA MUNICIPALITY
these there are 3 Upper Primary Schools and 4 Lower
Primary Schools and llllC unrecogni7.ed institution viz.
Item J!:I81-82 I'.I~~-S,;
\iidyadhiraja English r\'h~diUln School in Government
High School Ward. The Educational institutions aft)
1. Ge1leral J ,62.821 .00 2,59,1146.00 located only ir~ ~ol1le of tile wards of the town. Sivan-
~
Col:r,lion charge,. 6f.,109.Gl) 1,20,422.()0 Ii:unnu and Government H S. wards have 3 institutions
3. Pub;ic works ..j.J.,4S4.0ll 1,86,010.00 each N.S.S. High School, Pcrumaltam and Pettah wards
4. Educution 58,024.00 23,768.00 have 2 institutions each alll! Asramam, Marady, Block
). M & C.W. Centre'; )(',.U4.()() 78,244.0()
and S.N.D.P. H.S. wards each have institution. Other
6. Health 6ll.250 .00 1,59.575.00
7. Contingenl
wards do not have any institution. One Arts
2)3,909.00 2,15,849.00
8. Anti-MosqL';!O 20,096.00 20,619.00
and Science Degree College, the Ninnala College.
9. Market and slaughter hOllse 7,212.00 7,314.00 under the control of Corporate Agency of Diocese
JO. C8ttJc pond 744.00 797.00 of Kothamangalam is situated outside the lown 011
11. FeiTY ~ervic(' 5,-Ul.00 10.306.00 the top of a hill in Avoly panchayat ::hout 2 km.
12. Street light J,55,522.00 1,60,038,00 from KS.R.T.C. nus Stand. This college started
13. C1...HI;;tf'U(':t-.·{13 fonds 4 ",779 .00 functioning in 1{)53. It lms got 1,400 male sludent~
1~. Du~tkss surf~cing of road~ J ,03.373.00 1 ,46~857, 00 and 1.558 female students, 79 male teachers and 43
J5. Repain to road,
Eem:Jle teachers and 3 research 'Norkers. The Dumber
1/). Slum cienrQncc U2,34G.OO
of female students is! 158 more than the male students
17. Town impl'ovement 2,1 ;;,435. 00 1,83,344.00
indicating a favourable trend in the education of
(Jr<lI]J TOllai J 3,52,459.00 15,72,189.00 femaJes who have been l:Jgging behind in this field.

18
 3.26. The name and location and the number of schools in the town arc furnished in Table 3.6.
students and number of teachers in various recognised
Table 3.6
EOUCATlONAL INSTITUTIONS IN MUVATTUPUZHA 1983-84

No. of students No. of teachers

Type, name and location c----A------~ ,.----_____....A___
Males Females Total Males Females Tctal

2 3 4 5 6 7

Lowrr Primary S"hools

,. Muvattupuzha Little Flower L.P.S. Pdtah (XIII) ward 336 418 754 13 13
2. Kavumkara Muslim L.P·S. Perumattam (III) ward 274 256 53Cl 15 1~
3. Vazi1appally Junior Boys L.P.S. Block (VIII) ward 189 167 356 3 10 13
4. Nirmala Junior L.P.S. Sivankullnu (X[I) wJrd 362 276 638

TOTAL 1,161 1,117 2,278 6

Upper j'rimary SdlOois

I. Muva~tupuzha Town U.P.S. N.S,S, 1Ii3h School (VII) ward 57<) ~87 I,O:J6 3'
2. MuvattupuLba East U.P.S. A,ramam (XIX) ward 150 33 ~ Gd ~ 1f
3. Nvrth Marady V.P.S. M,lrady (XV) w.tl'd J ~2 157 3JL) J 1!) . ~.

TOTAL 1,1 Jl 9711 Z,089 50

High Schoub
1. Govcnlll1-:nt H.S. Muvattupuzha Goyernment B.S. (XIV) wal-d 4"-,, }'.I0 011 31 10 42
2. Government H.S. Sivankunnu (XI!) ward 3~6 189 535 11 [I 22
3, S,N,I).P. B,S" MuvatlupuLha SNDI' High School (Xl) ward 55 (15 120 7 (, J3
4, St. Augustine Girls H.S., Muvuttl1puzha GovclIllllenl 1-1.5. (XIV) \\'J1'U 1,IW 1,IW 3"1 34
5. N.SS. H.S" MUVU!!uplI/)ja N,S,S. High SI:)1001 (VB) ward 2g0 2il6 566 l() 22 32
6. ThariJi.,th Islam II.S. Kuvumkara Pcrumattam (Ul) ward 309 346 655 4 12 ;6
7. Nirmala B.S., Muvallupuzllil Pdtah (XllI) ward B21 3~1 1,202 21 It . o~
),_

l'O'L\L 2,2)].. 2,H26 5,058 84 We 1%

Basic Training School

1. Government Basic Training School, Muvattupuzha Sivankullnu (XII)
ward 127 <is 192 6 '7 13
GRANO TOTAL . 4,631 4,986 9,617 117 215

3.27. There is a total of 9,617 students in various
schools in the town of which 5,058 are high school
students, 2,089 upper primary students and 2,278 lower
primary students. There arc 2,232 males anc 2,826
females getting education in high school, 1,111 males
and 978 females in upper primary schools and 1.161
males and 1,1l7 females in lower primary schools.
The number of female high school students is 594
more than that of males which indicates a very good
change in favour of female education. St. Augustine
Girls' High School is .oxclusively meant for girls and
all others arc co-cd ucational institutions. Maximum
:1Umber of girl ,tudents (1.l69) are getting education
In St. Augustine Girl's High School whereas Nirmala
High School is having maximum number of 821 boy
students.
3.28. There are ] 90 high school teachers (84 maks
and 106 females), 71 upper primary school teachers
(21 males and 50 females) and 58 lower primary school
teachers (6 males and 52 females). All the educa-
tional institutions have more female teachers than
male teachers. The proportion of male teachers in
lower primary schoo] is very low. Government BaSH:

19
Traillwg S<.:houl is providing education to 192 stud·
cnts or" which 127 arc boys and 65 girls. There are
13 teachers, 6 males and 7 females ill til is training
school. The teacher student ratio j}teJicribctl hy the
State Governmeilt is 1:45. Compared to this, the posi·
tiOll is much better in the cducation~l institutions in
Muvattupuzha where the average ratio is 1:39 for lowel
primary schools. 1.29 for upper Jl~ma~y schools and
1.26 for high schoo!s. But the posillan ~s not the same
in all educational institutions. A bnd dccounl of
some of the important educational institulions in the
town is given below'
Nirmala <Alliege
3.29. This is a Christian institution for higher edu·
cation owned al1l1 aciminiltered by the Diocese o[
K(1tha~1angnlam. Ibis college was lounded in 1953
by H1~ Grace Most Rev. Dr. AUgullJlIC Kandathll,
ArchbIshop ot Ernakulam to meet [lie educational
Ileeds 0[' th~ eustem arcas of Northern 1 ":l'3ncore,
cSl'~ciaih or the Catholic community. In J'ln~. 1955.
the Col1e£c was talsed to hrs'! Grade hy :;tartJl1g n A..
B.Sc and B.C\)lD. courses. Post·graduate cOUIses were
Introlidced HI 1%5. At present pusl.graduate courses
are conducted in Ecollomics, Chemistry, Statistics and
Commerce l<cseclrch is rromoted to (h~ e,t~llt rll"ihlc.
The colle"c aim, al academic ncellcn,e WIth Integrity
of chm.d~r. The coilege technically is located ill Avoly
Panchayat. MuvatiupuzhQ taluk. However, .half the
,ampus including the Glrls Hllslt:i dc. IS III (he
Muvattuplllh'l Municipal area. There IS " (ollege
union and all ,i'lIien!, of the college an' WIlJ jucio
\lrdinary member; oi' ,he lln;oll and have right to vote
and contest in the election of the union. [he tenure
olllfEce of tile unioll is Olle academIC )~ar. I he
prill,lpal is r3tron and hOil(,,-ary treasurer
of the college l[IIHlll. The execullvc of the c.olkg l;
union sh~1I nOJm:dly lormulate tlic general policy 01
the Ilni()l1. bUl the patron shall be the ultlma('o autho-
rity in all matter> collnected with the college lIl1IOn.
Tll~ objectives (,I th,: collegc lIllion arc to rromote
opP"rtunities for dcveiupment 01 character, leadersblp
"t1d spirit Ill' service among ,(udents. it Oiganlscs
debates. seminars, sports etc.
Nirmala High Schoul
3.30. This 'chllul uliJer the managemelll of tbe
Diocese of Kothamangalam was started in August
!961 with 70 pupils in standards ~ and 9 ~nJ 5 teachers
in the temporary accommodatuln prOVided on the
first floor of Mar Mathews Press. The school was shift·
ed to the new premises during the :Icariemic year
1963-64, The school having an open air stage and a
recreation hall has acquired a TV and VCR Set
for audio·visual education and recreation. At the
time of the survev, the,e were 1.2.01 pupils ill 23 class
divisions in the s'chool and 32 members in the teach-
in~ staff The school runs a boarding house with 150
boarders. It runs two school buses [or the conveyance
of students from variolls parts of the tOIVIl. There
arc nu studel1t unions in the school on political lines.
Members are elected to the schml council hased on
merit and performance of the candidates. OPPllrtllllilics
10
ar~ providctl to the students depending on their t~s(es
to actively participate in the school Parliament. Music
club. Sports ClUb, Dance associatioll, Kathakali troop.
Orator's club, Literary ASSOCIation. School allilivcr·
sary and develop their exlra academic talents.
Govcrnmfnt High School, Sivankunnu
3.3 L 1 his is olle of the leading Government High
Schools of MuvaHupuzha Educational District. This
was aI, upper pnmary schoo! started in 1947 and
upgraded ~s a liigh school during 1980·81. In 1983-84
the new post·metric course-Vucational Higher Secon-
dary course, was slarted. The Upper Primary and High
School sections with l3 divisions, 6 upper primary
and 7 high school ciasses, are functioning herc. As
a result of opening of new schools in the neighbour·
ing aI''''". Ihc 'lud~nls. strength of the Sc11001 is de·
creasing yell' after ye:u necel"itating the ;1boiitioll of
uivi,ions. 11l~ iOtall1umber of students in upper Ixi·
mary, high ,dlOO! and vocational higher secondary
dasses was 535 at the time of th" survey. The school
has many problems such as inauequatc land and
buildings and lack ot playground. compl)ulld wal! etc.
Proper I'acilitie, have not been provided for the voca·
tiollal cOllrse. No regular hand except one Assistant
Director l)1 Anllllal Husbandry llas been posted for
ka(hin~. Clasoc; fur Ihis wurse arc c(l1lducl~d by
teacher, anu oni,ers of Wille neighbouring institu-
tioll, paying wl1uncratiull 3t hourly rales. 0, a tern,
porary arrangemenl. Student;' council is fUDctioning
ill Ih.: sdlllo1. Ekelion, to the school c(lu,;cil arc h~ld
<Ill ul,ion b".llil. Studeuts' federation or lnllia (SF!)
and Kcrala Stutkllls Union IKSU) are the main
,tudents' uniolls functioning in the :;ch(}ol and the
former won maioritl of ,cat;; in lhe c:lection of
1985·86. ,.
~j. Augu~fil1c Girls High Schoo!, Mnvaftllpuzha
3.:>2. This is a pl'esfi~jou\ edm;aliollal instttution of
the town established ill 1937 as an upper primary
school and upgraded to high school in May 1948.
The school is under the management of the Carmelite
Convent Corporate Educatiol1al Agency. Muvattu.
puzlla. There is great demand for admission to the
school. But lack of adequate accommodation stands
in the way of giving admission to all <lpplicants.
Rcside~ caring for academic excellence. thc :;chooI also
provides (l[lportunitie, to the students to develop extra
curricnlar activities. The students of this school have
actively participated at the district level and state level
youth festivals and science exhibitions and won several
pri7es in different yem. School leader and other
membm uf the scllOt11 council arc elected from the
studentl by the parliamentary system.
Nair Service Society Hillb School, ~luvathlpuzha
3.33 The school situated in the heart Qf the muni·
cipal town is owned and managed by the Na it- Servke
Socieiv. The school was started in 1~46 with orima,v
cla,se5 oilly and ill 1964 it lVas upgraded as a high
 .1

Nir'llaia College

,y
l-
Ie
is

ill

,'e
el
al
er
be

li-
~e

tY GoVernment High School, Sivankunnu

gil
 school. Thl: school has a g<)od reputation in curri-
cular :1> well as ex-curricular activities. The elections
to tile SCliO(li cOllncil arc contested on political [illes.
But there is no student indiscipline or agitation. This
school is one of the leading book-binding centres in
Kerala State giving the students an opportunity 'to
earn while they study'.
Tbarbiyatbul Islam High School, Kavumkara
3.34. The school started functioning from 1-6-1976
as an U1?per Primary School with a strength of about
160 puplls a~d -1 teachers. The fonnatioll of Upper
Pnmary SectlOn was completed in the academic year
1979-80 and the school was upgraded as a Hioh
School in the year 1983-84. It became a full fledg~d
High School from June 1985. The in~titution is
governed by a registered corporate body ie. a trust.
The Cilairman and the other office bearers arc elected
from among the trustees and the Chairman is the
Manager o( the School. In the case of students'
council. there is no general election for the office
bearers. The students' council is constituted thr01l2h
indirect elections. The school leader is elected fru'in
the elected class representatives. On every Friday
class meetings are being. conducted, under the s!~rer­
vision and control of th:: class teach~rs.
Government Rasic Training School'
3.35. The school is situated in the heart of the
town, on the top of 'Sathrakkunnu' on the eastern side
oE 'Kacherithazham' on the M.e. Road. The school
was started in the year 1898 as a Malayalam Middle
School. When the Ma1ayalam High S(.'hoo15 and
Middle Schools were abolished in the state, an L.P.
School with Standards I to V functioned here along
with training classes. During 1980-81 the L.P. School
was upgraded into a U.P. School opening standard VI
in July 1980 and standard VII in the next year. At the
time of the survey this was a training school impart-
ing post-matrie teacher training with a u.P. School
having standards 1-7 attached to it. There are 40
trainees each in the junior and senior Teacher Training
Certificate classes and one division each i[1 standards
1-7. Apart from the Headmaster. there are 4 tcach-
ing staff in thc trairing section. 10 in the U.P. section
and 4 other staff.
Little Flower L.P.S., Muvattupu1:ha
3.36. This school was started in May 1938 under the
management and control of Muvattupuzha catholic
church. In the be[!inning, ] st and 2nd standards were
started with 30 st;ldents~ and 20 students respectively
and two teachers. 3rd standard wa,: started in 1939
and 4th standard in 1940. The school which wa~ func-
tionilH' in the hu i 1ding of Muvattupuzha Catholic
church was shifted to its present location in 1967.
Thongh there is great dem(lnd for admission every year,
the school is not in a position to aomit all students
seekinl! aomission. Since 1966. the school was func-
tioning l!nd:r (hi; corporak manugcment of Kothaman-
ga1am.
21
Nirmala .Junior School, Muvattupuzha
3.37. I'';irmala Junior S(;hool was started in ]974
as an English Medium NUrsery School aimed at be-
coming a full-flcdged primary school. The 8,hool is
owned and managed by the Franciscan clarist congre-
g;ation, Diocese of Kothamangalam. The school was
compktccl in 19 7 8-79 with the opening of the fourth
standard. Facilities for aU round development of
pupils arc providcd in the school. The school has
consecutively won the sub district overall champion-
ship in school sports meet for six years. A good
number of students from this school are awarded
Lower Secondary School scholarship every year.
3.38. Medium of instructions in most of the schools
in the town is Malaya1am. Besides Ma1ayalam. stR-
dents are also taught English from Standard IV and
Hindi from Standard V. 1'11e various subjects fm
which coaching :s given in tIle LP.S., u.P.S and High
School are given below:
Lower PfiLll'~lrY : M'llcl;t:llam (T.cmgnag;:), Engli~h,
(Standard J to lV) Math 'nntics, Science 2.nd
Social SI udies
UPP)f Primary ; Engthh. 't-.l1lay;tlam. Hinlli. Science
(St'mdll'd V tl) VLIl) S,)cj;Ji Studies and Mathemat ic~
High School do.
(Standard VIII to X)
Education upto secondary school level is free in the
state. However. unaided private schools are charging
tuition fees and special fees at different rates.
Medical facilities
3.39. Medical facilities in the town compare
favourably with the other small towns in the district.
Before the introduction of Allopathic system of medi-
cine. the people of the town depended for treatment
upon the ayurvedic and homoeopathic physicians
who were not fully qualified in the sense that they
did not receive their education from recognized medi-
cal institutions. However, many of the ayurvedic
physicians could provide good treatment for common
diseases and ailments. Very often they were tradi-
tional physicians and were specialised in the treat-
ment of certain diseases. Some physicians. locally
known as . Marmanis' attended to fractures of bones
while some others attended to cases of snake bites, the
treatment of which was often a closely guarded secret
passed on ffOm generation to generation. Although
people had much faiih in the uyurvedic system of
treatment. the government r~cognition for the efficiency
of ayurvedic system was rather Jate. The GOvernment
Ayurvedic Hospital in the town was established only
10 years b:lCk v.hereas the ta1nk hospital (allopathic)
is 40 years old. With the growth and development
of the town. the growth of medical facilities have
also been keeping pace with it. The following arc
the health and medical institutions. both public anel
private. in the town at the time of the survey.
 Type nr illstill/lio/l Ward ill ,\'!lich /,JNltcd

1. GOWJDlUent Taluk Hospital Hospital

2. Government AYllrvedic Ho~ritnl N. S. S. H. S.
3. Government Homoeo Hospitul Perumaltam
4. Nedumclnlil HlIspital Velloorkunnam
5. Karllna N'lfsing Hom: and General CIi"ic Velloorkunnam
(,. Shrrnthiniketan HospitoJ Velloorkunnam
7. St. GCMge Ho.,p;tal Government High School
8. VelJeka1il Clinic S. N. D. P. High Schnol
9. He11th Cent, c Sivankunnu
10. M. G. M. Homoco Clinic Sivankunnu
1!. 1\walil D0ntal Clinic S. N. D. P. High School
12. O,n'huthe>ttnm D:ntal Clinic Sivankunnu
13. F.\lnd)! Welf;w: Centre Vazhappa\ly
,.,. '::·lr.:;iy Welfare Cent,·c Kizhakkekara
15. Ve t c;in1ry HJ,')'tal Government High School

Talull hospital
3.40. This is the most important hospital in the
town which started functioning about 40 yeClrs bClCk.
There ,ire 16 cloeto:,s. 17 nurses and 11 paramedical
staff in this hospital. The senior-most doctor holds
the ~ost of Medical Officer-in-Charge of the hospital.
The hospital ha~ 134 beds. During the year 1983-84.
5,749 persons (3.524 persons from the town and
2,225 from outside) had availed medical facilities f:'om
the hospital as indoor patients. A total of 145,782
persons (l03.505 from the town and 42,277 f':om
outside) were treated as out-door patients during the
corresponding period. Incidence of diseases treated in
this institution during the period 1982-83 and 1983-84
is furnished in the table below:

Table 3.7

iNCIDENCE OF mSE<\SES TREATED IN TALUK HOSPITAL DURING 1982-83 AND 1983-84

Number treated
r-~-----------"--------~-~~-.~
Category of diseases rndoor Outdoor
, - -_ _ _ _ _ ___
-"-----~
_A..,._..~_., ~

1982-83 1983-84 1982-83 1983-84

2 3 4 5

Total 8,003 ~5,749 87,121 145,781

fnfective Gnd parasitic di~ea~es Nil Nil 3,475 15

Neoplasms Nil Nil 176 Nil
Allc,'gic, enjD~riJl' Wot';:ll, mclaln1;'; ;'1'1 J nlltririotJ:lI dise:!~e, '13 247 14,S28 4,310
Dis:ase, 'If the bhld and bto:Jd fOI"lling or,pn; 1,54() 1,104 11,319 52,116
MemaL psychoneurotic and penonality disorder:; i 3CIS 15 592 Nil
nl~C'n3c~-; of the n:;!rYOLl"l sys(enl ,111.1 <;..::n~c {)r:~un;;; JR 'iR ~3t 2,648
Disca'><:s (If the circulatory s)'st'~m :!O 9 214 15
2,383 2.474 27,443 22,235
Hi 145 17,R44 2,326
Disca'.,'" of lh~ gcnitc1urinarv system 7~ 63 576 4,367
Deliver ics and complications of pre~nancy, chihl-hirlh ancllhc puerperium [2,7()O 439 2,522 5,2\5
Disca~cs of the "kins ,lml cellular tissue 97 93 37,4RO
[)is~n,cs of the [',)11-:" Gnd org1ns of movement, 2](; 119 15
Congenital malforl1l:Jlions
Certain diseases of carly infancy
Senility and ;l1-dellned conditions 150 536 721 7,670
Accidents, [Johollin[!: & violence 168 562 868 7,370

22
Taluk Hospital

21,a)
 3.41. The number of outdoor patients in::reased
from 87,121 in 1982-83 to 145,782 recordinl!: an in-
crease of 67.33 per cent. The number of- indoor
patients. however. fell from 8,003 in 1982-83 to 5,749
in 1983-84. Diseases of blood and blood forming
organs, diseases of the skin and cellular tissues, dis-
eases of respiratory system, symptoms, senility and
ill-defined conditions, accidents, poisoning and vio-
lence; deliveries and complications of pregnancy.
child-birth and the puerperium are the major cate-
gories. of diseases treated in the Taluk Hospital dur-
ing 1983-84.
Homoepatbic hospital
3.43. This hospital, established in 1980. is located
on Kothamangalam road in Perumattam ward. Two
doctors. 3 nurses ancl two nursing assistants and one
pharmacist comprise the staff of this institution. be-
sides one clerical attendant, one cook and one deaner.
The hospital has a bed strength of 25. Ab0ut 750
indoor patients were treated in the hospital during
1982-84. uf which over 500 were from outside the
town. Large number of outdoor patients also have
availed of the facilities of the hospital.

Ayurvedic bospital
3.42. It is next in importance to the allopathic
hospital in the town. The hospital has a bed strength
of 10. The staff consists of two doctors and two nurses.
About 168 persons (100 from the town and 68 from
outside) were treated as indoor patients in this insti-
tution during 19&2-84. The number of persons trea-
ted as outdoor patients during the said period was
about 50,000. Most of the medicines prescribed by
the physicians are made available from the hospital
itself. In spite of keen competition from allopatilic
system of medicine, people's faith in the indigenous
system of medicine for certain diseases like rheu-
matism, skin diseases. general weakness etc. still con-
tinues.
Nedumchalil Hospital
3.44. Nedumchalil hospital is one of the plivate
medical institutions nf the tOWIl. The institution lJ3s
a bed strength of 65. The staff consists of 2 d()ctors,
8 1lurses. besides 5 para-medical persons. During
1983-84 this institutioll provided treatment to [2.510
out-donr patients (4,120 frOlTI the tOWll llnd 8J90
from outside the (owni and 1.673 indoor patients. (570
from the town and 1, 103 from outside the town)
Among the various diseases treated by the institute.
infective and parasitic c1i~eases are the major cate-
gories. The incidence of diseases treated in this
medical institution during 1982-83 and I 98.~-84 is
furnished in table 3.8.

Table :1.8
INCIDENCE OF DISEASES TREATED IN NEDUMCHALIL HOSPITAl.. MUVATTUPVHZA DURING 1982-83 and 1983·84

Number treated
r--------------- ___..A..________ - - - - - - - - - - -.. -~

Indoor OutdGOI"
_____. .____ _______;. . _______--.", ~---...A.._---~ ___-_.....
Category of diseases . 1982-83 1983-84 1982-83 1983-84
2 :1 4 5

Total 12.118 12,510 1.479 1,672

Tnfective and plra,itic di~el~es 10,,,57 11,')57 531 680
Neoplasm, Nil Nil
Allergic, endo~nn~ SYlt"U, m::l\n1ic a~j n.lt,.itio:l.li ji'~1"., 121 '!~ I! 9 94
Disea,es of bloaj an:l blo)j·forming orgalB Nil Nil Nil
Mental. p3ychotlwro~ic an1 p~rSJlllity disordor, Nil Nil 2
Diseases of nervous system and seme orga!1S Nil Nil
Diseases of circulat.ory system 2 Nil 2 4
Diseases of respiratory system 476 (,17 610 711
Diseases of digestive system 526 214 100 88
Diseases of the Genito-urinary system 118 307 78 45
D~liycrics and con~liclti:)a; or' pr~gl1n~y, child-birth anj tbe pu~rp~rium Nil Nil 2
Diseases of the skin and cellular tissues Nil 21fi 16 26
Diseases of bones and orgam of m:)Vem~nts is 71 11
Congenital malformations
Certain diseases of early infancy
Senility. and ill-defined conditions
Accidents, poisoning and violence 6

23
5-19 RGIIND}88
 Karuna Hos>pital Hotels, lodge; antI restaurants
3.45. Karuna Nursing Horne and General Clinic 3.48. As per 1981 census house:;st, the;:c are 9 hotels,
~s also an important medical institution of the town. 110 restaurants, sweet meat shops and eating places
Dr. K.E. Paulose is the Director of this institution. and 3] loclges in the town. Om of :he 9 lnteb. 4 ::m:
This nursing home bas 2 doctors and 3 nurses. beside~ 1>1 Bazaar w2rd. 2 each in Sivankunnu :1nci 1, cspital
2 para-medical staff. The institution has the facility of wards and one in Government hil!h sebool ward .. OUt
30 beds for indoor patients. During the three years of the 31 i;-·dges, 16 are lc:atE'd in-S.N.D.P. hj~l1 ~chool
from 1981-82 to 1983-84. this hospital provided treat- ward, 10 in Government High Sch001 ward, 2 fa:h in
ment to 16,053 patients (14,485 from the town and Petta); cmel Ho,pitnJ wards and o',e in Baz~1ar ward.
1l,568 from outsid,,). The indoor facility of beds was As regard, resiaurants and (,'iting :)h:2~s, these are
availed by 9,041 persons (6,030 from the town and ~':1tt,red in 2111 jh~ ]0 w:lnls of the fOW'1. Be~i0e" 31
3,011 from outside) during th~ same period. The in- loJges, there is a Go·. \~rn"'r:'lt Puhlic Works DepJrt··
cidence of diseast's treated in the institution during the menr (P.W.D.) rest ho;]se located in Sivankunnu ward.
same period is indicated in the table 3.9. Th brief deiGi1s reIaling to some important lodges
and bak'~ :<nd P.W.D. r~st \:cmse a~.; ~':Jrnis'led here.
Ta\JJe 3.9 PJ·VJ), "qy·t House
INCIDENCE OF DISEASES TREATED IN KARUNA 3.49. The m:)st imporiant lodgin:s piR:.::e ;~1 ihe town
HOSPITAL DURING 1981-84 is P'V.D. R(st H(ms,~. 1t i, ioC'}tec1 in the campshed
;\1uvaHupuzha at a dis~an('e of one km, from the
Number trated KS.R.T C Bus S:and. Ther;.~ arc 9 dnnble ?'Ooms of
f----.....A....----~'l
Category of diseases Out- Re- which one is reserved for VIPs and one for P.W.D_
Indoor door marks Each room is provided with cots and rubb~: mat-
tr\"s~es. mosquito nets.. two ordinary chairs and one
2 3 4
table with mirror. All te;e rooms have ceiling fans,
Total 9,Nl 17,1)12 att:lChcd b,ll rooms and latl"ines. V,'lltii;}.tion and
Infective and parasitic diseases 4()O 1,300 sanitation are good. Rooms C,lli be reserved in ad-
Neoplasms 100 100
v"pce by app!ying to the District Colb.'!or. Errakulam
~bout 10 day:> in advance. The n:nt ptr day is Rs. 10
Allergic. en:lo:rine system, metabolic
and nutritional diseases 350 2,800 for Ofl:inary persons. Pqr Gov~mmf.nt employees,
Di~eases of the blood and blood-
the re!lt is differe11! b::li'",d on the D, ~L admissible to
forming organs 420 545 them. M<:als are being supplied from the c,mteen
Mental, psychoneurotic and perso- attached to the rest house.
nality disorders 252 524
Diseases of the nervous system and Janatha lodge
sense organs 315 326 3.50. It is lo'.'c:t(;d af Ka(;herithazham. There are
Diseases of circulatory system 421 3B 52 rooms, 40 sinl)e b::d reoms 11.' 10 12 cauble bed
Diseases of respiratory system 1,212 2,842 rooms. E::tc1: room h'Os ~" attached latrine and
Diseases of digestive system 2,235 3,875 hathroom. All the rooms have tans lJnd nec:essary
Diseases of genito-urinary system 1,32+ 1,842 furniture lib,; c:t 3nd bed. ~,able and Ch2i~'. Rent for
Deliveries and complicatiom of pre- a siwrle room is F.~, 14 and d0 1 1ble room I~s, 25.
gnancy, child-birth and puerperium 375 574 Thrre - are tW('I or thr;:e air cn!1diiion~d rooms also.
Diseases of skin and cellular tissue 775 <155 The rooms ar. being given on rent en daily basis
Diseases of bones and organs of mo- and not on ffi("1thlv b?<sis. AveraQ~ Dumber of cus-
vements 315 512 tomers per day is 48: '
Congenital malformations Nil 212
Certain diseases of early infancy 15 25 I.odge SaYllna
Senility and ill-defined conditions ::!13 fL, 3,51. It w::..~ ",,:::.blishccl in 11l7S. it is also located
Accidents, poisoning and violence 219 325 in Kachedthaz 1wm on the m"in central Toad. There
are 15 sing].' ; om~ and 15 double rooms. All the
3,46. There are two Family Welfare CClltres--one at r'ooms 11ave ;~c'lin!' fans. T,C rJom~ r,i'e furnished
Vazbappilly and the other at Kizhakkekara run by the with a cot and bed. a table and a chair. The rooms
~re given 0;' T'~: 0:, c!ailv ba<:is 2 11d ]1') room is given
municipality. The one at Vazhappilly was stal'lcd in
1951:1 and the other one was established in 1968. Thes~ on monthly b",i,. Rent for adouble room is Rs. 15
:mc1 rent fo:' ~\ single room is Rs. 8 with common
clinics engaged honorary doctors who are paid S0mt:
fixed remuneration, bath a:ld tltrine and Rs. 12 with separate bath and
httl'ine. Aver><.(!:' "umber of c:ustomers per day is 15.
Tll'~ro;: are tvv.' nr three air conditioned roorrs also
3.47. In addition to medical institutions of public
health and medical carc. the lown has also a veterinary for which the rent i, Rs. 75 per day.
poly clinic to L:Ike care of anima! health. The number
l"jtiurasmnmm !odg~
of animals tre;1ted for various diseases by clinic was
6,095 from tlle town :ll1d 5,014 from outside the town 3.5~. It i~; lllC:h'.d in VelloorrunnJffi ward. It is
making a tOL,I \)f 11.1 09 animals. [he w('rk;"t' womc'l's hostel Total number of rooms

24
is .:f: Zl ,d b~ds i21. The lodge has 3 single bed Hotd Markandodayam in S.N.D.P, High School
rC':::Ib, 2 l:c,ubL. "JA ;uums ",lid 'iJ tripie b.:d l,.)villl> wdI,i ",t; ,w() vegetaJiun hotels.
/'.-~.~Llf!t Llutnb~'t~ c£ ~L!~ton}~~'s staying in t!-i:: l(,ctg~
:~ 4~{). it wa? iUlugmated on 7-4-1984 by Shri ij;,';WI silop
1? _.;i_{.2r~la'.:hH~~(j~<l'd_:" ;_luvel':1or ~)i: Kerala. On~y
1 111 \~CG '10\ a . . i00.-.-:J ,0 S:~'J ~1C:-~ I,,-1onLhly ten for Llqllor is s..:rwd In ";I)me of the lodges and
a room with alta2ted bath is Rs. IDO and with com- lwtc:s. rlC licences to scli foreign liquor, arrack
illO!; b:l.b :: :",';. 1{cn~ 1'01' a dOJb!e l'<),)1lI :S ",1c: to,'!dv arc issud bv the Government under the
'i % of the lNal salary with a minimum of Rs. 70 prmi,;01J5 of i;j'; ,\bkJ!i i·.ct it; ;~ub;ic auction, The
and ll1uXim:lill u f Rs. 90 per person. Triple bed lown was :.l ,t' y awOl pc;~': 10 L;l~ lifling of _f)fohibj-
.\mn"! ;~_ 1.1\'::',;: ::"J~;~ ,jfl :: ~:;,?~-jtl1~~/ r ;]1t of ~),,~ Jf 1";
f ':Jl ;', <~,~ St:t:.: in l067 II (1;'; year 1982-83 and
(ul;Ji ,:a'.:, "" 'en a l.J';t;llum oj' ':'. 30 Jlkl a mil .i- _!. .'3J-8J. i.!';,;r" we,',: :"0 T,)ddy S:.\i]1S in Muvatlupuzha

f,Lm of f~s. 5;) pCI' pel~un. Room,; will be given to"'in a'ld 'Lverage !lumber of cuswrncrs per day dur-
\..:;1 1 :.:_t1~- \)~!L'y lLi lil-,')_H 'l~r' h_l~d:: ~~lld ~lut !).: rJ~il~v bJ~lS- ing i lj;:l2 ·83 Jnd 1lJ83-84 w~rc 465 :lGd 246 respec-
l:VC.!:' anJ Ik sale pel' c;:.tj c:Oill-; :0 6'n and 562
:~:Te'. :f;Sflcctivelv. Thrl'e wert: 1:: :Ir";'[c'k shop:> sell-
iag (12 litfl~ p'.'i l;J~ [\) 31 (} cus,,)me r , in 19S3-84.
h.
;'11_
;"'Iin;1ng pre.>.!i
lCHNJl ?j\,7;l~): g;JiJd m,-"";11S. ,CJ~'··'-i."~ ~,:~t Jlld tiffin 3t j'e3'..,.'·
;lz,bj;: r;·,;,",. S0me L)j' em, imD,);;ant l,oleis i,l lie 3.55. Ther~ 1:; no government press i)] the town,
to'd,} ~r.;! ~J>;1 JhC:'lth:,1 }iCl~j ~aya~la, 1-lot~~1 R~__Jd Tl,,~ town has Oi;e press registered under the Factories
j'~'ljcswari, l-lotel MarblldoJayam, Hotd Zalkar<J Act known as Victory Press,\,·luvah'lpu"ha, It is a
etc. I-btel .T :matha of Katche:itllazham is an 'A' Sl!l~i1 ?re~~, located in Sivankullllu ward near the Mu-
(!?~S :':'gistc '::'.1 hOl.':I S;?_;''.'~ng fJ8l;' ':~:?-(,~,:~r~aJ~ :,l'.;._l ,:-,:~:f':;,' Odi,~C ,'.t l1C ccntJe of th,c tawil. About 15 pcr-
n:.}f~~\'tL,,~(.lr;uj~ flr,Jd. r,F.,;~,:~ S3V()n~\ C.l1d }iot~l SJJ~ ~ons are employed here. This prl;<S makes many kind
kara in
!'aL..:b0~~ii"L~~lhaiH Lisd ;)~-e s~rving b~lth v::ge- uf forms and registers. ApprJAimCt"!~ value for the
Lariar_ 2nd norl~vegel~t]~'j.P l('l(fc1. l-lote1 Triv~ni and ilems printed/manufactured is R~. 1,75,000.

25
 CHAPTER IV

ECONOMIC UFE OF THE TOWN

The economic activity of a place is reflected in the
proportion of workers in tlie [lopulation. The dicho-
tomy of population into workers LInd non-workers
adopted in lY6l and ]971 Censuses waf' discarded
in 1981 census and a :ridh,toDlv as main workers.
marginal workers and 'lon-workers \vas adopted. A
perSall who is engaged in some work Eor major part
of the year i.e. at least ISO d:1Ys i, considered as a
main worker. Thusc who worked f,c[ some time dur-
ing the la,t :::"l~- but Ill" f ::n th ~ maiur part of the
year are treatell as :narginal workers. Those who
had no work during the last year are non-workers.
The main workers of 1981 Census correspond to the
workers of 1971 and main workers and maminal
workers together correspond to the workers of 1961.
Working population
4.2. Accordill2: tl) the C.;J1'LlS of 19S]' 28.15 per
(cut of population of MuvattupuZ:ba tCWI1 have some
main work comp:lfcd to 33.45 pCI' cent in India (ex-
cluding Assam): 26.68 per cent in Kerala State,
27.99 per ceut in ErnakuJam di~trict and 30.32 per
cent in Muvattupuzh3 taiuk TIle proportion of main
workers in the urban areas or Ernakulam district is
26.03 per cent. In respect of main workers the town
has a work participation rate hig:ler than that of the
state and the district. hut lower than that of the taink
and Indja.
titutions. The percentage uf main workers. marginal
workers and total workers In the state are 26.68, 3.85
and 30.53 respectively and fO! Ernakulam district are
27.99. 3.69 and 31.68 respectively. The proportion
of main workers is higher than the corresponding
propOl.:tion of the state and the distnct. But the pro-
portion of marginal workers is only f /3 of the cor-
responding proportion of the district and the state
and therefore the percentage of total workers in the
town is also lower than the correspDnding percentage
of the state and the district.
4.4 The participation rate {workers per 100 popu-
lation} with reference to main work is hjghest with
35.25 per cent in S.N.D.P. High School ward and
lowest with 23.09 per cent in Vazhappilly ward. The
wards with participation rate more than that of the
town (viz. 28.15) are S.N.D.P. High School, Sivan-
kunnu. Bus stand, Bazar, Peringuzha Hospital, Market,
Stadium. N.S.S. High School and G0vernment High
School. These wards are ec.:momically ClOre deve-
loped than the remaining wards. There are no mar-
ginal workers in Central Vazhappilly. NSS High
School. SNDP High School lind Peringuzha wards.
Marginal workers are mainly found in Kadathy, As-
ramam. Vazhappilly, Perumattom and Randar wards
which together account for 245 out of 296 margina'l
workers in the town.

Main worker~, Marginal workers, Non-workers 4.5 When total workers, combining main and mar-
ginal workers. are considered SNDP High School
4.3 Of the total population of 25,] 13 persons in ward with a participation rate of 35.25 per cent leads
Muvattupllzha town. 7.125 (28.15 per C~llt) constitute the remaining wards and centre.! Vazhappilly ward
main workers. 296 (1.17 per cent) mJfginai workers with a participation rate of 24.02 is at the lowest
and 17.892 (70.68 per cent) non-workers. In other rung. Central Vazhappilly ward has the highest pro-
words less than aile third of ~l!e populatioll comprise portion of 75.98 !Jef cent of non-workers and SNDP
workers and remaining 2(3 :ire nOl1,workers which High School ward the lowest proportion of non-wer-
include students, housewives, dependents and in- kers. Table 4.1 gives the ward-wise distribution of
fants. retired persons, persol1s or inJepenc1ent means. population by main workers, marginal workers and
beggars, inmates Ot penal. mental arId charitable ins- non-workers in Muvattupuzha t'_'WD.
TabJe 4. i
W\Rl)·\VCSE [)1'irR[3Ur[O~ OF TOfAL POPULHlON BY MA.IN WORKERS, MARGINA.L WORKERS, TOTAL
WORKERS AND NON-WORKERS IN MUVATTUPUZHA. TOWN

1981 Censlls (Percentage within brackets)

Total poru- Marginal Non-

lation Main worLers workers Total workers workers

2 3 4 5 6
.\1uva l tupllLha MUllici[Xlii!y 25,313 7,125(23.15) 296(1. 17) 7,.W(29.32) 17,892(70.68)
CenU'al Vazilappilly 1,374 330(24.02) 330(24.02) 1.044(75.98)
Valhappjlly 1,490 344(23.09) 45(3.02) 389(26.11) 1,101(73.89)
Perumatlam 1,732 422(24.36) 32(1 85) 454(26.21) 1,278(73.79 •

26
 Table 4. 1- cone/d.
2 :\ 4 5 6

Market J,572 \(>1(19.32) ~(O.S I) HI(29.83) I ,103(70. 17)

Balal' 'i60 2nD l. (4) 7(0.73) 30S(}1.77) 655(68.23)
StadiulTl 979 2X2(2S.80) 7[0 71) 289(29.52) 690(70.48)
NSS High SCh(10J I ,35~ 3S6(28.53) 306(28.53) 967(71.47)
Block 1.37~ 373(27.19} 3(0.22) 370(27. HJ 996(72.59)
VelJoorkllnnam I, tl2 386(27 1-1) ?(() I t) 388(27.48) I ,024(72.52)
Kadathy \ ,9~6 533(27.39) 9;:((S.0-\1 63J(32.43} 1,315(67.57)
SNDP High Scitnl)l Til 258(35.25) 258(35.25) 474(64.75)
Sivanku!111U 911 }D9(33.921 (lIO.l>C,) 315(:14,58) 596(65.42)
Petta 979 2n{27.99) 1(0.10) 275(28. ,)9) 704(71.91)
Government High School 1,0gO 3[0(28.70) 6(:).56) 316r:U.~6} 764(70.74)
Marajy 1.3,1') 379,2 i. 95) J'O. ~3) n~'29.18) 927(70.82)
Hospital 9.J,3 ~8()(29. (9) 2(0.21) 2.3W.9.90) 661(70.10)
PeringuziJa J ,306 394(30.17) 39-1{30.17) 912(69.83)
Municipal BLh St~ll1l1 1_077 33ml.2'J) Ii (\)5fii 3+3(31 .85) 734(68.15)
Asramam 1,+rH 3'}~~2~.n) +)::1. I'll H\~.)\.D) 9611(68 _70)
Randar 1.377 373(27 09) 2511_8il 398(28.9\)) 979(71. ! 0)

There is wide variation in the participa tioll
of workers in the various w<i,ds o[ the (own l'll(!er
study_ This variation is due tl' the cJive;-gent pwpor-
tion of female workers in Vari()~lS wards. It is ulso
partly attributable to the type of ccunomic opportu-
nities available in each ward.
Industrial category of main worker.,
4.6 According to the primary classification adopted
in 1981 census, there are 4 types or maln workers
viz_ cultivators, clgricultural hbourers. household in-
dustry workers and other workers. In MuvaHu-
rates puzha town. 4.27 per cent are .:ultivators, 5.56 per
agricultural iabourers, !.5~ p~r cent household
C(!l1t
industry workers and 88.59 fle r cent other workers.
4.7 Other workers can be further classified into
foil owing categories with a view to obtalll the com-
parativ(: icdustrial .:atef:!'Jrics d wCl'kers of 1971 cen-
sus. (1) Livestock, forestry, fIshing. hunting, planta-
tions, orchards and aHied activities, (2) Mining and
quarrying, (3) Manufa('turing o1her than household
industry. (4) Construction, (5) Trade and Commerce,
(6) Transport. storage and communications and (7)
other services_ The followillg ti!bk give8 1he distri-
bution of workers by sex in these categories also_

Table 4_2
DISTRiBUTION OF ~MAIN WORKERS BY INDUSTRIAL CATEGORIES AND SEX IN MUVATTUPUZHA TOWl'l
Total main workers Males F:;:males
r----A----~ r----~...A.. - -----"""'l ,----___..I.,_----.- --..
Per.:entage Percentage Percelltiigt:
of workers of workers of workers
to tOlal to total to IOtal
worken mate female
Industrial category of workers Number Number workers N 11l1lb<:r worken
2 3 4 5 6 7
Total workers 7,125 100. ItO 5,IlS. 100 itO 1,,274 to(). GO
1. Cultivators 30.. 4.17 290 4.96 14 1.10
II. Agricultural labourers 396 5.55 295 5 .O~ 101 7.93
m. Live stock. fOI'~strv, fi;hin~, hUllting, pbntatiom, \lr~hurd,
and allied activities 1'15 1 76 116 1.98 9 0.71
IV_ Mining and quarrying 42 0.59 12 0.72
V. (a) Household Inllustry 113 !_ 58 66 I. 13 47 3_G9
(b) Manufacturing other thall hous"hoid inJlJst[·y I,OC)? 14.13 926 15.83 8] 6.36
VI. Construction }OS ~_2'i1 2Ti 4.7~ 2& 2.20
VII. Trade and comllwrce 1,844 25.88 1,767 3().2() 77 6.04-
VHf. Transport, storage and conlt11unicati011, 920 12.91 868 14.83 52 ~ O~
IX_ Other services 2,069 29.04 1,204 20.58 865 67.~0

27
 4.8. The distribution o[ workers among the indus-
trial categories provides at a glance a broad picture
of the economic activities in tbe town. The largest
number ot work:.:rs constituting 29.0';' per cellt of the
total main workers are enga!'ed in other service:;
which include administratiie," clerical and all kinds
of personal services. The predominam groups under
this category are educational services, domestic ser-
vices, public services and health services accounting
for 21.89 per cent, 13.48 per cent, 13.44 per cent and
8.12 per cent respectively of the total other services
workers. The town b~ing the headquarters of a taIuk
as well as a revenue division. several offices are locat-
ed here. There are several edu(:ational and health
institutions. TlIese oilkes provide employment op-
portunities to the populaiion of the town and the
surrounding areas of the [:lluk. The growlh of the
place into all urban cenlre has jeu to an increase
in personal services as in any oiller urban area.
, 4.12 Cultiv~tor& account for 4.27 per cent of wor-
Kers and. agncultural labourers 5.56 per cellt of total
workers .1Il M~vattupuzha town. The m<lin seasonal
crop cultivated IS paddy.
4.13 Construction activities account for 4.28 per
cent of main workers in Muv"ttupm::lZl wwn. The
wo~kers are mostly engaged in the conStruction and
mallltenance of buil?ing~, roads; bridges etc. (about
80 per cent). Electncal ll1stalla~lQn also absorb about
J I per cent of construction workers.
4.14 There is coastal area (): fOi\;st area in the
110
~own and therefore. the workers <:llgaged in fishing,
torestry and plantanons are very small in the town
p 76 per .cent). These workers are mainly engaged
111 plantations of rubber, CO:OllUt, bClei-nut etc Pro-
d~ction of fruits lik.e bananas anJ iil agrkuHural ser-
VIces such as land clearing. land draining etc.

4.9. Trade and commerce is the second largest
group absorbing 25.88 per cent cf t'Jtai main workers.
The town is a market centre of hill prod'Jces. It is
also a busy centr~ of corr:munkation QEd is linked
with important places in Ern;lkulam uistrict and
neighbouring districts. These factors have given a
fillip to th~ development of trade and commerce in
the town. Among the workers in trade and com-
merce 5.42 per c~nt ,,:e in wholcslle trade, 77.77 per
cent in retail trade and 16.81 p~r <:ent in financing
insurance, real esta te and business services. Cerel.'.Js
and pulses and other food-stuffs are the important
items of wholesale trade. Meat, fish and poultry.
gram and grocery. pan, beedi and cigarettes. textiles.
wine and Equ,;,' . utensils, SWCi'Ot-meat, bakery and
dairy products, books and stationery, food articles
and beverages, vegdable and fruits and medicines are
the important items under retail trade.
4.10 The third largest category of workers is in
manufacturing other tha:l housdlGld inJuslry ac-
counting for 14.13 per cent of tolal main workers.
There are no medium or large scale industries in the
town. Apart from repair and allied activities ab-
sorbing 22.14 per cent of workers in this category,
manufacture of textile products, (induding wearing
4.15 The proportion of workers in household in-
~iustry in t~e town is onlYl.J8 per cent. The more
Important mdustrIes found i;1 Ille town are m.lTIufac-
ture of wooden and cane boxes, baskets etc., manu-
facture of food products and manufacture of bakery
products employmg 69.91 PC!' c~nt of h{'us~h(Jiu In-
dustry workers.
. 4.16 .. Mining and quarrying is the least important
mdustnaI category of workers in the town. The town
has no mineral deposits and the handful of workers
in this cz.tegory are engaged in stone quarrying,
4.17 A comparative picture of the distt'ibution of
main workers jnto cultivators, agricultural labourers,
household industry workers and other workers in
Muvattupuzha town and other municipal towns of
Ernakulam district is presented in the following table.
Table 4.3
PERCENT AGE DISTRIBUTION OF MAIN WORKERS BY
FOUR INDUSTRIAL CATEGORIES IN VARIOUS MVNICI-
PAL TOWNS OF ERNAKULAM DISTRICT, 1981
Percentage of main workers
,---~---______).._~-~--~

apparel other than footwear), manufacture of food Agri- House- .

products, wood aild wood products, furniture and State/District/town cultural hold
Cuhi- labour- indus- O:her
fixtures, tobacco and tobacco products and metal vators f'rs tries \Yorkcr3
products are the important in dUb trial activities in the
town. 2 4 5
Kerala (Urban) 2.44 8.25 2.89 86.42
4.11 Transport, storage and communications cons-
tituting 12.91 per cent of workers ;:1 the town is the Ernakulam di~trict (Urban) 1.96 3.81 2.13 92.10
fourth important industrial category. Transport by Parur (M) 0.69 1.05 5.22 93.04
motor vehicles other than bus services, freight trans-
Angamaly (M) 12.17 11. 72 4.96 71.15
port by motor vehicles. transport by bus servi-=e~,
transport by man (cart pullers, porters, cQolies etc.) Alwaye eM} 1.10 1.66 1.06 96.18
and postal, telegraphic, wireless and signal communi- Perumbavoor (M) 4.44 11.21 2.33 82.02
cations account for most of the workers in this cate-
gory. Besides the Kerala State Road Transport Cor- Kothamanga1am (M) 15.82 27.42 1.17 55.59
poration operating several schedules there ~.re many Muvattupuzha (M) 4.27 5.56 1. 58 38. ~l)
private buses, taxis and jeeps pJying in the town.
There are also several lorry <tlld mini lorry owners Trippunithura (M) 1.08 5.74 2.27 90.9]
and agencies engaged in goods transport in the town. Cochin (C) 0.20 0.53 1.}<) 97 Q;_:

28
 The percentage of cultivators among the main wor- Table 4.4-col1c1d.
kers in this town is higher than the correS'ponding
2 3 4
figure<> of Kerala (urban) and Ernakulam district
(urban). Among the municipal towns of the dstrict. Household industry 15 9 6
the percentage of cultivators in the town is lower
than that of Kothamangalam, Angamaly and Perum- (5.07) (511) (5.00)
bavoor municipal towns but is higher than that of Non-household industry 49 27 22
other ~unicipal t,?wns and Cochin Corporation. The ( 16.55) (15.34) (18.33)
proportIOn of agrIcultural labourers among the main
worker~ exceeds corresponding percentage in the Construction 18 11 7
district (urban) hut is lower than that of the state (6.08) (6 25) (5.83)
(urban). Four municipal towns viz .. Kothamangalam.
Angamaly, Perumbavoor and Trippunithura have Trade and commerce 21 17 4
higher proportion of agricultural labourers compared (7.10) (9.66) (3.33)
to Muvattupuzha town. In respect of household in- Transport, storage and com-
dustry, the state (urban) and district (urban) and all munication 36 36
the towns except Alwaye have higher proportion than 02.l6} (20.46) ( .. )
the town under study. The percentage of other wor-
kers in the town (88.59) is somewhat higher than Other services 50 25 25
corresponding state (urban) proportion (86.42) but it (16.89) (\4.20) (20.83)
is lower than the district (urban) proportion of 92.10
per cent. Among the municipal towns of the dis- It can b~ observ~d L'om the table that the highest
trict, the town is ahead of Angamaly, Perumbavoor number of marginal workers (24.32 per cent) are en-
and Kothamangalam towns hut lags behind the other gaged as agricuHui'al labourers followed by other
towns and Cochin Corporation in this respect. services wi~h 16.89 per cent. The third important
category of marginal worl(~rs comprise those engaged
in mandacturing, proc('s~ing, service and repairs in
Category of marginal workers industries other than household industnes with 16.55
4.18. Details of marginal workers in the town in per cent. Transport, storage and communi::ation is
1981 by important industrial categories are presented next important group of marginal workers with 12.16
in table 4.4. As already mentioned there are 296 per cent. 9.12 per cent ;Jf marginal workers are en-
marginal workers constituting 1.17 per cent of the gaged in cultivation.
population of tbe town recorded in 1981 census. They 4.19. Majority (57.09 per cent) among marginal
comprise 176 males (59.46 per cent) and 12l) females workers are job seekers. 33.11 per cent of marginal
(40.54 per cent).
workers are mainly engaged in househlod duties,
3.72 per cent are students and 6.08 per cent depen-
Table 4.4 dents and infants or oersons of independent means.
Out of 98 marginal workers mainly engaged in house-
MARGINAL WORKERS BY INDUSTRIAL CATEGORIES hold duties, 30.61 per cent have agricultural labour
IN MUVATTUPUZHATOWN, 1981 and 13.26 per cent cultivation as their marginal work.
1981 Among the 169 marginal workers seeking or available
for work, the marginal work is agricultural labour
(Percen:age in brackets)
in the case of 37 persons (21.89 per cent), cultiva-
tion for 10 persons (5.92 per cent), transport, storage
Total marginal workers
Industrial category ,--_ _ _ _ --A.. _ _- , and communication for 34 persons (20.12 per cent),
Persons Males Females ,non-household industry for 30 persons 07.75 per
!cent) and other services for 24 persons (14.20 per
2 3 4 cent). The remaining 34 persons (20.12 per cent)
are marginally engaged in activities coming under
Total 296 176 120
other industrial categories.
(100.00) (100.00) (100.00) Non-workers by type of activity
Cultivators 27 14 13 4.:W. The group of non-workers consists of in-
(9.12) (7.96) (10.84)
fants, full-time students, retired persons, rentiers and
persons of independent means, beggars and vagrants,
Agricultura1labourers 72 32- 40 inmates of penal, mental and charHahle institutions
(24.32) (18.18) (33.34) etc. and unemployed persons searching for jobs.
Livestock, forestry, fishing, Many of them will not be available for economic
hunting and plantations, or- activities because of old age, infirmities, disinterest
chards and allied activities 7 4 3 etc. Therefore, the number of non-workers as a
(2.37) (2.27) (2.50) whole is not indicative of the unemployment problem
of a place. The distribution of non-workers in
\Ln:'lg and qlwr:-ying
Muvattupuzha town by sex and type of activity is given
(0.34) (0.57) ( .. ) in the following table.

29
 Table 4.5

DISTRIBUTION OF NON·WORKERS IN MUVATTUPUZH.\ TOWN BY SEX AND TY[>E ali ACTlVHY, 1981

Percen- Percen- P~rcen-

tage tage tage
distri- distri- distri-
Type of activity Total bulion Male bution Female bution
2 3 4 5 6 7
Total non-'"of'king population 17,892 100,00 6,757 100.00 11,135 100.00
Full time students 7,254 40.54 3,602 53.3I 3,652 32.80
Household duties 4,784 26.74 24 0.35 4,760 42.75
Dependents and infantS 4,189 23.41 2,011 29.76 2,178 19.56
Retired persons, rentiers af1d pel'sons of independent means 311 1 74 240 3.55 7I 0.64
Beggars, vagrants etc. 74 0.41 45 0.67 29 0.26
Inmates of penal, mental and charital-le in~titlltiom 57 0.32 [5 0.22 42 0.37
Others 1,223 6.84 820 12.14 403 3.62

4.21. Among the 17,892 non-workers, 7.254 (40.54 per cent and with technical degree and diploma equal
per cent) are full timc stud~nts, 4.784 (26. 74 p~~r cent) to degree or post-gradilate degree constitute 2.58 per
are performing household duties, 4,189 (23.41 per cent of the total main workers. When sex-wise lite-
cent) are infants and dep(;!ldents. Another 311 (1.74 racy of main workers are considered, male main wor-
per cent) persons are rctin:u persons and persons of kers have a literacy rate "f 91.76 per cent compared
independent means. Only the remaining 1.223 non- to 79.20 per cent for female main workers. The
workers (6.84 per cent) in ihe town classified as following table gives the distribution of main wor-
'others' may be considen:.d as unemployed persons. kers by educational level.
Among the male non-workers 53.31 per cent are full
time students and 29.76 per cent are dependents and
infants. 12.14 per cent of rna Ie non-workers classi- Table 4.6
fied as 'others' are unemployed and in search of jobs.
The largest group of non-workers among the females, DISTRIBUTION OF MAiN WORKERS BY EDUCATIONAL
(42.75 per cent) ar~ engaged in household duties and LEVELS, 1981. CENSUS
only 3.62 per cent are job seekers. But usually a
good B!l1llber of persons of both sexes engaged in (Percelltage withill brackets)
household duties will be actually searching for jobs.
They are confining to household duties because they
could find no other suitable jobs. Main workers
, -_ _ _.-A.. _ _ _ _ --------.,
Educational level
Persons Milks Females
Se.:OI1dary wctrk
2 3 4
4.22. Some persons are having a secondary work.
besides their main work. In 1981 census, 163 (2.29
per cent) out of 7.125 main workers in Muvattupuzha Total 7,125 5,851 1,274
town are having secondary work. Among them only (100.00) (100.00) (100.00)
5 are females and aU others males. An the five
females and 131 out of 158 males having secondary Illiterate 747 482 265
work are mainly engaged in non-household industry, (1048) (8 24) /20.80)
trade, business, profession or service. Majority of
these persons have reported their secondary work as Literate (without educational
cultivation. level)* M3 711 132
(\\.83) (IUS) (10.361
Literacy and education of main workers
Primary \,852 1,623 229
4.23. The main workers form a highly literate
(26.00) (27.74) (17.98)
section among the population of the town. As com-
pared to the literacy rate of 76,68 per cent of Muvattu- 1,569 1,446 123
Middle
puzha town, 89.52 per cent of the total main workers
are literates. 48.02 per cent of main workers have (22.02) (24.7l) (9.65)
only primary and middle level education. The pro-
Matriculation/Secondary 1,009 833 176
portion of main workers with matriculation/ secon-
dary level is only 14.16 per cent and those with higher (14.16) (14.241 (13.82)
secondary level is a mere 2.65 per cent. Graduates
among workers form 4.80 per cent and post-graduates Higher Seconda ry /1 ntermcd i-
ate/Pre-University lR9 164 25
1.34 per cent. The main workers with technical
diploma or certificate not equal to degree fmm 3.41 (2.651 (2 gO, 0·96)
 Table 4.6- cOllch!. 60.33 per cent being literates with educ(ltional level
:2 -I hdow matric and 31.15 per cent matric and above.
There are 9 graduates, 2 post-graduates and 12
Non-technical diploma or technical diploma equal to degree or post-gradu(lte
Certitkate not equal to degree holders among construction workers. Among
degree 52 11 41
the females. 67.36 per cent nre literates who include
{0.73) (0.19) (3.22) 7 matriculates and one graduate.
Technical diploma or certi-
ficate not equal to degree 243 126 117 4.29. In trade anci commerce. 94.18 pel' cent male
(3.41 ) (2.15) (9.18) workers and 79.11 per cent of female workers are
literates. AltholH!h a hiQ'h kvcl of edllcation is not
G~aduate degree other than necessary for on~ to be involved in trading activities,
t:chnical degree 342 2R4 58 a good number of cducat<:d youth, even highly
14.80\ (4 85) (4.55) educated ()lleS are !2oim! in for trade and commerce
as it gives a chance f()~' self employment and also
l~llstgraduate degree (lther provides good income as cnmrared to the s"laried
than technical degree 95 63 32 peoplc. Although vast ma_iurity of thc woth~rs have
(1.34) (1.08) (2.51 ) primary or middle :ichool educ'alion, a good propor-
tioll also )l!lVC matriculation/higher secondary educa-
Tcdmicai degree or diploma tion. There are 140 lCraduates. 19 pmt-graduates and
equal to degree 01' po<;t-gra- 10 technical degree ~)r diploma holde;s among the
duate degree 184 lOS 76
main workers engaged in trade and commerce. Even
(2.58) (1.85) (5.97) among the female workers in track ond commerce.
there are 15 graduates and 4 post-grClduates.
"Includes figures for e.:lllcational levels not dassiliable.
4.30. Only 4.7l\ per cent of lVork<~r, ill t 1.·ansport.
4.24. The cultivators in the town cannot be said to storage and communications ,Ire illiterates. 13.59 per
be very highly educated. Yet a good number of cent are matriculates. ::2.(d per cent :l[lving higher
educated persons have been found (lmong .cultivators 'sec(wclRry <'l' prCUl1 iversity nf cquiv',],:n t level and
in the town. Only 6.25 per cent of the cultivators are 2.50 per cent ;::radllates. 42.3 1 per cent (1f female
illiterate. There are 59 (! 9.41 per cent) cultivators workers in thi, ~ cntegory me matricuLltes.
who are matriculates. 11 {3.62 per cent) with higher
secondary levels and another II (3.62 per cent) having 4.31 Am()ll~ the workers in other servicc~. 12.32
graduate degree other than technical degree. per cent are iOiterates and the rest literates. 1s.n per
cent <1 re matriculates. 6.57 per cent !_'i'adllates and
4.25. As may be expected, the fate of literacy 3.14 per cent post-gracluMes. Workers having tec1mi-
among agricultural labourers is comparaiively low. cal diploma OJ' certificates not equal to de\!rcc constitute
42.42 per cent of the total agricultural labourers iH the 9.27 per cent and those having technic(ll degree or
town are illiterate. 64.36 per cent of the female agncu!- diploma equal to degree or post-graduate c!egre::- form
tural labourers are illiterates as against 34.92 per cent 749 per cent of workers in this c::ttegory. Among
of the male agricultural labourers. Among the literates. fcmak H:orkcrs uncleI' other scrvices. 15.C)5 per cent
those with primary level are predominant their propor- are illiterates. 13.64 per cent matriculates. 405 per
tion to the total number of agricultural labourers cent graduates al:d 3Jll ner cent post-'!radll'ltes, while
being 28.79 per cent. among female workers of this category, 13.1 ~ per cent
are having: technical diplom,) or certificate not ecmal
4.20. 80 per cent of the workers in livestock. to degr'ee alld 8.7Y per cent havjng technjcal degree
forestry. plantations etc. are literates. 55.20 per cent or diplom,] e'~ij.'a1 to degree or post-g:ra(lLmte degree.
are below matric and 24.80 per cent matriculate and Among: male workers only 6.48 per cent have technical
above of whom there are seven graduates, one post- diploma or certificate and 6 56 per cent have technical
graduate and two holding diploma equal to degree degree ,]1' diploma equal t() degree or post-gmdnate
or post-graduate degree. 78.57 per cent of workers degree.
engaged in mining and quarrying are literates of whom
one has a technical diploma equal to degree or post-
graduate degree. But others have only below mat ric Literacy of marginal workers
qualifications.
4.32. The literacy rate for marginal workers and
non-workers is significantly lower than 111C literacy
4.27. The industrial workers fOfm a highly literate rate of main workers. The literacy rate of marginal
section among the workers of the town with 94.06 per workers and non-workers in the town are 79.05 and
cent of the males and 90.11 per cent of t~le femaJes 71.54 pt:r ('fEt respectively Wi against rhe literacy rate
among them being literates. . of R9.52 p'"r cent for main workers. 66.90 per cent of
the marginal workers and 56.97 per cent of the non-
4.28. A very high proportion (91.48 per cent) or workers in the town are literates with variOtlq levels
the workers engaged in construction are likrates, of education helow matric compared to the correspon-

31
6-19 RGl/ND/88
ding figure of 59.85 per cent for main workers. 12.15 with matriculation and above educational qualifica-
per cent of the marginal workers and 14.57 per cent tions are more among females than males. However,
of the non-workers are matriculates compared to 29.67 the work participation of females is too small ",ben
per cent among main workers. Out of 17,892 non- compared to that of males.
workers in the town, 334 are graduates, 19 post-gra-
duates and 19 technical degree or diploma holders.
Workers and non-workers by different age-groups
4.33. According to the information collected from 4.34. The population in the age-group IS-59 1S
the sample households in the town only 7.58 per cent usually considered a& the working force. Population
of workers are illiterates. While 22.16 per cent of in the age-group of 0-14 are mostly infants and students
workers have primary education and 3Q.32 per cent who are not usually participating in economic activities
middle level education, 18.08 per cent are matricu- and tbe population aged 60 and over are mostly retired,
lates. Only 4.08 per cent of workers are graduates infirm and old persons who have ceased to be econo-
and 0.87 per cent are having technical degree. mically active because of their old age and related
Comparing the literacy level of male and female problems. But actually there will be a few workers
workers it is found that the proportion of literates in the age-groups 0.14 and 60+ and several non·
without educational level and those having primary workers in the age-groups 15-59. The distribution of
and middle education are more among males than population of Muvattupuzha town into workers and
females. The proportion of illiterates as well as those non-workers by different age-groups is given below:
Table 4.7
DISTRffilITIO""l OF WORKERS (MAIN WORKERS AND MARGINAL WORKERS) AND NON-WORKERS IN DIFFERENT
AGE-GROUPS IN MUVATIUPUZHA TOWN, 1981 CENSUS

Total population Total workers Total non-workers

,---~------~
Age-group p M F P M F p M F

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

25,313 12,784 12,529 7,421 6,021 1,394 17,892 6,757 11,135

0-14 8,368 4,198 4,170 67 28 39 8,301 4,170 4,131
15-19 2,924 1,441 1,483 454 330 124 2,470 1,111 1,359
20-24 2,730 1,377 1,353 1,003 822 181 1,727 555 1,172
25-29 2,288 1,148 1,140 1,179 988 191 1,109 160 949
30-34 1,689 901 78B 1,068 855 213 621 46 575
35-39 1,536 796 740 984 768 216 552 28 524
40-49 2,334 1,251 1,083 1,466 1,202 264 868 49 819
SO-59 1,557 783 774 768 648 120 789 135 654
60+ ],884 887 997 430 384 46 1,454 S03 951
Age not stated 3 2 1 2 2

4.35. In Muvattupuzha town 33.06 per cent of the

dependency ratio in Muvattupuzha town is 68.(),8 per
population are children below 15 years of age, 7.44-
cent. If the workers in the age-groups 0-14 and 60 +
per cent are old persons above 60 years of age and
are excluded from the numerator. the dependency
the remaining 59.50 per cent are in the Vvorking age
ratio comes down to 64.78 per cent. But this also
group 15-59. 67 out of 8,368 persons (0.80 per cent)
will not serve as a good index of economic activity
in the age group 0-14 are workers while 430 out of
because of the presence of large number of non-
Ul84 persons (22.82 per cent) in the age-group 60+
workers in the population of age-group 15·59 consi-
are workers. Out of 15,058 persons in the age-group
dered to be economically active. The following table
15-59, 6,922 persons (45.97 per cent) are workers.
gives the percentage of population, workers (main
Usually the ratio of tbe population in the age-groups
and marginal) and non-workers in different age-
0-14 and 60+ to the population in the age-group 15-
groups.
59 is taken as the dependency ratio. Accordingly the

32
 Table 4.8

PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, WORKERS (MAIN AND MARGINAL) AND NON-WORKERS IN DIFFERENT

AGE-GROUPS TO TOTAL POPULATION IN MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN, 1981 CENSUS
Population Workers Non-workers
,--------"-----, ,-----~ r-- ,
Percen- Percen-
tage of tage of
Percen- Percen- Percen- Percen- male female
tage of tage of tage of tage noo- non-
popu!a- Percen- Percen- Percell- male female of non- workers workers
tion to tage of tage of tage of workers workers workers to total to total
total males to females workers to total to total to total male female
popula- total to total to total male female noo- non- non-
Age-group tion males females workers workers workers workers workers workers

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Total 100.00 10G.03 100.OJ 10~.OG 10O.OJ IOJ.OO 100.00 100.00 100.00
0-14 33.06 32.84 33.28 0.9J 0.47 2.8J 46.39 61. 71 37.10
15-19 11.55 11.27 11.M 6.12 5.48 8.90 13.80 16.44 12.2C
20-24 10.79 10.77 10.80 13.52 13.64 [2.93 9.65 8.21 10.53
25-29 9.04 8.98 9.10 15.89 16.39 13 .70 6.2) 2.37 8.52
30-34 6.67 7.05 6.29 14.39 14.19 15.28 3.47 0.68 5.16
35-39 6.07 6.23 5.90 13.26 12.74 15.49 3 09 042 4.71
40-49 9.22 9.78 8.64 19.75 19.94 18.94 4.85 0.73 7.'2('
50-59 6.15 6.12 6.18 10.35 10.75 8.61 4.41 2.00 5.87
60+ 7.44- 6.91 7.96 5.79 6.37 3.30 8.13 7.44 8.54
Age not ~tated 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.01

4.36. The highest proportion of workers is in the
age-group 40-49 both among males and females. In the
age-groups 20-24, 25-29, 40-49, 50-59 and 60 + the
proportion of female workers are less than the corres-
ponding proportions of males. The higher pn1 portion
of female workers in the age-groups 0-14 and 15-19
indicates that more girls than boys are put to econo-
mic activities at younger ages. Among non-workers
46.39 per cent are children below the age of 15. There
is great disparity between males and females in the
proportion of non-workers in different age-groups.
While 61.71 per cent of male non-workers are in the
Table 4.9
age-group 0-14 only 37.10 per cent of female non-
workers are in this age-group. The lowest propor-
tion of male and female non-workers are in the age-
group 35-59. While the proportion of male nOll-WOf-
kers in the age-groups 30-34, 35-39 and 40-49 are
comparatively insignificant it is not so in the case of
female non-workers.
4.37. The following table gives the total popUlation
and main workers in different age-groups along with
the percentages of main workers to the population in
the respective age-groups in Muvattupuzha, town_

PERCENTAGE OF MAIN WORKERS IN DIFFERENT AGE-GROUPS TO TOTAL POPUL\.TlON IN THE CORRESPOND-

ING AGE-GROUPS IN MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN, 1981 CENSUS

Population Main Workers Percentage of main workers

to total population
Age-group
P
.A._ _ _ _ _,

M F
,..------"-----,
P M F P M F

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Total 25,313 12,784 12,529 7,125 5,851 1,274 28.15 45.77 10.17
0-14 8,368 4,198 4,170 59 23 36 0.71 0.55 0.86
15-19 2,924 1,441 1,483 403 294 109 13.78 20.40 7.35
20-24 2,730 1,377 1,353 922 710 152 33.77 55.92 11.23
25-29 2,288 1,148 1,140 1,143 959 184 49.96 83.54 16.14
30-34 1,689 901 788 1,047 850 197 61.99 94.34 25.00
35-39 1,536 796 740 953 755 198 62.04 94.85 26.76
40-49 2,334 1,251 1,083 1,437 1,193 244 61.57 95.36 22.53
50-59 1,551 783 774 753 640 113 48.36 81.74 14.60
60+ 1,884 887 997 406 365 41 21.55 41.15 4.11
Age not stated 3 2 2 2 66.67 100,00

33
 /\llJong mules 45.77 pel cent are lIlitl!1 w0r:':ers
whereas only ID.17 per cent amollg females are main
workers. In the age-groups :;0 :'4. J5-JS' i.Lle] 40-.:;:Y
more thall sixty per cent of the [npulatio;1 :Ire lJ):iill
v:orkers. l.n the caSe of f~males the' highest propor-
tIOn of matn workers is i'l the ']§I.:-grouP 35-39, but
that too is only 26.76 per cent. Du~ ill the G1Se "t
males more than 90 per cent are main workers ill
the age-groups 30-34. 35-39 and 40-49 and mor~
than 80 per cent are main workers in the age-groups
25-29 and 50-59.
Working force in S<:hedlllcd Caste population
4.38. Out of ihe IOlal 1.486 scheduied ca':e persolls
ill the town, 55:" Cc7::5 per n,:') arc ll:dh wnrkels.
54 (3,63 per CC;lt! marginal workers and 377 :59.02
per cent) nell-workers. Among 555 scheduled cask
main workers, 366 are males and 189 females. The
work participation rates of ~chedukli castes with re-
ferem:e to 111,,[11 work are 37.35 per cent, 49.39 per
cent and 25.37 p<:r cent Tespe~tively for pers.llls, Tilales
and females as compared to the correspl'ncling parti ..
cipation rate of 28.15 per cent for p~r:;on:;; 45~ 77 per
cent for male" anJ 10. I 7 pCI' ce;~l ~'llt rem,,!cs in the
general popUlation in the town. The work participa-
tion rate of ,:heduiecl castes is shmifk:1'111v hili:her
than that of '_!eneca! popu!afion ill ~ respc.:t ·o[ bOlh
males and females. The work panil:patiun rate of
sl.:heduled casic females is ah\iut 2! elm".; J]1C1fI; th<111
the rate of temales in general popuhtiol1.
4.39. Largest number of s·:heduled castel:!ain WC1f-
kers (39.46 per cent) are in other s(l'vices fl,llowed
by agricultural labourers (29.55 per cent). 9.55 per
cent of sclledulec1 caste main workers are engaged in
household Indastries alld 2.3·~ per cem ill nOll-house-
hold industries. Tht're is only one cultivator among
scheduled castes, whereaS out of 396 agrinJlturaI
labourers in the tcrwn 164 (·~1.41 per cent) ar~ sche-
duled castes.
4.40. The pan ic:ipatiol1 of schedukLi caste fem,lles
!n other services, ~lgricultural lahour and household
1l1dustry is higher ~han that of schecl'Jiec1 ',',s~e males.
There are mor~ W Jrkers in otller sc:rvic'S followed
by agril'Llltur'll bboLln.:rs and how,choh l indu&try
workers ill tliat onkr, both amung wales a"d females.
4.41. Puluyu!l, Puravan Para van a;1'\ Vdan are the
predulllinant s,llcclul~d caste' COlliiilUnities in the
town having 100 or more popub'io,]. /\l;\Ol1g them,
the highest work participation rate wilh rcspt:ct to
main work is among Para vallS with a rule of 44.36
per cenl and lowest amon£': Paravan'~ with a rate of
27.74 per cent. The largest comniunitv Vif .. Plllayan,
having a population of 8q9 have a work participation
,rate of 37.49 per cent. Among Pulay~:ns Cut uf 337
main workers, 39.76 per cent are engaged in other
services, 38.87 rer cent as agricultural lah:urers, 8.01
per cent in tl'anSpclrt, stomge ar.d c,mulluuications
and the t'enmin!'lg 13.36 per cent ill olher industrial
categoric). The lone cultivator among scheduled
caste.s in the tOWll belong to the Pulay~m Cum·
mUl1lty. Among Pamvans. the ncy.t predominant
scheduled caste community in the town. there arc
34
126 llIail} workers out of whom 39.68 per cent are
engaged in household industry, 28.57 per cent in other
~ervjces, 14.29 per cent as agricultural labourers and
the remaiJling 17.46 per cent in other services.
4.42. Among the 877 non-workers at s,_heduled
:astcs. 371 (4230 per cent) are stuJcnts, 289 (32.95
pel' ,:ent) infants and dependents allu 159 (i 8.13 per
l'cnt) engaged in household duties. There <ire only
47 persons (5.36 per cent) seeking or availabh:: for
work. Among them, 10.64 per cent are having edu-
cation<ll levels matric and above, 80.85 DCl' cent below
matric level a'1o the remaining 8.51 per cent illite-
rates. There is only one female grauuate among the
iob seekers.
Wurking for('c in Scheduled Tribe population
4.43. There are only 30 Scheduled Tribe persons in
the town of whom 6 are main work~l's and 24 nOll-
workers. There is no marginal WOiker among the
scheduled tribes in the town. The work participation
rale of scheduled tribes is 20 per cent compared to
the rate of 3735 ptt cent for schedukd castes and
28. i 5 per cent for the general popUlation in the town.
Among the six scheduled tribe workero. 5 belong to
tTlhldan and one to Malayarayan Tribe. Transport.
storage and communications, other service" livestock,
forestry, fishing etc. and other services are the
catef.wries in which scheduled tribe workcfs are ell-
gag;d. Among the 24 scheduled tribe non-workers
in the town, 16 are full time students, 3 are engaged
in household duties and 5 are dependents an(1 infants.
Nobody has reported as seeking or available for work.
20 out of the 25 non-workers are literates of whom
2 are matriculates.
Work participation of different religious groups and
other communities.
4.44. As the caste-wise details are not collected in
the census. the work participation Tate of various
castes living in the town is not available from census
data. However, the data collected lJ1 the household
schedules canvassed among the 225 sample house-
holds for the survey provides details in this respect.
Out of 1.253 persons covered in the samvle house-
holds. there are 343 workers. This hives a work par-
ticipation rate of 27.37 per cent. The f,)lIcwing table
;rives the work participation rate (percentage of wor-
kers to total population) among the Clitferent religious
groups and castes in the town.
Table 4.10
WORK-PARTICIPATION RATE OF DIFFERENT RELlGIOVS
GROUPS AND CASTES
Percentage
of workers
to poj'lula-
Rdigion i ca,tc/tribe lion
2
Total 27 37
Hindus 29.(1)
Nair ~2.56
ELhaHl 28.79
Kl,llan -1-3.75
 Table 4, lO-cQffcld. 4.45. In the sample survey, the work participation
rate is 29.00 per cent Eor Hinrius, 23.94 per cent for
2 Muslims and 30.61 per cent for Christians, Among
Hindus (excluding Velars), the panicipation rate is
Hindus- collcfd.
highest, 43.75 per cent for Kollans and lowest 2{).OO
Aosari 27.03
per cent for Veerashaiva. All the four persons of
Thatian 41.67
Velar community covered in the survey are workers.
YccrasiJai\'a 20.00
Velar 100,00 Amollg Muslims, Hanafis have recordd the highest
Vel an (SC) 37.50 participation fate of 24.78 per cent and among Chris-
Para van (SO 35,()() lians. J acobites have the highest participation rate of
P"rayan (SC) 40.00 31,25 per cent.
PlIJayan (SC) 34,29
Total (SC) 36,14
O,-"Cupatiolls in the town
t'lladan (ST) 22,22
4.46. Workers excluding cultivators and agricultu-
Muslims 23 ')4
ral labourers are engaged in vanoU3 kind, of occupa-
SJlati 23.70 lions. In j 981 census. there were 6,425 main workers
Hanah 24,7'(, (5,266 males and 1,159 females) excluding cultivators
Christians 3(),(Jl and agricuitural labourers in MuvaUupuzha town.
Jacohile 31,25 Their distribution by occupational divisions as per
Catholic 30,82 National classification of occupations 1968 is given
Marthomitc 14,29 below:

Table 4. j I

CLASSIFICATfON OF WORKERS EXCLUDING CULTIVATO/{S ANi) AGiUCtJLfURAL LI.BOUI{EI{S INro OCCUPA·

TlONAL DlVISIO;'llS IN MUVAHUPUZHA TOWN, 1981

O~':uPJtional division Total workers P"rcenlage distribution

,------.--- _ _ __.A-_~_ _ _ .~ _ _ .. _ - _ , r------.A..-----.---, r--------.--.A...------,
Code Description Persons Males Fe!U~ks Persons Male, Females

2 4 5 6 8

Total 6,425 5,266 1,15'1 100.00 ]00.00 10O.[l{)

0-1 Professional, technical and related workers 83-+ 453 381 12,98 8.6') 32.87
2 Administrative, executive and mana:;erial worker., 227 218 9 3.53 4,14 0.78
3 Clerical and related workers 747 592 ISS 11.63 11,24 13.37
4 Sales workers 1,318 1,298 20 20.51 24.65 1. 73
5 Service workers 724 380 344 11.27 7.21 29.68
6 Farmers, fishermen, hunlers, IDgger~ arl'i relatd workers 126 122 4 1.96 2.32 0.34
7-8-9 Production af1d related workers, transport equipment opera-
tors and hboU"crs 2,445 2,20J 2 f) 38 0:' 41. 7~ 2l.14
X Workers not classified by occupations 4 3 0.06 0.06 0.09

4.47 Production and related workers. transport
equipment operators and labourers constitute the lar-
gest group with 38.06 per cent of main workers fol-
lowed by sales workers with 20.5 I per cent. But
there arc several individual oC0upat:011S WIder these
divisions. Motor vehicle drive.s and labourers each
numbering 430 ill the town are the numerically pre-
dominant workers under the Divjsioll of Production
and related workers etc. Uno;:r this division tailors
and dress makers (142), Motor vehicle mechanics
(114), Loaders and unloaders (198) are the other nc-
cupations pursued by more than 100 persons. Under
Sales workers. there are 713 Merchants and shop
keepers in retail trade in the town and this is the oc-
cupation pursued by the largest number or persons in
the town. Other important occup,;tions under the
division of sales workers are Salesmen, Shop Assis-
tants and Demonstrators (251), Street vendors and
Canvassers (159) and Hotel and Restaurant Keepers
(lOa), Teachers Higher Secondary (133) and Tea-
chers. Primary (106) are the o:~upatic)Us having re-
turns of more than 100 under professional, technical
and related workers, Besides general clerks number-
ing 223, Book keepers and Account Clerks (96) and
Office attendants and Peons (95) are the numerically
predominant occupations under clerical and related
workers. Domestic servants numbering 267 constitute
the largest group under service warkers.
4.48. There is a clear distinction between males and
females in respect of the occnpaticns pursued. While
the largest section of male workers are Production

35
 and related workers (41.78 per cent), the largest Table 4.12-concJd.
section of female workers are professional, technical 2 3
and related workers (32.87 per cent) closely followed 8. Merchant, Driver and Clelk 3
by service wQrkers (29.68 per c~nt). Service workers 9. Mixing Mill Operator, Nurse
among males constitute only 7.21 per cent. while and Beedi shop owner 3
production and related workers among females cons- 10. Meterioiogist, Lathe worker and
Contractor 4
titute only 21.14 per cent. While there are 32.87 per
cent of professional and technical workers among Total 10 32
females. the corresponding proportion am()ng. male Four occupations
workers is only 8.60 per cent. But the proportIOn of Teacher, Tailor, Nurse and
female sales workers is as low as 1.73 per cent aga- Domestic Servant 9
inst 24.65 per cent of male sales workers. Total 9
(Two occupations are not given here as it is a long lis!).
Occupational Diversity
A trend of change from the pursuit of traditional
4.49. Out of 225 households in which the household
occupations by all members of the household is
schedules were canvassed for the special study of
Muvattupuzha town, 74 have diverse oc;;upations visible in the town.
pursued by different members. Two diverse oc~upa­ 4.~O. Among the workers in sample households
tions are pursued in 63 households and three dIverse u~skilled manual workers and highly skilled super-
occupations in 10 households wh.ile one. hOllsehold vlsor~ .manual workers form the largest groups
is having different members pursumg 4 dllI~rent occu- L:ODS.t1tutmg 24.49 per cent and 21.57 per cent res-
pations. Aj!.ricultural labourer and domestic servant, pectIVely of the total work.ers. Medium business and
cultivator and domestic servant, Driver and Sweeper, small business workers constitute 9.91 per cent and
Merchant and Health Assistant, police Constable and 11.37 per cent respectively of the total workers indi-
Teacher. Physician and Accountant are some of the cating .the prominence. of trade in the town. Higher
two diverse occupations followed by some households. profeSSIOnal and salaried workers constitute only
The list of combinations of three occupations and 4 1.75 of total workers in the town.
occupations followed by members in 11 households 4.51. Cultivators and agricultural labourers are
is given below: very small in number among the. workers of sample
households. Out of 343 workers. only 9 are cultiva-
Table 4.12 tors and 21 agricultural labourers. Christians have
HOUSEHOLDS AND MEMBERS WITH OCCUPATIONAL the highest proportion of cultivators followed by
DIVERSIlY Hindus and Muslims in the order. Rut Hindus have
No_ of No. of the highest proportion of agricultural labourers
house- memo followed by Christians. There is no agricultural
Description of occupational diversity holds bers labourer among Muslims.
2 ~ Employment status
Three occupations 4.52. Workers other than cultivators and agricul-
1. Agricultural labourer, Loading and tural labourers may be ciassified into employer.
unloading and Cleaner employee, single worker and family worker. These
2. Agricultural Labourer, Carpenter non-agricultural workers constitute 91.25 per ('ent
and Farm worker of the total workers. Among them 52.39 per cent
3. Butler, Driver ~nd Mechanic 3 are employees, 44.09 per .::ent single workers. 1.92
4. BodY builder, Carpenter and Electrician per cent employers and 1.60 per cent family workers.
5. Beedi maker, LabourCI and Merchant 3 All the employers are males. The following statement
shows the percentage distribution of non-agricultural
6. Driver, Glass cutlcr acd Tailor 4
workels among. different religious groups and castes
7. Health lmpector, Englneer and by employment status.
Dom~~tic Servant
Table 4.13
COMMUNITY-WISE DIs-rRmUT{O~ OF NO_IHGIICULTUR\L WORK!!:RS BY E~P10Y\1ENr STATUS IN
MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN
Employment status
--"- ---.
Total workers Employer Employee Single worker Family worker
Religion/Caste
2 3 4 5 6
1
100.00 1·92 52.39 44.09 1.60
Total
100.00 58.62 4J.38
Hindus
100.00 72.22 27.78
Nair
100.00 47.06 52.94
Ezhava
100.00 57.14 42.86
Kollan
100.00 40.00 60.00
Asari

36
 Table 4.13 -eoncld.
3 4 5 6
1 2

Hindus-coneld.
Thattan 100.00 100.00
Veerashaiva 100.00 100.00
Velar 100.00 100.00
Velan (SC) 100.00 100.00
Para van (SC) 100.00 100.00
Parayan (SC) 100.00 20.00 80.00
Pulayan (SC) 100.00 40.00 60.00
Total (SC) 100.00 50.00 50.00
Ulladan CST) 100.00 100.00

2.56 4103 52.14 4.27

Muslims 100.00
3.37 38.20 52.31 5.62
Shaft 100.00
Hanaft 100.00 50.00 50.00

CllI:istians 100.00 3.75 60.00 36.25

Jacobite 1OJ.OO 5.88 47.05 47.06
Catholic 10O.0() 2.17 69.57 28.26
Marthomite

4.53. Among Hindus, 58.62 per cent are employees, Table 4.14
and 41.38 per cent single workers. 2.56 per cent of DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS BY NUMBER OF
the workers among Muslims are employers, 41.03 per WORKERS PER HOUSEHOLD (EMPLOYMENT DEPTH)
cent employees, 52.14 per cent single workers and 4.27 IN MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN (SURVEY DATA)
per cent family workers. Among the Christian work- No. of Percentgae
er, 3.75 per cent are employers, 60.00 per cent em- house· to total
Number of workers holds households
ployees and 36.25 per cent single workers. The pro-
portion of employers is higher for Christians as com- 2 3
pared to Muslims. None of the employers belongs to
No worker 22 9.78
Hindus. Christians have highest proportion of em-
ployees, followed by Hindus, Muslims getting the 3rd One worker per household 106 47.11
rank. Single workers are found more among Muslims Two workers per household 67 29.78
compared to Christians and Hindus. Family workers Three workers per household 22 9.78
have been reported only from among Muslims. The 3.11
Four workers per household 7
proportion of Employees among Nairs constitute 72.22
Five or more workers per hou~ehold 0.44
per cent whereas among Ezhavas. 52.94 per cent are
single workers. 100.00
Total 225

Employment depth
4.54. It is expected that normally the household is
supported by at least one working member. In some
cases the burden of supporting the family is shared
by more than one member. But in Muvattupuzha
town out of 225 sample households surveyed, 22 (9.78
per cent) do not have any economically active member.
However, this does not mean that these households
do not have any means of livelihood. Some of them
may be households of retired persons or rentiers
getting regular income. In some cases the earning
members may be residing outside the town. The follo·
wing statement gives the distribution of households
by number of workers in the household.
Maximum number of households (47.11 per cent)
are having only one worker. 29.78 per cent have two
workers and there is only one household having five
or more workers.
I>i.stanre to pIgee of work
4.55. On an average a worker in the town travels
13.05 kilometres to go to his place of work. Persons
having lowest professional and administrative occupa-
tions such as primary teachers travel on an average
14.61 kilometres. Persons· in higher professional and
salaried posts travel 37.37 kilometres. It is found that
persons having intermediate professional and related
posts such as secondary teachers etc. travel 107.78
km. to their place of work.

37
Unemployed seeking work Table 4. I5---colfcld.
4.56. In the 225 sample households, 57 persons are
seeking employment of which 23 are males and 34 4. Household goods 36 154
females. 78.95 per cent of persons seeking ~rnployment
belong to the age-group 15-24 and the remaining 21.05 (il Metallic utensils and other wards 6 78
per cent to the age-group 25-34. The severity of the (ii) Crockery and glass wares 4 6
unemployment problem among the youths of the town (iii) Furniture and Carpentry !I
is evident from this. (iv) Sheet metal articles
(v) Plastic and Rubber goods 7
Establishmmts (vi) Ornaments, jewellery and goldsmith 15 52

4.57. The economic life: of a place is dependent on 5. Other consumer goods 57 79

its location and the nature of eSlablisliments and acti- (il Items of general merchandise ego
vities in and around the place. Just as any other head- stationery, buttons, umbrellas, cos-
quarter tOlvn in the state. Muvattupuzha being a metics etc. 52 75
taluk and sub-divisional headquarters having several (ii) Shoe, 5 4
Government oakes. l: ~s acquired a service character.
Apart from this, the town's eCO]lomy largely depends 6. Medical 10 32
on Trade and Commercial activities. Though there 7. Ret'reation and Hobby 4 6
is no large ind'-,strial units ill the town. there are a few (i) Light refreshment like pan, beedi,
sman scale industries providing employment opportu- and cigarette etc. 4 6
nities to the people. Transport and communications
and agriculture also is not insignificant in the tcwn. 8. Transport 21 lSI
A brief account of the trade and commerce and (1) Cycles and repairs 4 8
industrial establishments, bnd, agriculture. livestock (ii) AutomObile parts and repairs 12 16
etc. in the town is given in the following paragraphs. (iii) Petrol pumps and other oils 5 127
9. Tools, equipment';, electric good~ and
Trade and commerce establishments machinery 10 25
4.58. It has been estimated that there are roughly (ll Agricultural tooh and implements 3 13
over 300 trade and commercial establishments, retail (ii) Hems of a particular trade ego aIr-
and wholesale. in Muvattupuzha town with an appro- conditioning and refrigeration I 5
ximate value of Rs. 1.245 lakhs of trade c~mied out (iii) Watches and repairs 6 7
during 1983-84. The distribution of these establish- Total 332 1,245
ments with referene~ to the commoditi·:s dealt "V-. ith
is given below:
Note;-This statement is based on a rough assessment. The
list of establishment, is not exhaustive.
Table 4.15
TRADE AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLJSRMENTS IN 4.59. Maximum number of establishments, 152 per-
MOVATTUPUZHA TOWN (l983·f,4)
tain to those dealing in food and grocery articles.
These establishments recorded a trade of Rs. 263
Approxi- lakhs during 1983-84. The highest value of trade was
mate value for construction items which showed trade worth Rs.
of trade as
Appro\ i- estimated 300 lakhs, although there are only 16 establishments
Type of establishment in hroad catego"ic, 1n8te (ValIOe Rs. dealing in such items. There are 26 establishments
with reference to commodities dealt with number in lakh,) dealing in cloth and these have registered a trade of
2 Rs. 235 lakhs ranking third in respect of the estimat-
ed value of trade.
1. Food and Grocery articles 152 263
(i) Food-grains GO 119 Ranks
(ii) Milk J 2
(iii) Bakery 10
4.60. At the time of the survey. 9 banks were func-
15
tioning in Muvatiupuzha town. They are the State
(iv) Grocery 65 110 Bank of Travancore. Vijaya Bank, Canara Bank, the
(v) Others 14 17 South Indian Bank Ltd .. the Catholic Syrian Bank
2. Cloth 26 235 Ltd., Bank of Cochin Ltd .. Federal Bank Ltd., Parur
(il Mi'.cellancous Textiles 20 210 Central Bank Ltd. and the Union Bank of India.
(ii) Rcadymade garments () 25 These banks accept deposits under different types,
discount bills and advance loans. According to the
3. Construction Iii }OO details of transactions received from all these banks
(i) Building materials 10 21D except Union Bank of India in 1984, there were 3_886
(ii) Water supply and sanitary goods 4 X5 fixed deposits for Rs. 322.94 lakhs_ 21,079 savings ac-
(iii) Others 2 5 counts for Rs. 318.25 lakhs. 865 current accounts for

38
Muvattupuzha Bazaar

16(a)
 Slate Bank ot' TraYancore

tire Insunnce CorpoJaticn of lniiia

 Rs 499q lakhs and 1.506 other accounts for Rs. 32.40 ing Certificate etc. During the year 1983, in the town.
lakhs. Bills worth Rs. 65.70 lakhs were discounted there were in all 34.652 S.B. accounts. with deposits
during 1984 and loans and advances for Rs. 670.75 of Rs. 28.39 lakhs, 689 C.T.O. accounts f'Jr a total
lakhs were issued during the same year. The details value of Rs 0.74 lakhs. 10,417 recurring deposit ac-
of deposits and transactions are given in the follow- counts worth Rs 703 lakhs. 41 fixed deposit acco-
ing statement. unts of value of Rs. 0.80 lakhs and 222 saving certifi-
cates for Rs. 2,52 lakhs.
Table 4.16
Chit Funds
DEPOSITS AND TRANSACTIONS OF COMMERCIAL
BANKS TN MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN IN 1984 4.64. There are 5 registered Chit Funds in the town
They are Kerala State Financial Enterprises Ltd.,
Amount Urban Co-opemtive Bank No. 556. Government Ser-
Deposits and transactions No. (Rs.) vants' Co-operative Society. Muvattupuzha, Kalaor
2 3
Chit Fund and Kerala Chit Fund.

Filled deposits 3,886 3.2l,93,~21 4.65. The Kerala State Financial Enterprises Ltd.
Savings hank 21,079 3,18,25,142 is most predominant among the various Chit Funds
865 49,98,809
in the town. [t had 1.010 members during: the year
Current
1984 and an amount of Rs. 34.61 lakhs was disbursed
Others 1,506 32,40,287
during the year to the prized subscribers. A profit of
Bills discounted and purchased 65,70,057 Rs. 12 lakh was earned from the chitties/ kltries dur-
Loans and advances 67,07,51,405 ing the same year.

4.61. Besides the above. Vijaya Bank has also is- 4.66. Besides these known chit funds, there are also
sued a land mortgage loan of Rs. 1,23,437 and in- private individuals including women conducting mon-
vested Rs. 1,22,327 for agricultural producticlO, Rs. thly chitties Jkuries for very small amounts. No secu·
1.48,234 for industrial production and Rs. 18,10.066 rity is furnished for receiving the price amount in these
for others. Bank of Cochin issued land mortgage chittiesyblries. The confidence of the m~mbers in
loan of Rs. 27,443. the foreman is the key to the successful conduct of
such chitties I kuries.
4.62. Besides the 9 commercial banks, 2 coopera- Money lenders
tive banks viz. the Muvattupuzha Urban Co-operative
Bank Ltd. No. 556 and the Ernakulam District Co- 4.67. There are 60 money lenders in the town doing
operative Bank Ltd. and 3 Co-operative Societies viz. the business as per KML Act, 1958. These money
the Government Servants' Co-operative Society Ltd. Jenders advance money to the needy persons and busi-
No. 146, the Muvattupuzha Backward Community ness-men of the town and the surrounding rural areas.
Agricultural Co-operative Society and Muvattupuzha In 1984 the transactions of money lending were of
Service Co-operative Society Ltd. No. 751 are opera- the order of Rs. 80 lakhs of which Rs. 47 lakhs
ting in the town. The details of banking services of were disbursed in the town and the remaining Rs. 33
the two co-operative hanks and the first two co-opera- lakhs in the surrounding rural areas. Apart from
tive societies are furnished in the following statement. these money lenders, there are a number of unregis-
tered or informal money lenders who advance small
Table 4.17
sums of money to the needy persons, mostly for un-
productive purposes, at high rates of interest. How-
DEPOSITS AND TRANSACTIONS OF CO-OPERATIVE ever. during the survey. it was not possible to obtain
BANKS AND CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES TN MUVATTU- any details regarding the volume or nature of such
PUZHA IN 1984 transactions.
Deposits and transactions Number Amount Industrial establ~hments
(Rs.)
2 3 4.68. There are eleven registered factories which
have been established within ~the town limits or on
Fixed Deposits 1,246 91,75,661.00 the periphery of the town. They are the Government
Savings Bank accounts 4,889 1,16.51,845.08 of India Extension Centre for tin cans and tin print-
Current accounts 248 19,63,463.53 ing, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation Sub
Others 3,028 37,14,938.38
Depot, Victory Press, Carmal Hill Social Centre. S1.
Bills discounted and purchased 162
Thomas Match Factory. Malanad Metal Products,
9,47,305.00
Jupiter Match Factory, Ninnala Match Works, Wilson
Loans and advances 77,57,645.000 Match Factory. Mangalam Wood Industries and
Advance on land mortgage 37,29,450.0 Ianatha Match Products. All these are small scaJe
Other investments 18,00,391.94 industries. Out of these II registered industrial esta-
blishments, details could be collected only frolll six
4.63. The post offices also have banking facilities establishments of which three are match factories
and accept deposits under savings and fixed accounts engaged in manufacture of splints and veneers and
like cumulative time deposits (C.T.D.), National Sav- one is a privak printing press. The other two arc

39
7-19 RGI{NDJ8S
 the State Government owned Kerala State Road
Transport Corporation Sub Depot where the main-
tenance and repairs of buses are done and the Central
Government Industrial Extension Centre for making
tm cans. A total of 221 workers are employed in
these six establishments.
4.69. Different types of forms and registers are made
in th~ Victory Press. It employs 15 workers of whom
one IS an administrative and supervisory worker and
14 are unskilled workers. The estimated annual value
of output is Rs. 1.75 lakh. The establishment is a
proprietary firm and it earned an annual profit of
Rs. 4,882.36 during 1984. During 1984, an amount
of Rs. 5,869.50 was paid as bonus to the employees..
4.70. The Kerala State Road Transport Corpora-
tion Sub Depot, Muvattupuzha. a State Government
entelprise, is engaged in the maintenance and repairs
of Transport buses. It provides employment to a total
o~ 73 \''Orkers of which 6 are administrative and super-
vIsory workers, 63 skilled workers and 4 unskilled
workers. This establishment distributed bonus. of
Rs. 51.384.90 to its employees during ]984.
4.71 .. Government of India - Ministry of Industry,
ExtenslOn Centre. Muvattupuzha. provides employ-
ment to 20 workers of whom 6 are administrative and
supervisory workers. 6 skilled workers and 8 unskilled
workers. An Assistant Director is in-charge of this
establishment.
4.72. The Extension Centre, is mainly engaged in
th~ manufacture of printed and plain round tin con-
tamers as per the orders received from other Small
Scale !ndu~tries in the State for packing their products,
such as pamts, grease, beverages, medicines, cosmetics
~t~.. The centre was. fun.c~oning progressively in the
mltlal stages and mamtammg normal production till
the latc seventies. Afterwards, on account of the
steep increase in tile cost of raw-materials and also
duc to the levy of Central Excise Duty at a higher rate
for the sale of tin c~lntaincrs, the price of the cans also
incressed proportionately and the Small Scale Indus-
tries found it extremely difficult to utilise it economi-
cally for packing purposes. At present the centre is
not receiving regular orders from Small Scale Indus-
trial Units as. before and is mainly dependiui! on
Medium Scale Industries in the state to meet their
occasional requirements of tin containers when there
is short Sllpply by the suppliers from outside the
state.
4.73. Main raw material required for the manufac-
ture of tin containers is Electrolytic Non Oil Can Tin
plate of size 30 and 31 swg thickness.. The manufac-
t.uring process. of tin cans involves the following opera-
tIOns:
1. Cutting the sheet into required size on Treadle
operated shearing machine.
~. Printing and varnishing on tin printing pless and
varnishing machines.
40
3. Printed she-ets are again cut into body blanks
on silearing machine.
4. Blanks are notched il' four corners on body
notching machine.
5. Body blanks ure formed into round shape in
hand operated rolling machine.
6. Round shape body blanks are then fed into
semi-automltic folding and l'Jcking machine for
combined operations of folding and locking
the body.
7. Flanging both ends of the body on flanging
machine.
8. Container lids top rings and bottom ends are
prepared separately on power press.
9. Manual application of rubber lining compound
to the edges of top nng and bottom end.
10. Top ring and bottom end are fixed to the body
by seaming on semi-automatic seaming machine.
11. Soldering the side seam, fixing of handle etc.
4.74. Tbe Centre manufactured a total of 1.25,000
tin cans worth Rs. 5.35 lakhs during 1983-84. The
plant has a fixed capital investment of Rs. 3A6,700
and has a circulating capital of Rs. 2,83,900. Dering
1983-84 it suffered some loss. A bonus of Rs. 8.900
was paid to its employees during the same year.
4.75. Another important activity of the centre is to
impart training in the trade of tin can making and
tin printing to the Artisans sponsored by Small Scale
Units and the trainees who come under the Apprentice
Act, 1961.
4.76. M21aood Match Products situated in Kadathy
ward about 6 kilometres from the centre of the town
employs 42 worxers of which 32 a,'e unskilled. During
1983-84, it prod'iced 900 quintals of splints and about
2 lakh gross veneers to. the value of Rs. 6.24.00. The
investment in the factory is Rs. 1 lakh shared equally
by the four partners. It has made an annual profit
of Rs. 9,000. The factory has paid bonus at the
rate of 12% of total wages to its employees.
4.77. St. Thomas Match Factory is in Marady vill-
age, 5 kilometres from the town employing 34 workers.
During 1983-84, it produced 2,000 quintals of splints
ano 2.28 lakh gross veneer" to the value of Rs.. 873.600.
The investment in the factory is Rs. 75,000. The
factory earned z:n annual profit of Rs. 8.0ar). Bonus
was paid to tl1C emrloyee~ at the rate of 15(~~ of
total wages.
4.78. C3tma~ Hill Soci~l C~ntre is at Karakunmnn,
about 15 kilometres away from Muvattupuzha tcwn.
rt employs 37 workers of which 30 are l!l1skilled.
During 1983-84, it produced 1,625 quintal splints and
1.38 lakh gross veneers to the vallie of R'l 7.30,000. The
investment in the centre is Rs. 230 lakhs (Rs. 1.5 lakhs
fixed capital and Rs. 80,{)()() circulating capital). The
source, of finance arc SOCIal service funds of the Car-
melite Congregation, bank loans, professional money
lendeL".; etc. The ccntre suffered an overall loss of
Rs. 4,000 during the year lLJ83-114. Bonus was paid to
t:1C employees at the rate or 10% of total wages.
4.79. The main raw material for the malch indus-
tries is soft wood. Th:: different proc..:sses in the
match factories (lJ cross cutting of wood, (2) debark-
mg, (3) splinters and veneers peeling, (4) chopping, {5}
tray setting, (6) bundling of inner and outer venners
and bClttom pieces, {7, bundling and (8; yard works,
SOIlle of the problems facing the match industry are
shor [age of timber d lIe to non supply of timber quota,
short<:ge of funds and labour problems.
Land and Land ReVeDllt~
4.80, The history of land and land revenue of the
town is not isolated from the history of the land
revenue administration of the State.
4.81. The land in the town can be broadly classi-
fied under two heads viz. 'Pandaravaka Lands' or
lands belonging to Government and the Jenmom lands
or lands belonging to the jenmies or landlords. By
the proclamation dated 21st Edavam, 1,040 M.E.
(June 2, 1865), all Sirkar pattam lands W;;Te declared
as private, heritable, saleable and otherwise transfer-
able property. The jenmom property was thc abso-
lute private property of the proprietor and it was
genemlly tax free except for a small assessment called
Rajabhogam' on lands belonging to non-Brahmin
jenmics. TtJe jenmies created various kinds of tenures
varying from a simple lease to outright sale. The
Jemm l(udiym' Rc~ui2.tion of 1071 M. E. (896) con-
ferred permanent occupancy rights on these tenants or
kudiyans. Regulation XII of 1108 M.E. (1932)
reduced 'ihe jenmies to the position of persons entitled
to r.o:ceive only an amount called 'J.::mni-karam'
charged on land. By the .:enmikaram Payment (Abo-
lition) Act, 1960, the so cailed jenrnies ceased to have
any right over tl{' jenmol1l lands in the possession of
the tenants. The tenants became the full proponetors
of their holdings.
4.82. A comprehensive land reforms legislation was
passed in 1963 and brought into force from 1st April
1964 witn the object of abolishing certain intermediary
Iii!t:; on land in betvieen the State and the te!lam
cultivator, and enforcing a ceiling on land holdmgs.
With a view to remove certain defects and short-
comings, the Government amended the Kerala Land
Reforms Act, 1963 by passing the Kerala Land Re-
forms (Amendment) Act. 1969 which came into force
from the New Year Day of 1970. With effect from
that day the rights of all landlords in respect of their
tenanted lands vested in Government and persons were
prohibited from holding lands in cxcess of the ceiling
limit. The Act made every cultivator of the soil or
o;,:cup3.nt of the land as the owner subject only to the
liability for payment of land revenue.
·n
..f.83. After completing the survey and settlement
in lOSl M.E. (Malayalam Era), (1906) lands were
8.ss;:::sed to tax according to the fertility of the soil.
liy the Royal Proclamation ef 1121 M.E. (1946) this
systcn was replaced and a basic uniform rate of land
ta:, of 2 paise per cent was assessed irrespective of
r'tC natG!"c amI quality of the lands. Before 1984. the
rate of lane! tax was uniform at the rate of Rs. 2
per acre. From 1984 onwards the rate of land tax
per unit is at the rate of Rs. 2 per acre for holders
below O:1e hectare and @ Rs. 20 per hectare for
holders of land above one hectare.
Agricll.ltme
4,84. About 'Jne eighth of the housdlOLls in the
town are cultivating land. The main seasonal crop
cultivated is p2.ddy. Most of tl:e ,,:_;ricllltural land in
the town is wet land and is almost exclusively under
paddy cultivation. [n the garden lands there are
cocoanuts, arecanuts, mango and jack trees but not
on a large scale due to fragmentation of the land.
Some of the garden lands are being used for grow-
ing some vegetables as well.
4.85. The total area und::r paddy cultivation is
151.53 hectares. Ai,;cording to availability of rain, it
is possible to raise generally two crops and rarely
three crops a year, The first crop is shown in April-
May, the second in September-October and third in
January.
4,86. The farmers in Muva.ttupuzha town follow
the traditional practices of cultivation. The common
impl;m~l1ts are the plough, the kv~lling planks and
'manvelties' (spades). The uneven nature of the ter-
"ain and the fragmentation of the land into small plots
lave re:illce~l the scope for using tractor. But in
l:~ing pesticides, improved varieties of seeds and appli-
cation of chemical manure. the cultivators in the
to\\ 11 are not lagging behind the cultivators in other
parts of the state.
4.87. The paddy crop can be raised in a number
of ways. The seeds can De sown on ploughed land or
sprouted seeds dribbled. But the most common prac-
tice is to transplant the seedlings raised at a nursery
in a prepared field at regular intervals. The number
of days from sowing to harvest varies from 80 to 120
days depending on the variety of seeds. Attempts
are being made to lllcrease the yield by using improved
varieties and fonowing modern methods of cultivation.
4.88, The survey has revealed that 12.89 per cent
of sample households. in the town are possessing agri-
cultural or horticultural land. The size of holding&
is very small in most cases. The average area of land
cultivated by sample households is only 0.60 hectares
In almost all cases the cultivating land is situated very
near to the residences and it is only in the case of 2
sample households that the land is situated at a dis--
tance more than 4 kilometres. The more common
crops cultivated are paddy and cocoanut Nutmeg,
rubber, pepper, cocoa and tapioca also are grown by
 wme households. some households are cultivating
more than one crop. Cocoanut and paddy are culti-
vated for OWll consumption as well as for marketing.
Tapioca is <.:ultivated for own consumption while plan-
tatIOn crops are grown for marketing.
Livestock
4.89. Muvattupuzha town docs not lag behind 1Il
anm1al wealth when compared to other small towns
of comparable size. According to livestock census of
1982, the total livestock in the town i, 3,872 compris-
ing 2,329 cows and bullocks, 169 bufIaloes, 1,341
goats and 33 pigs. The total poultry is 6,~89. There
is a veterinary poly clinic in the town to look after
Table 4.18
CATTLE IN MUVATfUPUZH\ rOWN BY AGE-GROUP ACCORDING TO THE LlVESTOCK CENSUS FOR THE YEAR 1982
r--------------------_
animal health. Attempts have been made to .improve
the livestock by artificial insemination and by dis-
tribution of better breeds.
4.90. 15.81 per ceil[ of the cattle are male~ and
84.19 per cent females. She buffaloes account for
76.92 per cent of the total number at buffaloes.
Among the bovines (Ie. cows, buHocks and buffaloes},
34.87 per cent are below one year of age, 56.44 per
cent above 3 years of age and the remaining 8.69 per
cent between 1 and 3 years of age. The following state-
ment gives the age and sex-wise distribution of cows
and bullocks, buffaloes etc. in the town as Der the live-
stock census of 1982.
Age-group
I._ ------------~---_____,

Under one year 1-3 years Over 3 years Total

r---------..A...---~ - , r--_----A._----, .---...;...._____,.~ -.,
Animal T M F T M F T M F T M F
2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 Jl ]2 13
L Cows and Bullocks 834 276 558 214 41 J73 1,281 39 1,242 2,329 356 1,973
2. Buffaloes 37 12 25 3 I 2 129 26 103 169 :'19 130
Total Bovines 871 288 583 217 42 175 1,410 65 1,345 2,498 395 2,103
3. Pigs 33 16 17 Nil Nil 33 16 17
4. Goats 6U3 242 361 738* 83* 655* 1,341 325 1,016
T-Total, M-Males, F---Females
• Figures relate to J year and above (ie. including 3 years)

4.91. Most of the oxen and male buffaloes over
three years of age are used for ploughincr and cart
pulling. Male buffaloes are more com~only used
for ploughing.
4.92. Among the sample households in the town
20.44 per cent are rearing cows, 6.22 per cent are
rearing goats and 1.78 per cent are rearing buffaloes.
Household,,; belonging to all the three religious "roups
afe keeping these animals. There are 69 co:'s. 27
goats and 6 bufIaloes in the sample households.
Milk production
4.93. There is no area in the town set apart as
grazing land for the cattle. The cattle have to be fed
on straw, COcoanut cake or other cattle feeds purchased
from t!Je market. The disposal of milk and other pro-
ducts Is not a problem. The milk in the town is not
suffi~ient e_ve.n for local consumption. However, there is
a mIlk chlllmg plant in the town which is collecting
milk from the neighbouring areas of Devicolam.
Peermade, Munnar etc., through primary cooperative
societies. Chilled milk is despatched to Ernakulam
Milma Dair~ for pr~cessjng. The present capacity
of the plant IS 4,500 htres per day. The construction
~f a new chilling plant with a capacity of 10,000
~ltres per day and .expand';lble to 20.000 litres per day
IS under.way. ~J]ma mIlk and milk products are
also avatlable beSIdes the local production of milk.
Poultry
4.4. As mentioned earlier. the total poultry in the
town is 6,889 consisting of 1,535 hens, 5,133 chickens
and 221 ducks. For every 100 households, there are
153 fowls in the town. 53.75 per cent of the poultry
consisting of ~95 hens, 2,803 chickens and 5 ducks
are of improved varieties which are either imported
birds, cross breeds or recognized Indian birds. Among
the sample hou~hulds in the town 14.22 per cent
are found to be keeping poultry mainly hen. There
are 153 hens in these households.
Markets
4.95, There is a municipal town market situated in
Kavumkara in market ward. In this market there are
separate market divisions for vegetables, eggs, fish
and meat and cattle. Monday and Thursday are the
market days. There is a terraced building for the
vegetable market and it has got 42 rooms. About 4
or 5 lorry loads of vegetables, three loads from Tamil
Nadu and balance from Kerala are being brought
here. Vegetables from nearby places are brought by
bullock carts and hand carts also. There are both
wholesale and retail traders in the market. Eggs are
being brought in tempo vans from Trichur and Erna-
kulam districts. There is a terraced bullding consist-
ing of 33 rOoms for the sale of fish and meat. Fish
is being brought from Alwaye and Changanacherry.
Ab;)Ut 6 loads arc bcing received daily by lorry.
Ammals brought from PollachL Dindigal etc. in Tamil
Nadu are slaughtered in the slaughter house and thcir
meat are being sold. Most of the workers in the
meat business and those engaged in slaught!;ring of
animals are Muslims. During the year 1982-83, there
was an income of Rs. 1,14,625 from the market and
cattle pound to the municipality and an expenditure
of Rs.7,314 on this account.

42
Government of India Extension Centre

Milk Chilling Plant

 CHAPTER Y
ETHNIC AND SELECfED SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACfERISTICS OF THE POPULATION

Hindus. Cltri5!ians and Muslims are the dominant
religiolls grollps ill Kerala constituting 58.15 per cent,
21.15 per cent and 20.50 per cent of the population
respectively. Though followers of all these religions
arc found in all the districts. Muslims are found in
large numbers in the northern districts and Christians
in the central districts. In Ernakulam district. Chris-
tians are the second largest community after Hindus.
while in Muvattupuzha tal uk Christians are in majority,
Hindus and Muslims being minorities. But in Muvattu-
puzha lown which is: the headquarters of the ~uk:,
Muslim5 are the second largest group after Hmdus
and Christians come only third in numerical strength.
The foUowing table gives the distribution o[ house-
holds and population by religion in Muvattupuzha
town based on the religion of Head of Household
in 1981 Census in comparison with the percentage
distribution in Muvattupuzha taluk and Ernaku1am
district.

Table 5.1

UlSTRlBlJTION OF HOUSEHOLDS AND POPULATION BY RELIGION IN THE CENSUS OF 1981

Muvattupuzha
A __lOwn
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _- ,
Percentage Percentage
,.--- distribution distribution of
Population of population population
Religion ,-------"----- --~ Percentage by religion by religion
No. of M F Total to total in Muvattu- in Emaku-
households population puzha taluk lam district

2 4 5 6 7 8

'filIal 4,490 12,784 U,529 25,313 10000 100.00 100.00

Hindu> 2,0551 5,548 5,421 10,969 43.33 39.42 46.29
Christians 965 2.531 2,751 5,282 20.&7 50.24 40.20
Muslims 1,464 4,695 4,355 9,050 35.75 10.32 13.40
Jains 0.04
Sikhs 4 5 5 0.02 N 0.04
Buddhists 0.01
Other Religions & Pursu,l';ion' 0.01
Religion not stated 2 2 7 0.03 0.02 0.01

N- -Negligible

5.2. Hindus are the largest community in the town Table 5.2
followerl by Muslims and Christians in !he order of DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE HOUSEHOLDS AND POPU-
their strength. The percentage of Hindus in Muvattu- L.\TION BY RELIGrON (SURVEY DATA)
puzha town is slightly less than that in Ernakulam
di;otl'ict while the p.orcentage of Christians in the town
is only about half of their percentag<: in the district. No. of Population Percentage
house- r - A - - - , of popu.
The proportion of M us-lims in the town is more than Religion holds p M F lation
2{, times their proportion in the district. It is interest-
itlg to note that while Muvattupuzha taluk is dominat- 2 3 4 5 6
ed hy Christians, they are pushed to the third position Hindu~ 93 462 232 230 36.87
in Muvatlupuzha lown which is the only urban alea Christialls 57 294 147 147 23.46
of the talllk. The possible reason is that the town,
being a trading centre, had attracted Muslim traders Muslims 75 497 245 252 39.66
from outside who later settled there.
The survey data also shows the numerical weakness of
5.3. The religiolls composition of the town revealed Christians' as compared to Muslims in the town.
from the sample hOllseholds surveyed is given below: Another feature observed from the survey is the large

43
sue of Muslim households. Though the number of
Hindu households in the sampl::: is more than Muslim
households, Hindu population in these households is
less than [h·c Muslim population
Mothel~tong ...e
5.4. Malayalam is the mother-tongu~ of th~ majority
of the population in the town. According to the
Census of 19'81 out of 25,313 population of the town,
24,127 persons (95.31 per cent) are having Malayalam
as. their mother-tongue. Tamil Nadu being the neigh-
bouring state. the iargest linguistic minority is natu-
rally Tamilians. There are 1,060 persons constituting
4.1 Y per cent of the population of the town having
Tamll as their mother-tongue. Apart from Konkani
(62 persons) and Telugu (34 persons), there are only
stray returns of some other mother-tongues in the
town. There is no sl'!nificant difference between males
and females in the -distribution by mother-tongue.
<;4.77 per cent of males and 95.87 per cent of females
have Mahyalam as their mother-tongue and 4.71 per
cent of males and 3.65 Der cent of females have Tamil
as. their mother-tongue.~ The distribution of popula-
tion by mother-tongue is given in Table 5.3 below:

Table 5.3
DlSriUBUTIO~ OJ;' PO?ULAl[O~ OF THE row~ BY MOrHER·TO~GUE IN THE CENSUS OF 1981

SI. No. Name of mother-tollglJe Persons Males Females

Total 25,313 (100.00) 12,784 (100.00) 12,529 (100.00)

1. Dogri 2 (0.01) 2 (0.02)
2. Eng\hh 1 (N) 1 (0.01)
3. German 3 (0.01) 2 (0.02) 1 (0.01)
4. Klnl1ad3. 3 (0.01) 2 (0.01) I (0.01)
5. Konkani 62 (0.25) 30 (0.23) 32 (0.25)
6. Malai 2 (0.01) 2 (0.01)
7. Malayalam 24,127 (95.31) 12,115 (94.77) 12,012 (95.87)
8. Marathi 4 (0.02) 3 (0.02) 1 (0.01)
9. Nepali 2 (0.01) 1 (0.01) 1 (0.01)
10. Punjabi 5 (0.02) 5 (0.04)
11. Tamil 1,060 (4.19) 602 (4.71) 458 (3.65)
12. Telugu 34 (0.13) 15 (0.12) 19 (0.15)
13. Tulu 3 (0.01) 1 (0.01) 2 (0.02)
14. Urdu 5 (0.02) 3 (0.02) 2 (0.02)
N-c\[egligible. Perc~ntage to pO!Julation arc given in brackets.

Language 'll..a;nly S]1okcn ill the household
5.5. Based on the household data coliected through
household schedules in the' census of 1981, the langu-
age mainly spo:{cn in majority of the households in
the town is also Malayalam. Excluding Instit.utional
households, there are 4,407 households with 24.647
population in the town. Out of these. 4,091 (92.83
per cent) bouseholds with 22,996 (93.30 per cent)
population mainly speak Malayalam in the household.
In 6.47 per cent of households covering 6.18 per cent
of populatio~l, th~ main conversing language in the
Table 5.4
H~JjEli'YJD, \ 'ID 'i:J J ,)E:-lQLI) !>JPJL\nO~ BY L\~GU\GE M\[NLY SPOKE~ IN '(HE HOUSEHOLD
IN THE CENSUS OF 1981
households is Tamil. There is not much difference
between the figures of the language spoken in the house-
bold and the mother-tongue. However. the propor-
tion of Tamil speaking households and of their popu-
lation is higher than the proportion of poPLilation
having Tamil as their mother-tongue. Obviously Tamil
is the conversing language in some of the households
where there are members with Malayalam as mother-
tongue. The details, of language mainly <,polen in the
households in Muvattupuzha town are given in the
table below:

,--- ____
Total population
_ _ ....A.. _ _ _ _ •_ _ ,
Percentage
No. of ~

to total
Language households Persons Males Females population
2 3 4 5 6

Total 4,407 24,647 12,477 12,170 100,00

Hindi 2 2 0.01
Kannada 3 2 1 0.01
Malayalam 4,091 22,996 II ,613 11,383 93.30
Marathi I 4 3 1 0.02

44
 Table 5, 4-concld.
2 3 4 5 6

Punjahi 4 5 5 0.02
Tamil 285 1,524 799 725 6.18
Telugu 6 31 15 16 0.13
Urdu 2 6 3 3 0.02
Konkani 12 66 30 36 0.27
Gorkhali/Nepali 1 2 1 1 0.01
Tulu 1 3 1 2 0.01
Other languages 2 5 3 2 0,02

Note.- This table includes hou;,;les~ households but excludes institutional househ0lds.

Subsidiary languages employed in Government and other services. Though

the traditional occupation of Ezhavas is cocoanut-grow-
5.6. Tile mother tongue of almost all persons in the ing and toddy tapping, many of them are now agricul-
sample households surveyed in the town is Malayalam. turists, traders, contractors and government employees.
Out of 1253 persons in th(; sample, only 10 returned Pula vas beelOD!! tD scheduled castes and ma iority among
another mother fomme viz. TamIl. SIX out ot these them are a!!ricultural labor.lrers or transport and other
ten persons speak fv1ahyv.1am as a subsidiary language service workers. Christians of all sect,S ar,e engaged
and -others do not know any other language. Among ll1 all occupations ranging from operating road trans-
the persons with Malayalam ~o!her tongue 49.16 per Dort services to trade and commerce. Muslims both
cent speak one or more SubSIdIary languages. The Shafis and Hanafis are mainly traders.
knowledge of subsidiary language is slightly more
among males (51.86 per cent) than females (46.48 per 5.9. An insight into the caste structure of the town
cent). English. Hindi and Arabic are the languages is obtained from th;:: distribution of population by
mostly returned as subsidiary languages. Among the reiigion and caste of the sample households c('vered
subsidiary language speakers 60.23 per cent speak bofh in the survey. Tho;; details are given in the following
English and Hindi. 17.84 per cent English only, 12.44 table.
per cent Arabic only, 3.76 ~r ce?t .English a~d
Arabic and 3.44 per cent English, HmdI and ArabIC Table 5.5
as subsidiary languages. Tami~, Urdu, Latin and SEX-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF POPUL~TION OF SAMPLE
French also have been returned In stray cases. Con- HOUSEHOLDS BY RELIGION AND C.\STE
sidering the returnf> of subsidiary languages individu-
ally it is found that English is the most common Population
subsidiary language spoken by 86.09 per cent of -----
Religion Caste Total M'lle. F~,lHk
speakers of subsidiary language in the town-. Hindi
comes next with 64.32 per cent followed by An:bic 2 4 5
with 20.46 per cent. Though Tamil is the only other
mother tongue returned in the town only 2.12 pcr Total 1,253 624 629
I:ent of subsidiary language speakers have returned Hindu Nair 164 76 88
Tamil as. a subs.idiary language. Ezhava 132 66 66
Velar 4 1 3
5.7. The reason for the predominance of Engli~h, Veerashaiva 5 2
Hindi and Arabic is obvious. EnQ:lish and Hindi Thattan 12 7
are taught as compuisory languag';-s in schools in Kollan 16 8 8
Kerala from Upper primary classes. Arabic also is A~ari 37 22 15
taught as a second language in some schools. Holy Ve1an (SC) S 5 3
Koran, the religious book of Muslims is in Arabic and Paravan (SC) 20 13 7
it is taught in Muslim Madrassas. Parayan (SC) 20 10 10
Pulayan(SC) 35 17 18
Caste-lltructure
Ulladan(ST) 9 5 4
5.8. Caste-wise data except for scheduled castes and Total 462 232 230
scheduled tribes are not collected in recent Indian Muslim Shafi 384 192 192
Censusses. Therefore, census data is not useful to
Hanafi 113 53 60
have an idea of the ca,.te structure of the town. But
it is generally believed that Nairs, Ezhavas and Total 497 245 252
Pulayans among Hindus, Shafi and Hanafi among Christian Jacobite 128 68 60
Musiims and Jacobites and Catholics among Christians Catholic 159 75 84
constitute the bulk of the population of the town. Marthomitc 7 4 3
Many of the Nairs are Small landowners and cultiva- Total 294 147 147
tors. But the more educated among them are

45
 5.10. In the sample households, among Hindus
35.50 per cent are Nairs and 2!!.57 per :ent Ezhavas.
Other communities excluding Scheduled Castes and
Tribes are Asaris, Thattans, Kollan&, Veerashaiva and
Velar and they constitute 16.02 per cent of Hindus.
Scheduled Cas-tes constitute 17.96 per cent and sche-
duled tribes 1.95 per cent of Hindu Population.
Pulayan, Parayan, Paravan and Velan are the sche-
duled castes and Ulladan is the scheduled tribe found
among samr1:; :-'ouseholds. Among :\fuslims, only
the Shafi and Hanafi sects are found in the town.
the former accounting for 77.26 per cent of Muslim
population. Catholics, Jacobites and Marthomites are
the sects of Christians living in the town accounting
for 54.08 per cent, 43.54 per cent and 2.38 per cent
of Christians respectively.
Scheduled Caste~/Scheduled Tribes
5.11. There are 1,486 persons belonging to sche-
duled castes and 30 persons belonging to scheduled
tribes in the town, according to 1981 census. The
proportion of scheduled castes in the town is only
5.87 per cent compared to 8.54 per cent in the district
and 10.02 per cent in the state. The proportion of
scheduled tribes is only 0.14 per cent. It is higher
than the sch~duled tribe proportion in the district
which is only 0.12 per cent but is significantly lower
than the state scheduled tribe percentage of 1.03.
Scheduled castes are scattered in all wards of the
town, Scheduled tribes are found in stadium. N.S.S.
High School, Block, Kadathy and Sivankunnu
wards. Randar ward has the highest scheduled caste
population with 273 09.83 per cent), followed by the
second highest of 187 (9.61 per cent) in Kadathy
ward. Kadathy ward has the highest scheduled tribe
population and this forms 0.57 per cent (jf the total
population of the ward.
5.12. Formerly, scheduled castes were employed ex-
clusively as agricultural labourers and ':,)olies. They
were also engaged in cottage industries of making mats
and baskets. They were illiterates. Namboodiries and
Nairs engaged scheduled castes as casual labourers for
cultivating their land and for other miscellaneous work.
Today scheduled castes and scheduled tribes have im-
proved a lot both socially and economically.
A seat of Municipal CouncilIo~ is reserved for sche-
duled castes and scheduled tribes in the town in
Randar ward. Now almost all the scheduled caste
and scheduled tribe households are residing in their
Own land, which is attributed to the progressive provi-
sions in the Kerala Land Reforms Act. In respect of
education also scheduled castes are showing signs of
advancement. At present 60.23 per cent of them are
46
literates as compared to the general literacy rate of
7(1.6[\ for the town. The literacy rate of scheduled
tribes is 86.67 per cent which is higher thall the general
literacy rate of the town. There are only 6 workers
among the 30 scheduled tribe persons in the town
giving a participation rate of 20 per cent. Out of the
six workers, 4 are engaged in transport and other ser-
vices, one in non-household industry and one in live-
stock, forestry, fishing etc. There is no agricultural
labourer among them in the town. This shows that
scheduled tribes also are attempting to catch up with
the general population in economic advancement.
Housele~ and Institutional population
5.13. In the census of 1981 there were 56 houseless
households with 167 population, 75 males and 92 fe-
males in Muvattupuzha town. There were 666 persons,
307 males and 359 ferlales in 83 institutional house-
holds in the town. Among the wards, maximum
number of Louseless persons are found in NSS High
School ward and maximum number of institutional
population is found in Government High Schod Ward.
The houseless population constitute only 0.66 per cent
and institutional popUlation only 2.63 per cent of the
population of Muvattupuzha town.
Disabled persons
5.14. From the data compiled from the houselists
prepared in 1980, it is found that there were 21 dis-
abled persons in the town of whom 8 are totally blind,
4 totally crippkd and 9 totally dump. The number
of disabled persons in the urban areas of Ernakulam
district was 219 totally blind, 378 totally crippled and
361 totally dumb.
Age, Sex and Marital Status
5.15. In the census of 1981, the town has a popula-
tion of 25,313 persons of whom 12.784 are males
and ]2,529 females. About one third of the popula-
tion of the town are children below 15 years of age.
There is not much ciifference between males and fe-
males in this respect even though the proportion of
male children is slightly less than that of females.
59.49 per cent of the popUlation are in the working
age group 15-59. In the case of males 60.21 per
cent are in this age-group while females have a
slightly lower proportion of 58.75 per sent. Over 7
per cellt of the population are aged 60 years and
above. Old persons constitute 6.94 per cent among
males and 7.96 percent among females. Among the
males 60.26 per cent are never married, 38.49 per
cent married, 0.99 per cent widowed and 0 26 per cent
divorced or separated. Among the females. the propor- respectively. The distribution of males and females
tion of never married. married widowed and divorced in Muvattupuzha town by age-groups and marital
or separated are 51.27, 39.33, 8.09 and 1.29 per cent status is given in Table 5.6.

Table 5.6
AGE. SEX AND MARITAL STATUS. 1981

Marital status
r--'------..A..-----l r--..A.-, r-----"----,
Never married Married Widowed Divorcedl Unspecified
Total population Separated status
r---_.A. _ _...... ,---__.A___-.. r--_....A-.___ --... , -_ _ ..A.. _ _ ........ ,---_.A-__--.... ~ _ _ ..A..---."

Age-group p M F M F M F M F M F M F

2 3 4 5 6 7 R 9 10 II 12 13 14

All ages 25,313 12,784 12,529 7,70l 6,424 4,921 4,928 126 1,014 33 161 2
0-9 5.227 2,686 2,541 2,686 2,541
10 --14 3,141 1,512 1,629 1,512 1,626 3
15-19 2,924 1,441 1,483 1,435 1.336 6 143 4
20-24 2,730 1,:m 1,353 1,250 573 127 758 1 20
25-29 2,288 1,148 1,140 561 149 579 962 8 7 21
30--34 1,689 901 788 118 43 781 706 IS 2 21
35-39 1,536 796 740 31 42 761 654 2 24 2 20
40-44 1,164 643 521 18 24 616 424 6 55 3 18
45-49 1,170 608 562 23 32 568 428 9 81 8 20
50-54 ROR 418 390 13 II 396 271 96 12
55-59 7-N 365 384 IS 15 330 245 15 i 14 2 9
6:)-64 596 237 309 11 13 262 142 10 146 4 8
65-69 520 233 287 8 8 208 114 16 159 6
70+ 768 367 401 2) 10 2'\5 77 59 312 2
Age not stated 2 I I 2

5.16 From the above table it can be observed that
in the age· group 0-14 all males and all but three fe-
males are unmarried. While most of the females get
married before attaining 25 years of age, most of the
males get married he fore attaining the age of 30.
However, there are a few unmarried persons among
both sexes in the higher age groups 35-39 onwards.
In all the age-groups 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29 married
females are far in excess of the married males_ In
the age-groups 30 years and above. married males
outnumber married females.
5.17 There are more widows than widowers in the
town. The number of females who are divorced {)T
separated also far exceeds the number of such males.
Marriage, divorce, separation and widow-hood start
at an early aqe for females. Even in the age-group
15-19, 4 females are divorced or separated. Even at
the age of 70, there are only 59 widowers as against
312 widows.
5.18 In the sample households surveyed in the
lown there is no married female below the age of 15
and no married male below the age of 20. In the
'15-19' age group, 13.41 per cent of females are mar- .
ried and in the '20-24' age group. J 2.12 per cent
of males are married. 61.97 per cent of females are
married in the age-group 20-24. 40 per cent males
and 75 per cent females are married in the age-group
25-29. The proportion of married persons increases
to 80 per cent for males and 93.75 per cent for fe-
males in the '30-34' age-group. It is evident from
the above data that there is no child marriage in the
town and marriages take place between the ages 20
and 24 in the case of majority of females and after
the age of 25 and around 30 years in the case of
most of the males.
5.19 In the sample households 10.02 per cent of
females are widowed while only 1.44 per cent of
males are widowed. There are only 0.95 per cent
of females and 0.16 per cent of males as divorced
and 0.48 per cent females as separated in the sample
households. No male has reported as separated.
Out of 63 females reported as having become widows
none has remarried. But '-I- out of 13 such males
have remarried. While none of the nine divorced/
separated females remarried, one of the two divorc-
ed/separated males has remarried.
5.20 It would appear that social conditions favour
the remarriage of widowers. Though there is no
prohibition against the remarriage of widows,. they
find it more difficult to get partners. Also dIvorced
or separated males have a better chance of remarriage
than such females. It may also be due to the !act
that compared to widows, widowers prefer remarnage
after the death of their partners {1r after being divor-
ced or separated.
Religion, age at marriage and trend
5.21 In the surveyed households, there are 341
ever married women and 264 ever married men. The
ever married males comprise of 98 Hindus,

47
8-19 RGIJND!B!l
104 Muslims and 62 Christians. The ever married ever married males and females in each religion and
females consist of 142 Hindus, 130 Muslims and 69 each community are furnished in table 5.7 given
Christians. Age at marriage and total number (If below:
Table 5.7
AGE AT l\fARRIAGE AS RELATED TO CASTE/TRIBE/COMMUNITY

No. of persons whose age at marriage is Age

r---------'---------"'-----------.------~ not
Caste/Tribe/Community Below 14 14·19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45+ stated Total

2 3 4 5 6 1 8 9 10 II

Males
Total 11 90 108 41 14 264

HINDUS 4 25 45 16 8 98
Nair 4 17 8 4 34
Velar
Ezhava 12 10 1 2 31
Veerashaiva ] I
Thattan 2 2
Asari . 2 4 7
KoHan. 2
Velan (SC) 1
Paravan esC) 3 5
Parayan esC) 4 5
Pulayan (SC) 4 7
U1ladan (ST) 2 I 3
MUSLIMS 4 47 42 11 104
Shafi 3 33 34 9 79
Hanafi 14 8 2 25
3 18 21 14 6 62
Jacotile 1 10 12 2 2 27
Catholic 1 7 9 12 4 33
Marthomite 1 2
Ftllliles
Total 9 185 115 25 5 2 341
HINDUS 5 60 60 14 2 142
Nair 2 22 28 5 2 59
Velar 1 1
Elhava 18 16 4 38
Veerashaiva
Thattan 2 2 5
Asari 4 2 7
Kollan. 3 2 5
Velan (SC) 2 3
Paravan (SC) 4 1 5
Parayan (SC) 3 3 8
Pulayan (SC) 5 2 8
UJladan (ST) 2

MUSLIMS 4 95 27 2 2 130
Shaft 2 70 21 2 2 97
Hanafi 2 2S 6 33

CHRISTIANS 30 28 9 69
Jacobite 16 12 3 3l
Catholic 12 16 6 36
Marthomite 2 2

48
 5.22 Tbere is none among males who married
before attaining the age of 14. However, there are
few males who married between the ages 14-19
among the three religions viz., Hindu, Muslim and
Christian. The largest group of males are those
getting married between the ages of 25-29 foilowed
by those getting mamed between 20·24. Those who
get married between the ages of 3{).-34 come third in
numerical strength. Though this pattern is observed
among Hindus and Christians, in the case of Muslims
those who mary between the ages of 20-24 outnumber
those marrying between the ages of 25-29. The pro-
portion of those getting married between the ages
30-34 is higher among Christians than among Mus-
lims and Hindus. In the sample households. there
are a few males among Hindus and Christians who
got married after 35 years of age, but none amOng
Muslims.
5.23 It is observed that there are 5 Hindu women
and 4 Muslim women who were married before the
age of 14. But among the Christians, no case of
child marriage was reported in the sample house-
holds. The most favoured age for marriage of wo-
men among the communities especially Muslims and
Christians is 14- J9. Again among the Muslims. fe-
males get married generally at an early age. 42.25
per cent of Hindu marrieD women and 73.08 per
cent of Muslim married women and 43.48 per cent
of Christian maJ'ried women got married between 14
and 19 years of age. Among all the communiti~,
marriage of women before 24 years of age is favour-
ed. 42.25 pel' cent of married wOmen among Hindus,
20.77 per cent among Muslims and 40.58 per cent
among Christians got married between the age of
20. and 24. A total of 32 cases of women married
after the age of 24 have also been recorded of which
17 persons are from Hindus. 4 from Muslims and
11 from Christians. Within the religious groups,
there does not seem too much variation in the age of
marriage of various communities.
5.24 A table giving the distribution of ever marri-
ed males and females by educational level and age
at marriage is given below:

Table 5.8
AGE AT MARRIAGE AS RELATED TO EDUCATIONAL LEVEL
(SURVEY DATA)

,--__________A____________ _____...,
No. of persons whose age at marriage is

Educational level Bdow [4 14-19 20·24 25-29 3D-34 35-39 40-4+ 45 + Total
2 3 4 5 6 1 8 9 10

Males
Iotal 11 90 108 41 14 264
Illiterate 10 10 2 23
Literate without cducational1evel 2 2 2 6
Below Primary 5 28 24 4 3 64
Primary 5 39 41 16 4 105
Malric 11 17 15 44
Diploma Of Certificate 8 8
Degree and above 6 4 4 [4

Females
Total 9 liS 115 2S 5 2. 341
IIIilerate H 38 10 10 I 67
Likrate without edllcationallevcl \I 2 11
Below Primary 47 17 5 2 72
Prilllary 76 50 2 128
Mutde 15 31 6 54
Diploma or Certificate 1 2 3
Degree and above 4 2 6

Among married males, 8.71 per cent and among
married females 19.65 per cent are illiterates. 66.29
per cent married males and 61.88 per cent married
femaies are below matrk while 16.67 per cent of
married males and 15.83 per cent of married females
are matriculates. Those who possess degree and
higher qualifications constitute 5.30 per cent among
married males and 1.76 per cent among maried fe-
males.
5.25 The increasing trend of age at marriage with
increasing level of education is observed among' both
males and females. In the case of males, among illi-
terates and literates without educational level the num-
ber of those who married between ages 20 and 24 is
more than those who married between ages 25 and 29
whereas it is the reverse among those baving primary
or malric level education. There is no one among
diploma/certificate holders or graduates who have

49
married before attaining the age of 25. In the case of ween ages 20 and 24 are two times of those who
females. the effect of education is descernible only married between ages 14 and 19.
from matric and above. The number of females ma,rri-
ed between ages 14 and 19 is more than those married Age at marriage by present age
between ages 20 and 24 in the case of illiterates and 5.26 The distribution of ever married males and fe-
those with primary and below primary levels. But males by age at marriage and present age is given in
among matriculate females those who married bet- the following table.

Table 5.9

AGE AT MARRIAGE AND PRESENT AGE

Age at marriage (years)_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _____,

r-_________ ._.____________

.
.
.
.
A
.
.
.
~
~
Below 14 14-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45+ Un- Total
Prl}sent age (years) specified

2 :} 4 5 6 7 8 9 ]0 11

Males
Total 11 90 J08 41 14 264
Below 14
14-24 8 8
25-34 17 34 4 56
35-44 2 -24 . 40 14 4 84
45-54 4 13 12 11 4 44
55+ 4 28 22 12 6 72
Ag~ not stated

Females

Total 9 18S 115 25 5 .2 341

Below 14
14-24 32 23 56
25-34 2 38 33 8 2 83
35--44 2 32 24 9 67
45-54 30 13 6 2 52
55+ 4 53 22 2 113
Age not stated

Average age at marriage not so pronounced as in the case of females. In the

5.27 In the sample households. the average age at
marriage for males works out to 26.05 and for females
19.36. For Hindus, Muslims and Christians the
average age at marriage of males is 26.53. 25.08 and
26.94 respectively and the average age at marriage of
females is 19.92. 18.05 and 20.68 respectively. Thus
average age at marriage is lowest for Muslims and
highest for Christians both in respect of males and fe-
males. However, the difference in the case of males is
case of males, the difference between Hindus and
Christians is only marginal.
5.28 For scheduled castes, the average age at
marriage is 26.50. for males and 19.88 for females and
for scheduled tribes it is 23 and 21 respectively.
5.29. The following table gives the average age at
marriage with reference to the year of man-iuge by sex
and community.

50
 Table 5.10
AVERAGE AGE AT MARRIAGE AS RELATED TO SEX,CASTE/TRIBE.'COMMllMIY Af'iD lliVLE Oi MAJ.{RIAGE

Average age at marriage of ever AVerage age at marriage of ever

married males who married married females who married
No, of ever married r--- ~ ______.J..... __________ - .
r-------"----------\
r-----"--------, Earlier (han Within lCarlier thln Within
Caste/rrib~ICQmmUllii)' Male Female 30 years I 5-29 y~ars ]5 yeal's 30 ye;m 15-2gears 15 year~
2. 4 5 7 9

Total 264 341 24,4J 26,1'7

"
1{;,99 19,t),~
U .1) 2\}.S~

HINDUS 98 142 25,62 27,00 ~6, 7) 17, vi) 20,37 21,47

Nair 34 59 26.2\1 30,25 27,21 li,57 22.00 21. 28
Ezhava 31 38 24,88 23.33 26,82 17.79 21. It 21. 88
Veerashaiva 25,0:) 19.00
Thattan :2 5 26,0;) 26,0) 1).50 23.67
KoHan. 2 5 23.50 19.00 ]3,0Il 22,00
Asari 7 7 28.00 21.50 24.00 21,OU 16.50 16,50
Velar 1 25,DO
Velan (SC) I J JJ,OO 16,50 20,00
Para van (SC) 5 5 2S,j() 25,67 [(l.UO 2U,()()
I:'arayan (Sc) 5 li 2'5,1):) 2 ~ J)G ~r" 'J:J i.l, '!i 21,50 Ig.OO
PLilayan (SCl 7 ;) 27 ,0,) Jj OJ 2() !17 21), :i0 .2 ).50 23,25
Ulladan (ST) 3 2 25,OJ 21, iL) 23 () IJ ,Oi) 29.00

MUSLiMS 101 130 22, ')i) 21,53 21:l. ~u Ib,Ill [\),7.1 1':1 ..14
Shan 79 ')7 22,63 24, ,)(, Ih.63 i:J, ,')3 17.0<1 ]').7')
Hanali 25 33 23 81) 23,IYJ 2), ,JJ ilL) 16,Ul) 17. tm

CHRISTIANS ('2 6') 2~.g(, 2/,7:5 2Lli 17 'J) 2.U) 21,65

Jacobite 27 31 21, l! 2li. X, ~(J, '!J l! ~') .!lJ. I! 20.00
Catholic 33 36 2L~6 'l"
_) .10 j) \)J I'
,,) :..7 23,5S 23,86
Marthomite :1. :1. I'J.U,) 11,l)0 U,OJ 17.0lJ

It can be observed from the table that average uge
at marriage has shown an increase over the l:.lst
three decades both in respect of males and females and
among all the religions, the increase being sharp ill
the past 15 years as compared to earlier 15 years.
Thus the average age at marriage which was 24.43 for
males before the last three decades. rOse to 26.99
within the last 15 years. Similarly the female age at
marriage increased from 17.36 to 20.54 during the
same Period. Average age at marriage in respect of
Hindus, increased from 25,62 to 26,79 in respect of
males and from 17,60 to 21.47 for females. For Mus-
lims it rose from 22.90 to 26.20 for males and from
16.64 to 19.34 for females; for Christians there was
an increase from 22.86 to 28.31 in respect of males and
from 17.90 to 21.65 in respect of females.
aud geueral lUles 01 Nallllmdiri (Brahmiu) caste
in the past only the eldest son was to marry from the
same caste and otllcrs were alloweu to lllarry from
',lther lower castes. Among Nair~. there was no such
rule. bUI men may marry from lower ca~lc". A Nair
woman is allowed tll marry a higher caste but a man
is not allowed to marry from a caste. or sub-caste
superior to his own. The cllildrell born to the woman
of inter-caste marriage, belonged to their mother's
family and had 110 claim on their father's property.
Now the position has changed. Among all Hindu
castes. the children claim paternal property and care.
The system of marriage among Cle Namblldiris has
also changed. The Nambudiri youths marry from
among their own castes and do not often contract
marriage from the lower castes,

5.30. The increasing trend in age at marriage of 5.32, In the 225 surveyed households, there is no
both sexes over the years is observed amollg the sub household with multi-religious composition and no
sects of all the three religious groups. inter-religious marriage has been reported.

Inter-religious and Inter-caste marriage Age, soex and literacy

5.31. Inter-religious marriages are rare in the town. 5.33. Although Kerala leads the other states in
But inter-caste marriages were common among Narn- India in literacy, the position varies from district to
budiris and Nairs in the past. According to the system~ (listrict. Comparatively Travancore and Cochin

51
 regions of tile state are leading in the matter of literacy
and Malabar region is generally backward. The per-
centage of literacy as per 1981 census in the state is
70.42. Ernakulam district has a significantly higher
literacy rate of 76.82 per cent, ranking 3rd among the
districts of the state, 1st rank going to Kotlayam with
a literacy rate of 81.66 per cent. Muvattupllzha town
in Ernakulam district has a slightly lower literacy rate
of 76.68 per cent. During the last 40 years, pheno-
minal progress has been achieved in the field of edu-
cation by establishing a number ot educational institu-
tions in the town. Since the formation of Kerala State,
there has been rapid progress in the literacy rate of
the district as well as the town under study.
5.35. In 1961 the percentage of literacy in the town
was only 54.79. It went upto 68.75 per cent in 1971
and 76.68 per cent in 1981. The literacy rate of the
town as per 1981 census is some what higher than
the urban literacy rate of Kerala which is 76.11. All
lhe wards in the town have literacy rale above 66 per
cent. In other words. mor~ than two third of the
population of each ward is literate. Randar ward
with a literacy rate of 66.88 holds the lowest rank and
Govemment high school ward with a literacy rate of
85.93 gets the top rank. All the wards except Randar
has a literacy rate above 73 per cent. The total num-
ber of literates and the percentage of literacy ID
each ward is given in the table below;

Tabi~ 5.12
5.34. The literacy rate in the town is lower than all
the towns in Ernakulam district except Kalamasserry, WARD·WISE PERCENTAGE OF LITERACY, 1981
Perumbavoor and Kothamangalam. The percentage Tohti lil~ratc Pe~centagc
of literacy in the state, Ernakulam district, Muvattu- TOWll Ward IW[lu[ation jlopu[atil)ll of litcra~y
puzha taluk and the towns of Ernakulam district are 2 .1 4-
given below:
MUVATIUPUZllA .!S,JU 19,411 76.68
Cenllal Ya,dmppilly 1,37-1 1,010 74-.2~
lable 5.11
Yathapililly 1, \\10 1,OCI(, 7J.56
PERCENTAGE 011 LlTERACY IN 19111
Pcrunwltalll 1,7.12 /,165 73.04-
Percell-
(age of Market
StatcjDi,tricliIaluk/Towll litcmcy
1,572 1,17-1 nos
%0 742 77.29
KERALA SlATL LJrbdll 76.11
StaulUlll IW Ill. 55
I2r:nakulatn l)i;lflcl UrL"Ul . S
N.S.S. High School 1,3,)J 75.32
Muvattupuzlla taluk Urban '/6,61(
Blo~k 1,311. I,Q·t6 76,24
Muvattup\Ilha (M) 76.6~
VeUoolkumMtll 1,412 I,U') XU.oJ
AlwllYc (M) S2.60
Kadathy 1,121 73.33
Angamaly (M) !I.S.l
S.N.D,P. Higb. Sei10ul 132 ;)1).87
Chendamallgalam 81.09
Sivankunnu ':Ill '174
Cheriyakadavu 80.16
['etta 979 75.18
Cochin (C) (ill~ludillg Thrikkak<lra
OG) 7Y.58 Government H.S. 1,000
Eloor 8Ul l\1arady 1,309 76.!4
Kalamasserry 73.8-1 Hospital 9·13 7-16 79.[1
Kothamangalam (M) 76.30 Peringuzha 1,309 1,065 81.55
Kotluvally 77 .52 MUnicipal Bus Stand 1,077 859 79.76
Maraou 77 .07 Ashlamam 1,409 l,l22 79.63
Mulavncau 80.61 Ranum' 1,377 921 66.88
Parur (M) 80.04
Perumbavoor (M)
5.36. All the children under five years of age are
76.09
considered as illiterates even if sOme of them are
Trippunith ura (M) 80 45 attending schools or can read and write a few words.
Vadakkekara 78.85 Therdor.:, til.: .:lIccti w Iit.:racy rutc is \:akulatcd

52
 exclu?ing .th.:m from t!lC population. AI.'cordingly the: ce11t for females. Tahle 5.13 gives the distribution of
effectlve hteracy rate 111 Muvattupuzha town is i'lS.05 population of the town by age, sex and literacy as per
per cent with 89.18 per cent for males and 80.84 per 1981 census.

Table 5.13
mSTRTBUTION OF POPULATION BY AGE, SEX ANn LITERACY
Total population Liiera(e~ Percen tage of lit erates
Age groups
("-----~-~--- -- -~..;..,_ --_-- -----,. r--- - - _. ___ ..A...~~~
-, r---------~----.;.----·-----·~-~l
P M F P M F P M F
2 3 4 5 6 7 9 ]0
Total 25,313 12,784 12,529 19,411 10,2{i1 9,147 85 (15' 89.18* 8(1.84*
0-4 *2,489 1,275 1,214
5--9 2,738 1,411 1,327 1,861 972 8S9 67.97 68.89 66.99
10·-14 3,141 1,512 1,('29 :1,0)5 1,.\08 1,597 95.67 03.12 98.04
15 -19 2,n4 1,4~1 IAS.l 2,S1)1 1,406 l,cI56 97.83 97.57 98.18
20 --24 2,730 1,377 1,153 2,63~ 1,342 1,293 96.52 97.46 95.57
25-34 3,977 2,049 1,028 3,753 1,974 1,779 94.37 96.34 n.27
35+ 7.311 3,717 ,,594 5,292 3,160 59.32
2,132 n.3R S5.01
Age not ,tated 3 2 1 :1 2 l 100.00 100.00 100.00
"Effective literacy rate excluding popubtion of 0-4 agt-group.

5.37. Among the children of school going age it is
found that 67.97 per cent in the age-group 5-9 and
95.67 per cent in the age-group 10-14 are literates.
The reason for the lower literacy rate of children in
the age-group 5-9 is that many children do not attend
school at the age of 5 but begin to attend schools
only when they are 6 years old and many of them do
not satisfy the literacy criteria of reading and writing
even though they are studying in the first standard. It
can alsO' be observed that the literacy rate is compara-
tively low (72.38 per cent) among adults over 35 years
of age. This can mainly be attributed to the fact that
earlier generation did not get the benefit of tmiversaI
primary education when they were children.
5.38. There is difference between male and female
in respect of the age-group·wise literacy rates. The
disparity is greater among adults than among young-
sters because females discontinue their studies after
some time earlier than males. Some of them dis-
continue their studies on getting married. Among
the adults above 35 years of age, B5.01 per cent of
the male, are literate, whereas only 59.32 per cent
of the females are literate. This shows that educa-
tion of females was neglected in the previous decades.
But it is worthwhile to note that the literacy rate of
females is higher than that of males in the age groups
10-14 and 15-19. This shows that female children are
not discriminated against in the enrolment to educa-
tional institutions recently. In the other age groups,
the literacy rate among males is higher than that of
females.
5.39. An analysis of the educational level of males
and females in each age-group provides a more inter-
esting picture. The educational levels by age-groups
and sex of the population of the town in 1981 census
je, given below:

Table 5.14
EDUCATIONAL LEVELS~BY AGE. GROUP AND SEX 1981
Fducationallevel
,-------.--.--. -~-----~_._. _____ ~_~.J....... ____________
.. _-_._--------------,
Tota! litemte~ Literate (without Matriculation
cduca tional I~vell Primary Middle and above)
r-----.A..~~.~\ ,--. --_, .A. - - - j ,---__.A.. __ ,
r----.----"- - - - I r---...A..-~,
Age-group M F M F M f· M F M F
::> 4 6 7 R 9 10 11
Total HI.264 9,147 1.960 1.707 .\1)()5 1.7-1') 1,706 2.5!7 2.S9~ 2,164
)·-9 972 RSL) R9() ROI R2 SS
10-14 1,40~ 1,597 16R 2()(I R42 R68 390 528
15-19 1,40(, 1.456 R2 (>] 252 2% 6.14 671 438 46&
20-24 1,342 1,291 93 92 312 272 461 437 47ii 492
1S·-}4 1.974 1.779 Hil 14J 493 409 ('21 517 699 710
351- 3,160 2,1 J::> 51)1'> 409 1.013 856 5')9 374 972 493
Age not staled 2

S3
 Among the literate males, 19.10 rer cent arc post"gradu:llL's whih: among female literates 1.60 per
\~ithlllll
ecluc?tional level against J 8.66 per cent among cent are graduates and 0.60 per cent post-graduates.
literate females. Female literates with primary and Ihe educational levels of literates in the sample house-
middle levels are 30.05 and 27.63 per cent respectively holds in the town are given below:
compared to corresponding male proportions of 29.28
and 26.36 per cent respectively. There are a good Table 5.15
number of higher qualified persons in both sexes in DISTRIBUTION OF LITERATES BY EDUCATIONAl,
the town. Among the male literates 25.26 per cent LEVEL
and among female literates 23.66 per cent have matri- (Survey data)
culatio.n or higher qualification. Thou3h in higher
educatIOn levels, men generally outnumber women, it Percentage
r----.A.- ----,
is found that in the age-groups 20-24 and 25-29, there Males Females Male Female
Educational level
are more women matriculates than male matriculates.
There are 42.3 male graduates and 68 post-graduates 2 3 4 5
as against 260 female ?raduates and 47 post-graduates.
The proportion of male and femaie graduates among
Total literates 520 Sol 100.00 100.00
the total literates are 4.12 and 2.84 per cent respec-
tively and that of the post-graduates are 0.66 for Literate without educational
males and 0.51 for females. In technical degree quali. level 87 95 16.73 18.96
fications. viz. Engineering. Medicine or Ai!riculture. Primary 134 131 25.77 26.15
males outnumber females. In Engineering degree,
Middle 175 171 33.65 34.13
there are 37 males as against only one sucb female.
In Medicine degree tllere are 30 males as against II Matriculation/Secondary 78 70 15.00 13.97
females. In agricultural degree there are 5 males but Higher Secondary/Tnter.
no female. Tllere are 4 males with veterinary degree mediate/PUC 14 16 2.69 3.19
but nll female. In teaching. females far exceed males.
There afe 77 females with teaching degree compared Technical Diplomn 01' Certifi-
cate 13 6 2.50 1.20
to only 36 slich males. This reveals a preference of
females to teaching compared to males. Grad Llate degree other than
Technical degree 12 g 2.31 1.60
5.40. The information collected from sample house- Post-graduate degree other
than Technical degree 3 3 0.58 0.60
holds also indicates that the literacy rate· in Muvattu-
puzha town is very high. In fact, the literacy rate Engineering & Technology
in the sample population is higller than that in the drgree 3 0.58
census. The general literacy rate of sample popula- Degree in Teaching 0.19 0.20
tion is 81.48 per cent against 76.68 per cent in the
census. The literacy rate for males is 83.33 per cent
and that for females is 79.65 per cent. The effective Literacy and education by Religion, Scheduled Caste
literacy rate of the sample population in the town is alld Scheduled Tribe
89.18 per cent with 92.86 per cent for males and 85.64
per cent for females. 5.42. It wjj} be interesting to examine the literacy
and education of different religious groups, castes
5.41. In the samole households 16.73 per cent of and tribes in the town. The percentage of literacy
male literates and 18.96 per cent of female literates and education among Hindus, Muslims. Christians,
are without any educational stmdard. Among male Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes aged over 5
literates 203 1 rer cent arc graduates and O.SS p~cr cent years based on the sample survey is given below:

Table 5.\6

LlTERACY \NO EDUC,\TfiT'l'\L LEVEL 'BY R«:r,W[O;.l', SCHEDULED CA~rF.S A.ND SCHRDULEDTRIBES
(Sur)'ey riata)

Rcligion/SC/ST
r - - - - - -_- --~-___,------...)....------------------.-'
Hindm Muslim, Christiam Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tnbes

5 (i
2 3 4
TOT:\.T, (a +-11) 100.00 100. Of} 100.00 10O.on 100.00
10.64 7.25 20.00 11.11
(a) lllil('r~lc 13 .40
(b) Lilerate 86. (,0 R9.30 92.75 80.00 88.R9
72.01 74.95 55.80 76.00 R8.89
(i) lklow matr;c
(ii) Matrk & above 14.59 \4.41 36.95 4.00

(Excludes popUlation of age-group 0·-4)

54
 5.43. Both in the matter of overall literacy rate and mllnities in the town in the matter of higher educa-
higher education. Christians are leading both Hindus tion.
and Muslims. This shows that compared to Hindus
and Muslims, Christians pay much more attention 5.44. The literacy rate by broad age-groups among
to eduacte their children; Scheduled Castes and Sche- Hindus, Muslims, Christians. Scheduled Castes and
duled tribes are lagging far behind the other com- Scheduled Tribes is given in the table given below:
Table 5.17

AGE-GROUP·WISE LITERAcY I RATE BY RELIGIONiSCHEDULED CASTES/SCHEDULED TRIBES

(Surrey data)

Religion/SC/ST
,---- ..A.. _ _ _ _ _ ~~ _ _ _ _- - - - - - - - - _ _ _ _ . . .

Age-group Hindu Muslim Christian Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribe

,-----A-------- r---..A..----.., ,..------A-------, .------"--, ;--'_ _A. _ _.....,

M F M F M F M F M F

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

TOTAL 89.76 83.57 94.12 84.78 95.52 90.14 84.62 75.00 80.00 100.00
5-14 92.16 95.12 84.62 90.77 92.00 84.62 85.7l 100.00 100.00
15-59 93.94 87.63 93.05 8i1.67 97.92 9l.2'J 92.59 76.92 IVO. ()() IOO.O()
60+ 59.09 52.94 86.67 20.00 84.62 63.64 40.00 25.00

92.16 per cent of Hindu males and 95.12 per cent Table 5. 18-Concld.
of Hindus females of age-group 5-14 are literates. 2 4
Among Muslims 84.62 per cent of males and 90.77
per cent of females are literates and among Christians 12. UJladan 80.00 100.00
92.00 per cent of males and 84.62 per cent of females 13. Shaft 94.74 85.63
are literates in the same age-group. Among sche- 14. Hanaf1 92.00 82.14
duled castes in the age-group 5-14, 85.71 per cent of
males and 100 per cent of the females and among 15. Jacobite 93.33 91.38
scheduled tribes 100 per cent of the males are lite- 16. CathOlic 97.14 90,12
rates. But no scheduled tribe female is literate in
this age-group. 17. Marthomite 1()0.00 66.67

Among Hindus, Nairs have a population of 68 males

5.45. An idea of the literacy of different communi- and 80 females and Ezhavas have a population of
ties in the town can be obtained from the following 58 males and 60 females of age 5 and above. The
table giving the percentage of literacy of population other Hindu communities have very small popula-
aged 5 and above in the sample households. tion. Nairs have literacy rates of 94.12 per cent for
males and 87.50 per cent for females. Ezhavas have
Table 5.18 shown higher literacy rates compared to Nairs, 94.83
COMMUNITY-WISE LITERACY RATE OF POPULATION per cent for males and 88.33 per cent for females.
AGED 5 AND ABOVE All the eleven males and 6 females belonging to
(sample survey) Parava (SC) are found to be literates. This shows
that some of the backward communities and sche-
SI.
No. Name of community Male Female duled castes are now ahead of the forward communi-
ties in the matter of literacy. Aniong the Muslims,
2 3 4 Shafis are ahead of Hanafis in respect of literacy.
1. Nair 94.12 87.50 Among the Christians Marthomites which have a
small population of 4 males and 3 females in the
2. Ezhava 94.83 88.33 sample are at the top in respect of male literacy but
3. Konan 71.43 62.50 at the bottom in respect of female literacy. Among
Christians, Catholics are at the top fonowed by
4. Asari 80.95 85.71 J acobites and Marthomites.
5. Thattan 80.00 40.00
Average Educational Score
6. Veerashaiva 100.00 100.00
7. Velar 100.00 66.67 5.46. Literacy and education may also be examin-
ed by the method of score. Points are assigned to
8. Velan 80.00 66.67 the individuals with reference to his/her educational
9. Paravan 00.00 100.00 levels as 0 for illiterate, 1 for literate without educa-
tional leveL 2 for primary or junior basic and middle
10. Parayan 80.00 70.00 level, 3 for matriculation or higher secondary. 4 for
11. Pulayan 76.92 70.59 technical or non-technical diploma not equal to
55

9-19RGI/NDj88
 degree. 5 for graduate and post·graduate degree or Table 5·19-collcld.
diploma (technical as well as non·technical) and 6 2 4 5
for doctorate and higher qualifications. The average
per head score is calculated by dividing the cumula· Primal! 25.21 25.23 27.59 25.20
tive SCDre of all individuals by the total number of Middle 22.93 16.91 24.14 23.30
individuals. The average score per household is cal· Matriculation and
culated by cumulative SCDre of members of house· secondary 11.40 3.40 10.34 11.90
holds by the number of households. Population Above matriculation 9.44 1.28 (,.90 9.94
aged 5 + only are considered for calculating educa-
tional scores. 5.S L The data shows that the proportion of sche·
duled caste and scheduled tribe literates without edu-
5.47. The average per head educational score of cational level and with primary level are more than
the sample lXlpulation in the town is 1.89. Among the corresponding proportion of other population. The
different communities the average educational score proportion of scheduled tribes with middle level is
varies between 0.87 for kollans and 2.38 for Catho- also higher than that of other population. But from
lics. Among Hindus the highest average educational Matric and higher level, other population of the town
scope is for Nairs (2.l7), followed by Ezhavas (1.82). is ahead of both scheduled caste and scheduled tribe
The average educational score is 1.78 for Muslims. population. This indicates that in rect:nt times more
There is no difference between Shafts and Hanafis in and more scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are
the case of educational score. Among Christians the sending their children to primary classes due to the
lowest educational score is for Marthomites. incentives provided by the Government, but some of
them may be discontinuing their studies after attain-
5.48. Examining the educational score for different ing primary or middle level because of financial
types of households it is found that the highest aver· difficulties or lack of interest in studies.
age score is for persons in single member households
(2.33) and the lowest is for pers()ns in supplemented 5.52 The data collected from the sample households
nuclear families {1.6S). Members of nuclear fami- canvassed in the town also substantiate the above
lies which constitute the largest group of households trend. The distribution of populatiou of scheduled
(109 out of 225) in the town have an average educa- castes, tribes and others aged 5 years and above in
tional score of 1.94. the sample households by educational level is given
below:
5.49. Among subsidiary language speakers with
Malayalam mother tongue, the average educational
Table 5.20
score is 2.27 for those with English only, 2.69 for
those with Enqlish and Hindi and 1.52 for those with PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION BY
Arabic only. The average educational score of Tamil EDUCATIONAL LEVEL
mother tongue persons speaking Malayalam as sub· (Surrey data)
sidiary language is 1.20.
Total SclJeduled Scheduled
Educational level of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Educ:llionallevel population castes tribes Others
Tribes
2 3 4 5
5.50. It is observed that in the censu, of 1981,
67.55 per cent of the Scheduled Castes, 89.66 per cent Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
of the Scheduled Tribes and 86.12 per cent of other
population of the town aged 5 years and above are Illiterate 10.83 20,00 11.11 10.18
literates. This shows that scheduled castes are lag· Literate (without
ging behind while scheduled tribes are at the top in educationallewl) 15.89 22.67 2222 15.36
literacy. The following table shows tbe percentage Primary 23.14 28.00 33.33 22.71
distribution of population aged 5 years and above
among scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and others Middle 30.22 25.33 33.34 30.54
by educational level. Matriculation,
secondary 12.93 400 13.6i
Table 5.19
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION OF AGE Above matriculation A.99 7.54
5 AND ABOVE BY LITERA.CY AND EDUCATION
(1981 Census) It appears that most of the students belonging to the
scheduled castes discontinued their studies after the
Total Scheduled Scheduled
Edu.;;ationallevel population caste tribe Others primary stage. Only 4.00 per cent scheduled castes
and none among the scheduled tribes are matric and
2 4 5 above as against 21.21 per cent of others possessing
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 this qualification. Scheduled caste females are parti·
Illiterate 14.95 32.45 10.34 13.88 cularly backward in education. Among the sample
Literate (without households. there i~ no scheduled caste or scheduled
educational level) 16.07 20.68 20.69 15.78 tribe female who has reached mat ric level of education.

56
 AttendlUlce and non-attendance in smools/coUegfSl 5.54 Out of 358 male children not attending school
and cUscontinuatiol: of studies in the age-group 5.14, 62 per cent are of age 5 and
14.87 per cent of age 6. Similarly out of 342 female
5.53 As per 1981 census data. 7.181 persons form- children not attendmg school in the age-group 5-14.
ing 28.37 per cent ,]f th~ total 25,313 population of 52.97 per cent are of age 5 and 29.12 per cent of age
the town were attending scheols and colleges. The 0. According to the existing mles, only those children
proportion of ma!es nnd femaks attending sehoo:s/ who have completed 5 years of age at the beginning
colleges works out to 28.26 and 28.48 per cent res- of the academic year will be admitted to the lst
pectivdy. It appears that kindergJrtcn or nursery edu- standard. Some of (he chiidren who will be comple-
cation is spreading in the town because there are small ting 5 years of age after the opening of the schools
number of ch:ldrcn i;, thi: age-group 0-4 :lttenciing ·vjll be cMcllccj only in lk sclbsequent year and this
schools (1.61 per cent). R2.54 per cent of the children is Olle of the reaSOl15 for the comparatively large num-
in the age-group 5-9 arc attending schools. In other ber of children not attt:nding schoo'l at the age of 5.
words. 17.46 per cent children of the age-group 5-9 Moreover. some of the parents arc not interested in
are not attendi:lg ~chool. There is no significant differ- sending their children to schools at the right age,
ence between males and females in this respect. 58.19 due to many reasons. Out of 207 children not attend-
per cent of the children aged 5 and 22.82 per cent of ing schools in the age-group 11-14. 59 (28.50 per cent)
the children aged 6 are fOllnd not attending any are main workers and 5 marginal worken. These
school. The proportion of children of age, 7. & and children might have discontir.ued lbc:ir education after
9. not attending any school is only 3.75. 1.84 and obtaining middle level, either clue ~o poverty or lack
1.43 per cent respectively. The children of age-group of interest in the study and st<lrtcd doing some work.
10-14 who are attending schools are 92.93 per cent The percentage of children attending and not atten-
of the total children in this age-group. There is a steep ding school at each age between 5 and 14 by sex is
fall in the age group 15-1 CJ wherein only 5455 per cent given in the following table.
of the children were reported to he attending schools I
colleges. In the age grouD 20-24 only 10.66 per cent Table 5.22
and in the age group 25 + only 0.67 per cent of per-
sons are attending schools I colleges. Tn respect of CHILDREN (5·14) BY SINGLE YE\R OF AGE ATTENDING
attending ;;choois I colleges. there is no 'lppreeiable AND :-lOT ATTK~DING SCfIOOL
difference between males and females in the age-
groups of 5-9, 10-14 and 15-19. But in the age-group P~r.:elllage
, - - -_ _ _ ---o_A _ _ _ _ ----..
20-24, while 15.11 ~e( cent of males are attending
Attending '!Chaol
Not attending
schools/colleges only 6.13 per cent of females goes School
to educational institutions. This shows that females ,-___ ..A._,,.-_A -,
are still lagging behind males in the matter of higher Age Male Female Male Female
education. The fonowing lable furnishes percentage of 2 3 4 5
population attending school! college by sex in various
age-groups. 5-14 87.75 88.43 12.25 11.57
T"bk 5.21 5 38.03 47.03 61.00 51.97
6 85.13 70.88 14.87 29.12
PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION ATTENDING SCHOOLS!
7 97.30 95.14 2.70 4.86
COLLEGES BY AGE-GROUP
8 97.97 98.93 2.03 1.61
Percentage of population 9 98.61 98.53 1. 39 1.47
attending schools/colleges 10 %.51 98.73 3.49
in each age group 1.27
, -_ _ _ _ ..A.. _ _ - - . . , 11 97.98 98.44 2.02 1.S6
Age-group Per~on5 Males Female, 11 93.19 93.78 6.81 6.22
2 3 4 13 90.78 91. 88 9.22 8.IZr
14 83.79 85.92 16.21 14.
-\11 ages 28.37 28.26 28.48
0--4 I. 61 l. 73 1.48
Among those attending school! college in the town
5 41. 81 38.00 47.03
in 1981. 6.23 per cent males and 6.39 females are illi-
6 77.18 85.13 70.88 terates. They may be mostly children who just entered
7 96.25 97.30 95.14 the educational institutions and have not become eli-
gible to be considered as literates acquiring the ability
9R.16 97.97 98.39 to read and write with understanding.
9 98.57 98.61 98.53
82.54 82.78 82.29 5.55 Examining the educational levels completed
5-9
by those attending schools or colleges, it is found that
10-14 92.93 92.39 93.43 the decline in number is gradual at the higher levels
15-19 54.55 54.41 54.69 of education. But there is a sharp decline in the num-
ber of those who have completed matriculation and
20-24 10.66 15.11 6.13 secondary education from those who completed mid-
25+ 0.67 0.59 0.76 dle level education. It is observed that proportion of

57
females at each educational level except primary and There are 6 mate and 8 female children of scheduled
middle is less than that of the males. At primary ami tribes and all of them were recorded to be attending
middle level the female proportion exceeds that of schools. It is worth noting that among scheduled
the males which shows that more females compared castes, all male children and 79 per cent of female
to males discontinue study after they have obtained children are not attending school at the age of 5. At
middle level education. While wme of these females the age of 6 also 25 per cent of children among both
get married others confine themselves to h~lp their males and females are not attending school. This is
parents in their household duties. The followmg table also due to the tendency of some of the parents to
gives the percentage distribution of males and females send their children to scnool only after the age of 6.
attending schools / colleges by educational levels com- Out of 5 scheduled caste children of age 13-14 not
pleted. attending schools, 3 are main workers and they might
Table 5.23 have discontinued their study either due to poverty
or due to lack of interest in study after middle level.
PERCENTAGE POPULATION ATTENDING SCHOOL!
COLLEGE BY COMPLETED LEVEL OF EDUCATION IN
MUVATTUPUZHA (1981 CENSUS) 5.56 Out of 225 households canvassed for the special
study only 129 households (consisting of 7 scheduled
Percentage castes, one scheduled tribe and 121 other communi-
r---~~..A..-- ---..
M F
ties) had children of school going age. Among them
only onc household belonging to Muslim (Shafi) did
2 3 not send, one female child of school going age to
All levels 100. 00 100.00 school. This female child had lost her parents and
is residing with. her brother who is working as a pain-
Illiterate 6.23 6.39 ter earning a low income. Poverty and lack of :inter-
Literate without cducational 1cvcl 30.47 27.13 est in educating the child may be the reasons of not
sending the female child to school. In the sample
Primary 25.30 26.85
households, three children belonging to Muslims
Middle 22.00 25. !1 (Shaft were recorded to have discontinued their stu-
Matriculation/Secondary S.1l 7.15 dies after attending the school for some time. Out
of these three children, two are males and one is a
Higher Secondaryjlntermediatc/Pre-Uniyersity 5.59 5.30 female. One male left school at the age of 9 when he
Above higher secondarYiPre-Uniyersity 2.30 2.07 was studying in the 2nd class. He was a heart patient
and was medically advised not to continue his studies.
Among the scheduled caste population of the town, The other male discontinued at age 12 when he
in the school going age 18.42 p;:r cent niales had studied only upto 7th class. The reason for drop
and 14.92 per cent females were not attending schools. out i~ lack of interest in continuing the studies. One
The proportions of scheduled caste children not atten- female had to discontinue her studies after comple-
ding schools both in respect of males and females ting 8th standard a~ she had to assist her sister-in-law
are higher than the corresponding proportions of 12.25 in household duties. This analysis from the survey
per cent for males and 11.57 per cent for females data shows that except a few cases all the children
among the general population of the town. This shows of school going age have been attending schools and
that scheduled castes are still lagging behind the gene- are continuing their studies unless compelled by till-
ral population of the town in the matter of education. avoidable circumstances.

MIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT OF F AMILlES
Migration is the change of settlement of people from
the place of their birth or usual residence. Famine,
war, marriage. employment search for food etc. are
some of the factors responsible for the change uf
settlement of people. The growth and composition of
the population of a place is affected by migration
also. Mere shifting of residence of poople with:in a
town is not considered as migration. Only movements
to and from the town are recognized as migration with
respect to that town.
6.2 [f a persoll enumerated in the town is born in
a place outside the limits of the town, then he is
considered as an immigrant to the town. A person
is considered as a rural or urban immigrant depending
on his place of birth being rural or urban. Rural-
urban status of place of birth is normally enquired
only in the case of migrants born within the country.
6.3 If a person had another pl"cc of normal resi-
dence, irrespective of his place of birth, before he
came to the town where he is enumerated, then he is
considered as a migrant to the tcwn with reference
to place of last residence. All persons whose place of
birth is outside the town will necessarily be immigrant
with reference to place of birth as well as place of
last residence. But a person who was born :in the town
but had gone out and had a normal residence at that
place before coming to the town aga:in then he will
not be considered as an immigrant with reference to
place of birth, but ""ill
be considered as an immigrant
with reference to place of last residence.
Place of birth
6.4 Based on the place of birth of the head of the
households, out of 225 sample households studied :in
Muvattupuzha town. 70 households may be considered
as migrants. This indicates that only less than 70 per
cent of the families in the town are original settlers
and the remaining are migrants from outside. A state-
ment showing the distribution of migrant households
in Muvattupuzha town by place of birth is given
below:
Table 6.1
DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS BY PLACE OF BIRTH
OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD
No .. of house-
holds
,.---"-----,
Place of birth of head of household Rural Urban
areas areas
2
Outside the town, hut within the district 40
Other districts of the ~tate 21
Other states 1 town for periods varying between I and 5 years while
CHAPTER VI
0.5 Majority of migrant households have rome
from other parts of Emakulam district itself. Only
one among the sample households has come from
outside the State viz. the neighbouring state of Tamil
Nadu. About fifty per cent of the migrant households
from other districts of the state are from the neighbour-
ing Kottayam district. This is quite natural because
Muvattupuzha was formerly part of Kottayam district
before the formation of Ernakulam district. The
migrant households whether from within the district
or from other districts have mostly come from rural
areas and only a few have come from urban areas.
Place of lasl residence
6.6 Almost the same picture is obtained when migra-
tion is considered with reference to the place of last
residence of heads of households. There are only 72
sample households in the town whose heads had a
previous residence outside the town. Their distribu-
tion by place of last residence is given below.
Table 6.2
DlSTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS BY PLACE OF LAST
RESIDENCE OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD
No. of
households
,-------"------,
Rural Urban
Place oflast residence of head of household areas areas
2 3
Outside the town but within the district 37 3
Other districts of the state 23 6
Other state 2
Other countries
6.7 All the 70 households the heads of which were
born outside the town are naturally included in this
table. But the place of birth and previous residence
need not be the same in the case of all of them be-
cause some households the heads of which were born
outside the town have moved to another place before
coming to the town. Two households are migrants
with reference to place of previous residence but non-
migrants with reference to place of birth. Thus the
heads of two sample households born in the town
had gone outside but returned later and settled in the
town.
Duration of residence
6.8 Among the migrant households one-third was
2
staying in the town for more than 20 years. 28 per
6 cent of the migrant households are staying in the
59
3 per cent came to the town within one year. The Only 1.6 per cent of the persons born in the town
distribution of migrant households (with reference to have stayed outside the town. 3.4 per cent cf the
last residence) by duration of stay in the town is given persons born in the district outside the town and 4.7
in the foll~)wing tabJe. per cent of persons bom in other districts of the state
had stayed in other places before coming to the town.
Table 6.3
MIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS BY DURATION OF STAy PhIce of origin and period of mipatioll
IN THE TOWN
6.11 In the case of most of the heads of migrant
No. of households,
the heads of which last households the place of origin (i.e. the place of birth}
resided in was rural areas at the time of migration. 25 out of the
,----_____.._ - ------, 70 mignmt households came before 1966 While 32
Duration of stay in th~ to VI1 Rural areas Urban areas households came after 1975. Among the households
2 3 who came after 1975 one had moved to another place
and one. had moved to two places before coming to
Total 62 10 the town. All others came to the town directly froro
2 their places of birth. The details as to when and from
Less than 1 year
where the households came and settled in the town
1-5 years 18 are given in the following table.
6--10 years 9 2
Tabltl 6.5
11-20 years 10 4
23 PLACE OF ORlGIN AND PER[OD OF M(GRATION OF
21 +years
M[GRANT HOUSEHOLDS IN THE TOWN

6.9 It will be interesting in this context to examine ~ _ _ _-of

_Number -households
- 4 -_ _migrated
__ ~

the quantum of migration in the population of the Before 1966-10 1911·75 After
town by considering the place of birth and last resi- Place from where miarated 1966 1975
dence of individuals. A population of 1,253 persons,
1 2 3 4 5
624 males and 629 females were covered in the 225
sample housebolds surveyed for the study. Among the Other towns of the district 2
908 persons, 50S males and 403 females are born in
the town and the rest are born outside. Thus 27.5 Rural axea5 of the district 19 4 2 15
per cent cr
the population are migrants with reference Other districts of tnc state 6 1 5 15
to pl'cICC of birth. The sex ratio. among migr~ts is Other state
highly in favour of fema~es. Whlle the se~ ratio .of
persons born in the town IS 798. the sex ratIO of mJg-
rants is 1899 females per ](}OO males. The place of The data indicate that the migration before 1966 was
birth and place of last residence of the population in mostly from rural areas of Emakulam district and it
sample households are given in the fonowing table. was comparatively small from other districts. It was
only after 1976 that migrants from other towns of
Table 6.4 the district came to the town. Migration from other
districts of the state has equalled with the migratiOn
PLACE OF BIRTH AND PLACE OF LAST RESIDENCE OF from other villages of Emakulam district after 1976.
THE POPULATION IN SAMPLE HOUSEHOLDS This may be due to the decline in the trend of migra-
tion from rural areas of the same district rather than
Persons whose place of last residence i.'
, - - -_ _ _ ___.o.. due to the increase in migration from other districts.
Same as the place Different from the The improvement in transport and communication
of birth place of birth facilities to the town from other villages in the oistrict
r---.,.A._~-~ ,-------A---, has enabled the people living in these villages to avail
Place of birth P M F P M F the facilities of the town by daily coming there with-
2 3 4 5 6 7 out migrating and settling down 1n the town.

Same olace 894 497 397 14 8 6 Dista~t' to the place of migratiOD

Outside the town but in
. the same district 205 60 145 7 3 4 6.12 Most of the migrant households have come
Other districts of the state 122 50 72 6 3 3 from places at a distance of less than 50 kiIometres
from the town. The farthest distance from where a
Other state 4 3 migrating household has come is between 201 and
Other country 500 kilometres. The place of origin of the household
migrated from another state viz. Tamil Nadu is at
a distance of more than 100 kilometres from the town.
6.10 It is only in the case of a few persons the place The following table shows the distances from where
of last residence is different from the place of birth. the migrating household have come to the town.

60
 Table 6.6

MIGRATING HOUSEHOLDS BY DISTANCE OF PLACE FROM WHERE MIGRATED

No. of households migrated from a distance (km) of
Place from where migrated ---"---------
10 and less 11-20 21-50 51-100 101-200 201-S00
2 3 4 5 6 7
Total . 111 16 21 8 5 2
Other towns of the district 1
Rural area of the district 18 11 11
Other district 4 9 8 4 2
Other states

Rea.:;ons for migration property etc. compelling people to shift their s~ttle­
ment from one place to another. The reasons fo~ ml~ra­
6.13 There may be different reasons such as tion of the households to Muvattupuzha town 18 glVen
marriage, employment, financial difficu~ties, loss of in the following statement.
Table 6.7

DISTRIBUTION OF MIGRANT HOUSEHOLDS BY REASON FOR MIGRATION

Number of households migrated due to
r- -----A. ------.,
Relatives Financial Other
Place from where migrated settled difficulties Employment Marriage reasons
2 3 4 5 6
Other towns of the district
Rural areas of the district 2 16 3 19
Other districts of the state 2 13 12
Other states

6.14 A good number of households have migrated
for employment. But many other households have
reported different other reasons. Those who hll.ve
migrated due to marriage are from the rural areas of
the same district in which the town is situated.
6.15 In most cases the place of origin of migrant
households were rural areas at the time of their migra-
tion. But there are also some stray households migra-
ted from medium sized towns and from Trivandrum
city.
6.16 Among the migrant households 17.14 per cent
have sold their property at the time of migration or
later. The heads of two thirds of such households are
workers and the rest are non-workers.
Help received
6.17 Among the 70 migrant households only 13,
constituting 18.57 per cent reported as having received
Table 6.8
any help from others at the time of migration. 4 of
them was helped by employing agencies. 2 each by
religious institutions, caste associations and relatives
and 3 by covillagers. While the employing agencies
helped financially the help from. others was either
financial or by way of general guIdance and coopera-
tion. All the households repaid the financial help fully
in instaliments.
LinJ!.:fI with places of origin
6.18 Among the 70 migrant households only 16
have some property at the place from where they
have migrated. It may be seen from the statement that
most of the households having property at the place
of origin are those with shorter dumtion of stay in
the town. However, there are stray cases where house-
holds migrated 10 years or 20 years back still retain
some property at the place of origin.

MIGRANf HOUSEHOLDS POSSESSING PROPERTY AT THE PLACE OF ORIGIN

BY DURATION OF STAY IN THE TOWN
Number of households possessing property at the place of
origin by duration of stay
,-------------- --~
Place of last residence of head of household Less than I year 1-4 years 5-9 years 10-19 years 20 + years
2 3 4 5 6
Outside the town but within the district 4 1 1
Other district of the state 6 2

61
 6.19 Among the 16 households having property at
the place of origin, only two have reported as enjoying
the benefit of their property. In their case the distance
from the place of origin to the town is between 11 and
20 kilometres. Most of the households who have left
property at their plac2s of origin have not reported
as having made any specific arrangement for the
supervision of the property.
6.20. The heads of some migrant households have
left some of their close relatives at the place from
where they have migrated. Among the sample house-
holds covered in the survey. 3 have left their fathers,
6 have left their mothers and 1 has left the son at
their place of birth. Most of the households who Jeft
their parents are those who came from other areas of
the same district.
Pattern of migration
6.21 The pattern of migration of household may
be of different types. In some cases, all members of
the household migrates together at a time and in some
other cases the head or any other earning member of
the household migrates first bringing other members
later. Among the migrating households covered under
the survey in most cases, all the members migrated
together and in a few cases working male members
migrated first while olhers followed.
 CHAPTER VII
NEIGHBOURHOOO PATTERN
According to the EncycloPdeliia 0,Social Sciences
the mOst distinctive characteristics 0\ a neighbourhood
are its relation with a local area su:nciently compact
to permit frequent and intimate association and the
emergence out of such ass;},Jaticln of sufficient
homogeniety and unity to permit a primary or face
to face social grouping endowed with a strong sense
of self consciousness and capable of influencing the
behaviour of its several constituellK
7.2 The concept of neighbourhood seems to include
four components viz. area, identity and sentiment,
social relationships and institutirmal activity. Apart
from the boundaries defining the area it haa certain
symbol associated with it A b')un(led area in which
people interact socially, assumes gradually an iden-
tity a sense of cohesion. a sense of loyalty and a sense
of sentiment. People living in a particular area tends
to develop personal contacts between themselves.
Neighbourhood (or community) is being conceived
by some analysts as an array l)f insti!ut;onal outlets
or as an arena in which major social fnnctions tend
to locate. The concept of nei!',ho'mrhood has diffe-
rent meanings. to different Iype:; of individuals.
7.3 As the concept of neighbourhood cannot be
rigidly defined it is not an easy task to identify the
neighbou.hoods especialiy in small towns like Muva-
ttupuzha where the whole town may be considered
as a neighbourhood in some respe..:ts. Very often the
wards or administrative divisions of the town are
considered as the neighbourhoods. In very big towns
where then~ are large housing colonies or settlement
areas it is comparatively ~aS'{ to identify neigh-
bomhoods.
7.4 The small households fr~m whom the details
regarding neighbourhood were collected have repor-
ted different names for their neighbollrhoods such as
Petta. Kavumkara. Randatt~nkara, KavUlupadi,
Angadi, Market, Peedikamadom, Vazhappilly,
Ganapathy paramba, Chakh.iyiJ, Kadenpadi etc.
Vazhappilly, Market and Petta also are the names
of the wards in the town.
7.5 Petta is the areJ witHin Thodll'puzha road on
the north. Arakuzha road on the south, Muvattupuzha
river OIl the east and Nirmala High School on the
west. The area is plain. It i, a preliominantly Muslim
area. But Hindus and other communities also live
here. The occupation of the people is mainly trade
and business. People generally buy grocery, fish, vege-
tables etc. within the neighbourhood and toilet items.
cloth. stationery ct..:. from ar,:lS outsIde the neighbour-
hood. Except the participation in religious functions
and festivals there is no particular sodal and cultural
interactions among the people of the locality. However
relatives and lleil!hv01lt'S participate in the functi,lns
conne~terj with marriage. death etc.
10-19 RGI/ND/88
7.6 The area within Masiid road on the north.
Market road on the south, Rotary road on the east
and Kothamungd'tffi rcar} <'n the we:t was mentioned
by some households a~ Kavumkara neighbourhood,
Kavumkara is also a Muslim dominated area where
the occupation o( lJ.e pc.lpie is trade and business.
There are also many labourers in the area. Grocery,
vegetables, fish. meat stationer" and ot~er llcce"i-
ties of life are available within the netghbourhood
itself Religious activities are centred ronn_d. ~ mo~q~e
in the locality. There are eduational facilllles wlthm
and outside the neighbourhood. There is no particular
~ocial or cultural activity. However, people attend
the functions connected with marriage, death etc.
occurring in the neighbourhood as in any otber place.
7.7 The area within Muvattupuzha river on the
east and west. Sivankunnu on the south and Kavum-
kara on the north is mentioned ::IS Ganapathy parambu.
The topography is hilly and this is a Hindu predo-
'minant area with many Government employees.
People buy grocery, vegetables and fish from the
neighhbourhood and toilet goods and stationery from
outside the area. Social activities and neighbourly
contacts are not much different from other areas.
7.8 The nearby area between Muvattupuzha river
on the north and Sivankunnu temple and High School
on the south, M.e. road on the west and Thodu-
puzha road on the east is called Kavumpady. The
topography is hilly. Here also many Government
employees live. There are Hindus as well as Chris-
tians in the area. People get the daily necessities of
life from outside the neighbourhood.
7.9. Rand1ttinkara is the area between Avoly Pan-
chayat on the south and east, Muvattupuzha river on
the north and Chalilkadavu road on the west. Majo-
rity of the inhabitants are Muslims. People get al-
most all items of dai1y necessities from outside the
neighbollrhood.
7.10. Market is an area where the congestion of resi-
dential houses is maximum in the town. The area
north of the :r..{arket is menfjoned as a neighbourhood
by some persons. This is also a Muslim predomi-
nant area with people mainly engaged in trade and
business activities. As the place is close to the mar-
ket area all the items needed in daily life are availa-
ble there itself.
7.11. The life in almost all neighbourhoods of the
town is very similar. The information furnished by
several informants is not sufficient to attempt a detail-
ed study of neighbourhood life in the town. The
points covered under the topic 'Family Life in the
Town' are relevant in this context also. The cultural
and entertainment activities of the people described
under Leisure and recreation and SOcial participation
in Chapter 12 gives an insight intI') I.h~ neighbourhood
life of tbe people of the town,
 CHAPTER VIII
FAMILY LIFE IN THE TOWN

Introduction Table 8.J-concld.

Family has an important position in Indian Socie- 2
ty. The bonds between members within a family
are stronger than that in weste~ count~~s. .~e Chendamangalam 5.73
to various social and economic condltlons, Jomt Parur (M) 5.80
family system are prevailing in many parts even now. Kottuvally 5.92
H0wever. th~ modern way of life has brought in con- Eloor 5.53
siderable changes in family set up. More and more Angamaly 5.68
joint families are disintegrating into smaller units con- Alwaye 5.67
sisting of an individual, spouse and children. This Perumbavoor 5.S·.}
disintegration have affected the size and composition Kothamangalam 5.85
of families which has influenced the partitioning of 6.07
Mulavucaud
lands and building up of new dwelling units. Fami~y
KaJac-nassery 5.39
life in Muvattupuha is generally the same as that III
other parts of the district and state. A closer look Thrippunithura S.5R
at it wiII reveal some interesting picture. Vlaradu 5.96
Cochin 5.86
Size of households Thrikkakara (OG) 5.74
8.2 As per the Census of 1981, the average size Cheriyakadavu 6.19
of household in Muvattupuzha municipality is 5.64
persons which is lower than the size of household in 8.3. The size of the household in all the towns ~x­
the urban areas of Ernakulam district as well as the ccpt Eloor, Perumbavonr, Kalamassery and Thnp-
state. The size of the household in the town is punithura is higher than that of Muvattupuzha.
higher than that in the rural areas of the taluk. The Among the Municipal towns only Perum~avoor and
average size of household in Muvattupuzha town and ThripP'unithura are having household SIZe smai~er
other towns of Ernakulam district are given in the than that of Muvattupuzha. The household. s~ze
following table. among the municipal towns in Ernakulam dlstn~t
varies between 5.54 in Perumbavo?r an~ 5.~5 m
Table 8.1 Kothamangalam. Co chin Co.rporatlOn which is the
AVERAGE NUMBER OF PERSONS PER most important urban centre ill th~ state has on an
average 5.86 persons per household.
HOUSEHOLD IN 1981
Average number of 8.4. Households having a size between 4 and 7
State/District/Town persons per house- members are more common in the town. Ou_t of
hold 225 households surveyed 47 households are of size 5.
2 42 households are of size 4 and 54 households are
KeraJa Stale urhan of size 6 or 7. There are only 3 single member
6.02
Ernakulam district urhan households and 1 household of size more than 12.
5.79 The distribution of households by number of members
Muvattupuzha (M)
5.64 and age of head of household is given in the follow-
Vadakkekara
5.80 ing tab.Je.
Table 8.2
DISTRIBUrION OF HOUSEHOLD BY NUMBER OF ME\1IJl':RS A'lfD AGE OF HEAn OF HOUSEHOLD IN
MUVATTUPUZHA
No. of households having members
r - - - - - - - . - - -_____ _ _ _ A _ _ _ _ ___ ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ,
Age of head of household
Single 2 3 4 5 6-7 8-9 10-12 13+ Total
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Total 3 13' 22 42 47 54 28 15 225
Below 20
20-..29 1
30-39 1 4
3 6 16 15 10 3
40-49 54
2 4 9 14 20 7
50-59 56
5 10 9 9 10 3
60 and above 47
3 6 6 5 9 15 7 11 63

64
 8.5. Among the surveyed households. there is only holds, The types of relations to heads of households
one household with a head of age below 20 years and predominantly found among the sample households
with 4 members. The heads of 4 households are in of the town are given below.
the age-group 20-29 year~. One of these ~ollseho~ds
has a large size of 8 members, others havlllg a SlZe Table 8.4
of 2, 3 or 4 members only. It may be seen that PREDOMINANT COMPOSITION OF HOUSEHOLDS
generally older generation of people have very large
IN MUVATTUPUZHA
family size. Out of 16 households having size lO
and above, 12 are having heads aged 60 and over No. of
al1d 3 are having heads of age SO-59. house-
Nature of relations to he.ld of household holds
8.b. The sample households surveyed in the town
consists of 93 Hindu households, 75 Muslim house- Self i.e., single member households 3
holds and 57 Christian households. Dut the size of Self and spouse 5
household i, highest among Muslims and lowest among Self, spouse and unmarried sons and daughter, 104
Hindus. While Hindu households constitute 41.33 Self, spouse, married son, son's wife and U;1111<1 rried sons
per cent of total households. their population a('counts amI daushters 21
for only 36.87 per cent of the total population in the Self, spouse, unmarried sons and daughters and widowed
sample. At the same time, 33.33 per cent house- mother. 23
holds of Muslim contribute 39.66 per cent of the popu- Self female (without spouse) lind unmarried sons and
lation. Christian households constituting of 25.33 daughters 14
per cent of tot:11 households have 23.46 per cent of Self, spouse, unmarried sons and daughters, married
the population in the sample. brother, borther's wife, widowed mother and un-
married brother 5
Composition of households Self, spouse and unmarried brother 4
Self, spouse, unmarried sons and daughters, married
8.7. Three fourth of the households surveyed con- daughter, daughter's husband and daughter's un·
sist of adult male and female and their minor child- married sons and daughters 3
ren. Households consisting of adult males and Self (female without spouse) and widowed mother 3
females only are the next largest group accounting Others 40
[or one fifth of the total households surveyed. House-
holds having other combinations of members are Many other combinations of relationships can b~ found
insignificantly small in number. The distribution of in each of the remaining households making them
sample households in the town by composition IS distinct from each other. But they are not listed
given below. as they are stray cases.
TabJe 8.3
DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE HOUSEHOLDS BY 8.9, Adopting the classification of Kolanda Pauline
COMPOSITION IN MUVATTUPUZHA based on the types of relations, the distribution of
sample hcuseholds surveyed in the town is given
Composition of household No. of households below. The basis of classification with reference
to relationship of members is given in Appendix to
Iotal 225 this report,
Adult males and females and minor males
and females 169
Table 8.5
Adult males and females 46
Adult males only DISTRmUTION OF SAMPLE HOUSEHOLDS IN
Adult females only 7 MUVATTUPUZHA BY TYPE
Adult males and minor males and females Type of households Number
Adult females and minor males and females 2
Total 225
Re;ation~hip of members Single person 3
8.8 If the composition of each household is exa- Nuclear 109
mined in detail it may be seen that different types of Supplemented nuclear 39
relatives stay with the head of the household in Sub nuclear 17
different families. But the most common structure Supplemented sub nuclear 2
of thl;; household in Muvattupuzha is the head, spouse Collateral joint
and unmarried sons and daughters. Among the Supplemented collateral joint 9
225 sample households surveyed 104 are of this type, Lineal joint 24
In about 10 per cent of the households widowed Supplemented lineal joint 5
mother of the head also lives with them. The house- 11
Lineal collateral joint
holds having married sons and their wives also be-
Supplemented lineal collateral joint
sides the head, spouse and their unmarried children
constitute about 10 pCI' cent of the total sample house- Other5 4

6S
 8.10. The Joint Family System which was o~ce
prevalent in Kerala is vanishing in the town paving
the way for nuclear families. 48 per cent of. ~e
households are nuclear families. Nuclear familIes
and supplemented nuclear families together account
for 66 per cent of the households in the town. How-
ever. even now about 23 per cent of. the ~ousehol~s
are joint families. There ar~ more 1m.eal JOlDt fami-
lies than collateral joint famlhes. Lmeal collateral
joint families also are found in the town.
8.11. Among the different communities of .Hindus,
joint families are more prevalent among NalrS ~h~n
others. One-fourth of Nair households are jJlUt
families. Only 11 per cent of Ezhava households at~
Joint familjes. Among the Schedul~d Caste anu
Scheduled Tribe households covered In the sl:rvey
joint families are found among Parava? and Ulladan
communities. One-third of the Muslim households
are Joint families whereas among Christians only
about one sixth are joint families.
8.12. Joint families are becoming uncommOll in the
town among the educated persons. Ou~ of 32 bouse-
holds with matriculate heads covered 1ll the survey
only 3 are having joint families and. out o~ 10 h~u~e­
holds having graduate heads none 1S havmg a JOllt
family.
8.13. The marumakkathayam (matriarchal) system
of inheritance of property was prevalent in the state
especially among Hindus. Under this system a man's
children had no right to his property, but the property
was inherited by his sisters' children. The joint
family consisting of brothers, sisters and children of
sisters was known as 'Taravad' and the family pro-
perty was the joint property of all members. It is
natural that joint families were more common when
marumakkathayam system prevailed. But the social
conditions changed rapidly under the influence of
vanous factors and the Makkathayam (patriarchal)
system in which the children inherited the father's
propert:, ,L,rtcJ reriacill;,; the Manuuakkathayam sys-
tem. The relationship between father and children
strengthened and mOre households consisting of self,
spouse and unmarried children came up. Everyone
became more concerned with his or her spouse and
children and consequently newly married persons
started setting up independent establishments. This
has resulted in the increase of nuclear families and
this trend is clearly visible in Muvattupuiha town also.
8.14. In the case of 8.4 per cent of the sample
households in the town at least one of the family
members is staying outside. There are absentee
family members among households of the three reli-
gious groups. Among Hindus. households of Nair.
Ezhava. Asari and Velan communities have nlembers
staying outside.
IU5. The last residence of the heads of only 7
out of the 19 households having absentee family mem-
bers are outside the town. In the case of these 7
households the last residence of the head was more
66
than 100 kilometres away and in the case d all
olhers the last residences of the heads were within 5{)
kilometres.
IU6. In the case of majority of households the
absentee family members are sons and daughters.
Out of 19 households 12 have sons, 5 have daughters
and 2 have mothers as absentee familv memb::rs.
Mothers are staying outside ,u; dependents' m engaged
III household duties while sons and daughters arc
staYIng outside for employment and studies. Sons
of heads of households staying outside for employment
are reported to be working as goldsmiths, drivers,
salesmen. workshop propri;;tors, dhobies, coolies etc.
whereas daughters are working as nurses and teachers.
Daughters staying outside appears to be a recent
development because the duration of stay olltside 1Il
therr cases is less than 5 years whereas some sons are
stayIng outside even for W-19 years.
8.17. Out of 19 sample households having absentee
tamily members 6 have received money from. the sons
and daughters staying away, within and outside India.
The average amount of money received annually per
household from their relatives staying outside are
given below.
Table 8.6
AVERAGE AMOUNT RECEIVED PER HOUSEHOLD FROM
ABSENTEE FAMILY MEMBERS
Average amount
Place of residence of absentee family received annually
member per household (Rs.)
1 2
Same town 600
Trivandrum 400
Bombay 3,000
Kuwait 7,200
Saudi Arabia 6.000
Obviously there is wide gap in remittances between
persons working in India and Gulf countries. The
households having members working in Gulf countries
are naturally in a better economic position and this
has resulted in more and more youngsters craving for
employment in Gulf countries.
8.18. Out of 19 sample households having absentee
family members, 4 are sending money to their sons
and daughters staying outside. The averag~ annual
remittances per household varies between Rs. 420
and Rs. 3,500. The average remittances to daugh-
ters are found to be more than that to sons. But
this cannot be taken to indicate that the expenditure
for studies in the case of daughters is more than that
of ~3Dns. It so happened that one of the households
covered in tl1e survey has a daughter studying at the
Medical College at Alleppey while no household sur-
v<!yed has sons studying in any professional college.
It is well known that cxpenditure of persons studying
in professional colleges will be higher compared to
persons studying other courses.
67
 CHAPTER IX
HOUSING AND MATERIAL CULTURE
Housing pattern
Eacb place bas its own peculiar pattern of houses
depending upon the materials available :md the social,
cultural and economic background of the people living
there.
9.2. There are no sky-crapers in Muvattupuzha town.
though there are two storeyed concrete residential
buildings. But their number is not many. Besides,
s.ome non-residential ll1ultistoreyed concrete buildings
have also come up in the town and these are mostly
being used as hotels. lodges, banks, public offices etc.
9.3. The survey reveals that the people of Muvattu-
puzha als~) prefers to live in separate hOllscs as in
other pares of thl:! State. Even in the cities of Cochin
and Trivamlrum flat type constructions have started
coming up only very recently. Therefore, it is no
surprise that none among the 225 households surveyed
is found to be living in fiats or multifiuor housing
units. Most of the houses surveyed have some com-
pound around them, though the extent varies from
house to house.
9.4. According to the Census of 1981, there were
4,176 occupied residential houses in Muvattupuzha
town for 4,490 households. Thus, on an average, 1.08
households live in a house in the town. The average
number of households per house in the urban areas of
Ernakulam district and Kerala State is 1.06.
9.5. The residential houses in Muvattupuzha town,
in general, conform to the pattern of houses in the
other urban areas· of this part of thc State. There are
some residential bungalows with all modern amenities
of recent construction in the town belonging to afflu-
ent families engaged mostly in business and industry.
The typical upper class residential house is a Bunga-
low type with burnt bricks and laterite stone walls,
tiled roof and cement floor. It has :t compound wall
with a gate. The main building is divided into rooms
and has a varandah with parapet wall upto 2t feet
high with an entrance in the middle. The kitchen is
like an outhouse. Variations of the pattern are often
seen in size and number of rooms in the main house.
9.6. The town has a large number of middle class
residential houses. The walls of these houses are built
of burnt bricks or laterite stones and plastered with
cement and mortar. They are generally single store-
yed with tiled roof and cement floors·. There are two
or three rooms besides the varandah and kitchen. The
entrance from the varandh is to a large central room
on either side of which are small rooms. They are
often well ventilated but attached bathrooms and
latrines are considered luxuries.
9.7. The poor people belonging to all communities
Jive in kutcha houses with walls of unburnt bricks and
some with burnt bricks and thatched roofs. Some
cheap variety of timber or stem of COCOGGut trees is
llsed for making doors. windows and tht frame of roof.
In certain cases such a house has a varandah in the
lront with a d(1OI opening to the main room or the
only room in the house. ii there is an additional
room it is used as a kitchtl1-clim-dining room and the
main room as the sleeping room. These houses have
to be r"pJired and r,cinalched every year but some of
the households are too poor to afford ,he recurring
\:,penditure.
9.8. According to the municipal records, the percen-
tage of kutcha houses varies between S~~, and 20%
of total houses in different wards, while middle class
houses account for 50 per cent of the houses in some
wards In some other wards, their proportion is as
bigh as 75 per cent. Among different wards the pro-
portion of houses of upper middle class or well-to-do
families varies between lU per cent and 4G per cent.
In Sivankunnu ward (12), the proportion of upper
middle class houses is highest. In this ward, kutcha
houses are very few. The lowest proportion of upper
middle class houses are found in Vazhappilly and Per-
umattom wards (2 and 3) where the proportion of
middle class houses is highest.
Material of wall, roof and floor
9.9. According to the information collected from
sample households in the town the walls of 80 per
cent of the houses are built of laterite stones. The
Census data of 1981 also show that laterite stone IS
the material used for walls in the case of 81.66 per
cent of houses in Mnvattupuzha town. In the case of
other materials used for the construction of walls there
i:; slight variatioll in the proportions between the Cen-
sus and the Survey. In the houses of sample house-
holds 8.44 per cent have mud walls and 4.89 per cent
have walls of burnt bricks. But according to Census
data only 3.10 per cent of houses have mud walls and
1.49 per cent have burnt brick walls. The proportions
of houses with walls of leaves as well as wood in the
census is higher than that in the survey. The percen-
tage distribution of households by material of wall of
their house~ in the Census and Survey is given below:
Table 9.1
DISTRlBUTlON OF HOUSEHOLD BY
MATERIAL OF WALL
Percentage of
households in
,.--~-~---,
Material of wall Census Survey
I 2 3
AU materials 100.00 100.00
Laterite stone 81.66 80.00
Burnt bricks 1.49 4.89
Unburnt brick ~ 1.43 0.89
Mud 3.10 8.44
Grass, leave, etc. (coconut leaves) 5.70 1. 78
Wood 5.29 4.00
Others 1.33
 9.10. Both the cens.us ,md survey data indicate that 1<'1001 space
vast majority of houses in the town have tiled .roo~s.
9.15, The distribution of households by the floor
As per census 73.92 per cent of households ltve In
houses with tiled roof against 77.78 per cent in the space occupied is given below:
survey. Thatched houses come next in the census Table 9.3
(16.36 per cent) and in the survey (12.89 per ClOnt).
DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS BY AVERAGE
Modern houses with concrete roof constitute 8.41 per
FLOOR SPACE OCCUPIED
cent in the census and (}.33 per cent in the survey.
No. of
9.11. Cement is the most predominant floor n,aterial house- No. of
Per (;apita floor space occupied holds members
in the town. Mud also has been used in many houses.
As per the census 63.13 per cent houses have cement 2
floors and 32.11 per cent have mud floors, But accord-
ing to the survey 71,.67 p~r cent of houses have cement 1 sq. metre or 1ess 7 41
floors and 24.00 per cent have mud fioon. Houses 2-3 sq. metre 16 95
with mosaic Hoors constitute 2.23 per cent in census 4--5 sq. metre 20 III
against 1.33 per cent in the survey. 35 241
6-9 sq. metre
9.12. Tiled houses with laterite walls. and cement 10-15 sq. metre 51 343
floors are the most common type of houses found in 16 sq, metre and a hove 96 422
the town. Very poor people generally live in huts
with walls and roor made of cocoanut leaves and floor 9.16. There is no definite standard for the minimum
of mud. Mud-walled houses also are usually occu- space required by a h~use~old. Ho:vever,. M~. N. V.
pied by economic,']ly weaker s'Octions of people. How- Sovani has, suggested m hIS book: 1 UrbamsatlOn and
ever, it cannot be said that all those who live in houses Urban India' that 40-50 sq, feet (I.e. 3.79 to 4.73 sq.
with walls of laterite stone are well off. But it can metre approximately) of floor space per person may
be assumed that hOClses with walls of laterite stone be considered as a reasonable standard of accommo-
or burnt bricks a"d concrete roofs belong to middle dation. If this standard is adopted then the position
class or well-to-do p~ople. of floor space of houses available to the people. of the
Temnial ..tatus town may be considered as comfortable. It IS only
in the case of 1D.22 per cent of the sample households
9.13. Among the buseholds surveyed, 85 per cent that the per capita floor space is less than 4 sq. metres.
live in own houses and 13 per cent live in rented 42.67 per cent of the sample households have a per
houses. There are also some households living in capita floor space of 16 sq. metres or more.
quarters, allotted by their employers.
9.14. Out of the 225 hous~holds surveyed in the town, Number of rooms
193 are staying in the town for more than 10 years 9.17. The pattern of accommodation of the people
and tlle rest are Sf;) ying there for periods less than of the town in respect of the number of rooms occu-
10 years. Among the households living in the town pied is revealed from the following table showing the
for periods more than 5 years, most are staying in number of households and number of members by
owned houses and only a few stay in rented houses. number of rooms: occupied:
But none of the households whose duration of stay
is less than 1 year are found to be living in owned Table 9.4
houses. One third of the households whose duration HOUSEHOLDS AND THEIR MEMBERS BY NUMBER
of stay is 1-4 years are staying in owned houses. The OF ROOMS OCCUPIED
duration of stay of the households living in allotted
houses is 1-4 years. The distribution of sample house- Number of rooms Number Number
occupied of households of members
holds by duration of stay and tenure status is given
below: 2
Table '),2 32 141
DISTRffiUrION OF SAMPLE HOUSEHOLDS BY 2 53 278
DURATION OF STAY AND TENURE STATUS 3 61 331
Total No. of households living in 4 27 187
No. of houses 168
Duration of stay in house-
,,-- _ _ _ _ _ ___,_A... _ _ _ ,
5 27
the present residence holds Owned Rented Allotted 6 to 61
7 7 40
2 3 4 5
8 6 36
Total 225 193 30 2 11
9+ 2
Less than 1 year 2 .. 2
1--4 years 16 5 9 2 9.18. Households occupying 2-3 rooms. are the most
5-9 years 14 13 I common in the town of Muvattupuzha. Number of
10+ years 193 175 Iii households living in single room houses or in houses
1. Sovani N.V., Urbanisation and Urban India, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1960.

69
with 4 or 5 rooms also are many. The average num-
ber of rooms occupied per household is 3.4.
Married coupl~, and rooms
9.19. More than 70 per cent of the households have
only one married couple. 12.89 per cent of the house-
holds have two married couples and 4.44 per cent of
the households have 3 married couples. The distribu-
tion of households. by number ot rooms occupied and
the number of married couples is given below:

Table 9.5

DISfR1S iJfJO'l OF H:O:JH!10LHS BY NlJ\1BE'l ot<' ROQM3 OCCUPIED A~!) \1ARRIED COUPLE

One married couple Two married couple Three married couple Others
No. of rooms occupied by
r-------A..----- 1
No. of No, of
r-----A--,
No, of No. of
r------...;___------ ~
No. of No. of
, ____ A _ _ ,_____

No. of No. of
the households hO',13;n;)1 h lTIorTIb:r, h:JJ)~ho\ds m~.'nb;;rs hDuseholds mCillbers hous~holds members

2 3 4 5 6 7 S 9

Total 159 813 29 239 10 1.02 27 99

room 23 103 1 9 7 7 22
2 rooms 41 207 5 41 12 6 ]8
3 rooms 47 247 2 12 2 20 10 52
4 rO!lms 16 91 6 51 4 43 2
5 rooms or more 32 165 15 126 2 20 3 5

Besides the couples. there are some other members of Furniture

over 5 years of age in a majority of households and,
therefore. accommodation may be considered as
inadequate in the case of one couple households
living in single rOom houses, two couple households
liviI'.g in houses with one or two rooms and 3 couple
households living in houses with 2 or 3 rooms because
in such cases the couples cannot use one room exclu-
sively for them, Accordingly the accommodation is
inadequate in the case of 16.67% households.
Amenities
9.20. Regarding the amenities in the houses s.uch
as kitchen, bath rooms, lavatories, drinking water faci-
lities etc., the position in the town is that more than
95 per cent of the households have separate kitchen
and it is only in the remaining cases that there is no
separate kitchen. 63 per cent of the households have
separate bath rooms while about 2 per cent share it
with other households. The remaining households
may be taking bath at ponds, rivers or public taps
etc. While about 72 per cent of the households have
s.eparate lavatory and another 2 per cent share this
facility with others the remaining households may be
using open grounds or river sides or other suitable
places. For 2 per cent of the households in the town
there is no source of drinking water. Separate source
of drinking water is available for 78 per cent of the
households while this facility is shared by 20 per cent
of households. Electricity reached Muvattupuzha town
in the year 1941. But even now all the houses are
not electrified. Only about 77 per cent of the bouse-
holds live in electrified houses and the remaining are
still using Kerosene lamps for lighting.
9.21. The Survey conducted in the sample house-
holds reveals that 9.33 per cent of the households m
Muvattupuzha town do not have any item of furni-
ture. Though all the remaining households are not
having all the common items of furniture 88.89 per
cent of households have chairs, 80.89 per cent have
tables and 72,44 per cent have cots, Sofa which is
considered to be an item of furniture used by affluent
people, is posses.sed by only 1.33 per cent of house-
holds in the town. It appears that the use of benches
is becoming uncommon because only 2 per cent of
the households have reported to possess benches.
9.22. Though earthenware pots and utensils made
out of aluminium and steel are used by the people
of the town for cooking, aluminium vessels are the
most commonly used ones. 90.67 per cent of house-
holds use aluminium vessels and 31. II per cent use
earthenware vessels. Only 1.78 per cent of hous.eholds
in the town have reported as using steel vessels for
cooking. Now-a-days earthenware vessels are gene-
rally used for cooking by poor people. However, even
some middle class and upper middle class and ortho-
dox families prefer to use earthenware vessels for
cooking because the food prepared in such vessels are
very tasty. For serving food steel vessels are used
more than aluminium vessels. Vessels. of clay, hinda-
lium and porcelain also are used by some households
for serving food.
9,23, Most of the households in the town use fire-
wood for cooking. 5.78 per cent of households use
kerosene and 8.44 per cent of households use gas

10
as fuel. The use of kerosene for cooking is more
common among migrant households than ncm-migrant
households. Out of 13 households using kerosene for
cookin.g 8 are migrant households and only 5 are
non-migrant house.holds. The users of gas among mi-
grant households IS 8.57 per cent whereas it is only
8.39 per cent among non-migrant households. Elec-
tricity and kerosene are used by the people for lighting.
9.~: Wi.th the pro¥ress of the Society It is difficult
to dlstmgUlsh luxury Items from basic necessities. Some
items which were formerly considered as luxury items
are now being considl:!red as necessities. However.
some people still consider wrist watches, table clocks,
radio. T.v. etc., as luxury items according to their
financial or social conditions. Among the households
surveyed in Muvattupuzha town 65.33 per cent have
wrist watches, 53.33 per cent have table clocks, 71.11
per cent have radios and 19.56 per cent have tape
reco~d~rs. With the advent of sateIIite T.V. relay,
televlSlon has come to Muvattupuzha also and at the
time of the survey [here were T.V. Sets in 7 cut of
the 225 sample housi.'holds. One of the sample houlIc-
holds was found to possess a V.C.R. Television sets
are found in the hOlNcholds of Private Bus Operator,
Merchants. Hotel and Restaurant Keepers, Poultry
assistant etc.
Dre-sses
9.25. A piece of white cloth. about 2 metres in
length and about one and a half metres in breadth.
called 'Mundu' (Dhothi) worn round the loins is the
common male dress. While Muslims tuck it inside
on the left side of the waist, others do it on the right
side. Over the upper part of the body a small piece
of coarse cloth known as 'Thorthu' is worn while at
home. A piece of cloth longer and broader and of
better texture than the 'Tborthu', called 'Pavu mundu'
is worn on special occasions. In recent times the
shirt has also become common and it is worn v.hile
going out to public places or during festive occasions.
Like males the dress of females also is simple and ele-
_gant. Hindu and Christian women generally prefer
white clothes. Hindu women wear the 'Mundu' with a
longer cloth called 'Onneramundu' as undergarment.
Bodice and blouse is worn on the upper part of the
body. A longer cloth of finer texture similar to 'Pavu-
mundu' is also worn over the shoulders covering the
upper part of the body while going out. A white piece
of cloth seven yards long and one or one and a quar-
ter yard broad worn folded with a number of fringes
behind is the traditional dress of Christian women.
The upper part of the body is covered by a Jacket. A
dark blue cloth reaching from the waist upto the ankles
and a loose Jacket of thick white cloth with long
sleeves is the dress of ordinary Muslim women. A
small cloth thrown over the head and falling over the
shoulders is also worn by them. There may be diffe-
rences in materials and colours of the dress. Though
the above mentioned traditional forms of dress are
still worn by middle aged and old people 'tmong all
communities, there has been considerable change in
the dresses of younf!er generations. Educated young-
men, especially white collar workers and college stu-
7\
11- 19 RGIINDj88
dents wear pants and bush shirts. or slack shirts with
banians and briefs as undergarments. The educated
young women. of aU cammuniti~s has given up the old
ways of dressmg and are wearIng dresses prevalent in
oth~r parts of the country particularly when attending
festi~e occasions a~ appearing in public, Jackets,
cholies, blouses and Jumpers of different designs are
worn as upper garment with saris. Petticoats bras-
siers and panties are used as undergarments.'
9.26. The normal practice of hair dressing is to comb
the hair and tie it behind in a knot. But young
women put up the hair in different styles using artifi-
cial hairs, hair nets and rings.
Ornaments
9.27. There are different kinds of ornaments tradi-
tionally worn by women of different communities. The
'Nagapatam' or Serpant's hood, an ornament having
pcndents with the shape of the head of Serpant was
worn by Nair ladies. An ear ornament called 'Thada',
a double covered disc was worn by them dilating the
earlobes. 'Mukkuthi' was an ornament for the nose.
The most important neck ornaments were the Addiyal,
'Yanthram', PoothaIi, 'Avil Mala' and Pulinakham.
'Kappu' was worn on the wrist and rings of different
kinds were worn on the fingers. The traditional
Christian women bore the top of their ears at several
places and wore a kind of heavy gUilt brass ring called
'Mekka Mothiram'. They also wore a 'U' shaped
ornament at the time of wedding dilating their earlo-
bes. They wore 'Ottazhapathak', 'Kombu', Thala',
'Nazhi' etc. as necklets and different kinds of rings
for fingers and anklets. The Muslim women wear five
or six kinds of ornaments each on the neck and waist
and bracelets, armlets and bangles made of gold. A
long string of ornaments of artistic workmanship
suspended through ten to fourteen holes bore on each
ear was a peculiar characteristic of traditional Muslim
women.
9.28. The ornaments described above are not com-
monly used in recent times, though some of them are
still worn by conservative and illiterate sections of the
females among all communities. New ornaments like
'Kammal' hav~ replaced the old 'Thoda'. The educa-
ted and progressive sectiom of women consider it crude
and primitive to wear too many ornaments. They
prefer to use a pair of gold studs or 'Kammals' for the
ear, a simple gold chain with or without a locket for
the neck and one or two pairs of gold bangles for the
hands. However, ornaments of special and attractive
designs are made and kept in reserve for changing
periodically and for wearing on festive occasions.
Ornaments made of plastic, artificial gold, beads etc.
are also being commonly used by poor people as well
as by some sophisticated sections of ladies as a fashion.
Food
9.29. Boiled rice is the staple food of the people
of the town. There is not much difference among
various castes and communities in the food habits
except that some are vegetarian and others are non-
vegetarian, The TOntine diet in a middle class family
consists of bed-tea or coffee, breakfast, lunch.
evenmg tea/coffee with tiffin and supper. Breakfast
consists of beverages like tea or coffee with tiffin
like Dosa, Idli, Uttappam, Uppuma, Appem etc.
The tmditional practice of taking 'Kanji' (rice
gruel) with pickles and 'Pappadom' for breakfast is
not prevalent naw in mast of the households. The lunch
consists of boiled rice together with a few vegetable.
72
fish or meat curries. Pulses also are used in the
curries. The use of cocoanut and cocoanut oil freely in
all ordinary preparations is a feature of the Malayali
food. The supper at night consists of boiled rice and
some of the items served for lunch. But new-a-days
some p:::ople are taking tiffin like 'Chappathi' and
'Pood' with vegetarian or non-vegetarian curries for
supper.
~==~~~====================~======================~---~~~~=n
I'

MUVAT'iUPUZ HA MUNICIPAL TOWN

SLUM AREA
(A ~QTIONAl HAP)
II
I
!
I
'\
I
I
I
I
".
\,
,-/ .- ~. __ -.. _.J
r"~'

("';- I
t,.,
WAR"O XII(
.,......\ ~ 5i..-0MAREA.

\.
-__.-._.... '-'-'-1
I.
\.
_ . - 10\'.·,
_ . _ WARD
8('U~D.".JU

BOUNo.A.~V

/
W''''' XIIIII I
j
i
!

73
 CHAPTER X
SLUMS, BLIGHTED AND OTHER AREAS WITH SUB-STA"'\fDARD LIVING CONDITIONS

In Muvattupuzha town, the Municipal authori-
ties have identified 15 slum areas. They are Mole-
kudy and Oravankuzhy Harijan colonies in Vazhap-
pilly ward, Rotary colony in Market ward, Kochan·
gadi area in Bazaar ward, Ettangadi area in Stadium
ward, Kormala colony in N.S.S. High School ward,
Theekkollipara colony and the Harijan colony in
Block ward, Kurienmala slum improvement scheme
in Kadathy ward, Murkkal colony in S.N.D.P. High
School and Government High SJlOul wards, Pettah
area in Pettah ward, Pulparambil Harijan colony in
in Marady ward, Pandrimala Harijan colony in
Peringuzha ward. Kollungalkudy colony in Muni-
cipal Bus Stand ward and Randarkara parava colony
in Randar wani. Among these, the notifled slums
are Oravankuzhy, Rotary (Market), Kochangadi.
Ettangadi, Theekkollipara, Kurienmala, Murickal
and Randar. There are slum areas in 14 out of the
20 wards of the Municipality. Central Vazhappilly,
Perumattam, Velloorkunnam, Sivankunnu, Hospital
TABLE
and Ashramam are the wards not having slum areas.
It is estimated that there are 650 huts and 3.948 popu-
lation in these slums. Out of the 650 hub, 3n have
tiled roof and the rest thatched r00f. ] hese slums
have come up gradually over last ~evercd years ,1nd
accommodate migrants who were 100 poor to take a
house on rent ill the town For them the erection of
a hut on a public ~ite or adjacent to another hut even
on a plivate' property was comparatively cheaper be-
cause they themselves cOJJtributed to the labour and
managed to procure the thatching material mostly
free at cost. The tot.ul area occupied by the slums is
only 0.23 sq. km. Thus the density of slum population
is 16.944 persons per sq. kilometre 3.guinst the over-
all density of 192] persons per sq. kilometre in the
town. The details of slum area, population aJld den-
sity of slilm population in llitIerellt wards in contrast
to the area. poplliatiml and density of the wards is
given in the following statement.
10.1

Wi.R.D.W6l 5L')\1, .Ul3:\, P~?;jL\Tn:'-l A7'liD DEN5Iry OF POPUL~TION FOR MUVATTllPllZHA. TOWN

Ward
,..-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .A.,___. _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ ,
Area and population of the slum
, - - _ ._ _ _ ___.A. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , ,
Density of population
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ A _ _ _ _ _ _•

Percentage to Population Percentage of

Area in sq. Area in total ares of population of
SI. No. Name km. Population sq. km. ward ward Ward Slum

2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10

M Ivattu:I1Zhll (Vl) 1J.1~ Z'i,313 o.m 1. 77 3,913 ~5.60 1,921 16,94

1. Valhlp;lil!y o.n 1,490 0.025 3.43 219 14.70 2,0-+1 8,760

2. Market 0.25 1,572 0.025 10.00 773 49.17 6,288 30,920
3. Bazaar 0.20 %0 0.012 6.00 372 38.75 4,800 31,000
4. Stadi; ',1 0.35 979 0.012 3."13 293 19.93 2,797 24,411
5. N.S.S.H.S .. 0.49 1,353 0.015 3.06 145 10.72 2,761 9,667
6. Block 1.01 1,372 0.017 1.68 251 18.29 1,358 14,765
7. Kadathy 0.91 1,946 0.040 4.40 521 26.77 2,138 13,025
8. S.N.D.P. HS & Gov.~l'f1mellt
H.S. I. 05 1,812 O.O()2 0.19 133 7.3'+ 3,538 66,500
9. Pettah 0.20 979 0.015 7.50 551 56.28 4,895 36,733
10. Marady 1.06 1,309 0.010 0.94 117 3.94 1,235 11,700
11. Peringhazha 0.96 1,306 0.010 1.04 130 9.95 1,360 13,000
12. MJli~ip.l1 SCB 5land 0.{)3 1,077 0.020 3.18 247 12.93 1,710 12,350
13. Randar 0.'<9 1,377 0.030 3.37 196 14.23 1,5·+7 6,533

10.2. In the town 15.60 per cent of the population
are slum dwellers. But they occupy only 1.77 per
cent of the area. The largest number or slum dwellers
(773) are in Market ward, their proportion to the
population of the ward being 49.17 per cent. But
Pettah ward lJas the highest proportion of 56.28 per
cent of slum dwellers. In Bazaar. Stadium and Kada-
thy wards. the proportion of slum population is more
than 25 per cent. Though Kadathy ward has the lar-
gest a,rea of slum, (0.04 sq. km) Market ward has the
ia f'g,~st proportion of 10 per cent of its area .inhabited
hy slum dwellers. The density of the slum population
per sq. km. works out to- 16,944 persons per sq. km.
which is more than & times the density of the town.
The highest density of 66.500 persons per sq. km. is
seen in respect of Murick11 colony slum located in

74
S.N.D.P. and Government H. S. wards and the least
density of 6,533 persons per sq. km. is for Parava
colony in Randar ward.
LO.3. Almost all houses in the slum areas are kutcha.
The slum areas except the Harijan colony in Block
Wards. Murickal colony and Kol1ungalkudy colony
have metalled or tarred roads.
75
10.4. All the slum areas have the facility of public
hydrants for water supply and five of them viz.
Rotary colony, Ettangadi area, Kurianmala Slum Im-
provement Scheme, Pettah area and Theekkollipara
colony have some private water connections also.
Though street lights have been provided in all the
slum areas, none of them have domestic connections.
All the slum areas have community service lat_rines
and five of them have some private latrines also.
 CHAPTER XI
ORGANIZATION OF POWER AND PRESTIGE
Dle Organisation of power and pr<:stige has wit-
11essed a phenominal change ill the state as eJsewhere
in the country. In Kerala, as elsewhere in the coun·
try, tl_Ie society was caste-ridden. Brahmins occupied
the hIghest place and the Sudras, the lowest in the
hierarchy of the caste system. The lower casks were
denied the henefits of religion and education which
were considered the monopoly of the higher castes.
The lower castes, therefore. could not advam:e social-
ly and economically and had to remain satisfied with
their mellial roles. The ownership of the land was
vested with the higher castes. although they did not
cultivate ,':;;1,' hlld. il was got cultivated by t;,e lower
castes who were treated as mere vassals, Revolt
against the tyranies of the higher castes is li(lW a part
of the history. In due course, the land owning class
lost their monopoly of sociaJ and economic power.
11,2. Independence of the country and consequent
political changes have expedited the social revolution.
The power to elect the rulers now belongs to the
people. irrespective of their economic and social
class. The weaker sections now cannot be ignored as
their votes are crucial in elections. The political
parties now compete with each other to win the
economically and socially backward sections of the
community which are actuaHy in majority. Anyone
can now rise to leadership irrespective of his caste
or community. The land owners, as a dass, have
faded out of leadership. Their place is 11f)W o,;;cu-
pied by businessmen, industrialists, politicians and
trade union leaders. As the party system and parlia-
mentary form of administration have replaced, the
rule of kings, political parties and their functionaries
have become powerful. The influence of business-
men and social workers also has increased.
11.3. Kcrala Congress (J) established in 1977 has
come out as the strongest political party and it has
the largest number of active supporters not only in
the town but also in local Assembly constituency
which consists of Muvattupuzha Municipality and
Arakuzha, Avoli, Maradi, Paipra, Valakam, Man-
jalloor (portion), Koothattukulam, Palakuzha and
Elanji panchayat in Muvattupuzha taluk of Ema-
kulam district and also in Muvattupuzha Pmliamen-
tary Constituency which comprise of Muvattupuzha,
Kunnathunad, Piravom. Kothamangalam, Kanjirap-
. pally. Poonjar and Palai Assembly Constituencies.
The Assembly electjon in )982 and Parliament eke·
tions in 1980 & 1985 were won by Kerala Congress
(J}. In the AssembJy election Shri Joseph Varkey of
Kerala Congress (1) got elected securing 51.1 0 per
cent of valid votes against 46.81 per cent se.:::ured by
his nearest independent rival who was supported by
Communist Party (Marxist). In the election to Par-
liament held in 1980 Shri George Joseph Mundakkal
of Kerala Congress (J) was elected securing 48.00 per
76
cent of valid votes against 46.80 per cent of valid
votes polled by his nearest rival Sri George
!. Mathew .. Til the elections to Parliament held
m. IIJ~5. Sn Ge()i ge. Joseph Mund'1kkal got reelected
Wltl_l l!1Cl'cased l.nargm .. He sei,:ured 59.16 per ceN of
valld .vl"'leS agamst Shn Esthose of Communist Party
(Marx~st) who f!ol only 38.37 per cent of valid votes.
Its o:lKe lS located at Kacherithazham. Kerala Con-
gress Farty which was split into ~wo parties viz.
Kerala Congress (.l) and Kenda Congress (M), a few
years ba..:k huve now again be<.:ome a single party ..
[1.4, The communist party of lndia (Marxist) seems
to be the second strongest party 111 the tOWll. It was
established in 1964. The 11umber of members emoIl-
ed by the party in the town is SOO. Its office is also
located at Kacherithazham in the tOWIl. Shri P. P.
Esthose of this party WOll the Lok Sabha seat from
Muvattupuzha Parliamentary Constituency ill 1967
and polJed the 2nd largest number of votes, next to
Kerala Congress (J} in 1985. Shri Esthose was the
Chairman -of the dissolved Municipal Council which
was dominated by Communist Party (MarxisO.
11,5. The Indian National Congress (1) seems to be
the third strongest party in the town. It was establi-
~hed in 1969 and has enrolled about 2,000 members
1~1 the town, Kerala Congress (J) won the j 985 Par-
lIamentary dection with the Congres.s (1) support.
11,6. Most of the political parties viz, CLlmC1unist
Pm:ty of In~ja, Indian National. Congress (S), Indian
Umon Mushm League. RevolutIOnary Socialist Polrty,
Bharatheeya Janatha Party, lanatha Party, Lok Dal
etc. have their oiilces and some supporters in the
town. The Communist Party of India was eSlablished
as early as in 1955. RS.P. in 1964, India!l Union
Muslim League in 1970. Janatha and Lok Dal in
1978, B. J. P. in 1979 and Indian National Con-
gress (S) in 1982. In the context of Kerala Politics
~here it i~ di~cult for a single party to get majority
In the leglslatlve assembly smaller parties !llso some-
times become powerful by sharing power in a coali-
tion of parties.
11.7. Every village or town will have some per-
sons commanding respect from others and some im-
portant persons who are quite influencial and playing
a~tive roles in the different fields in the town. Opi-
mOllS may differ on respected and inlluential persons.
Officials controlling different activities in the village
Clf town are always considered as influential ~nd some
of them will also be respected by the people. Func-
tionaries of p<:llitical parties especially of ruling par-
ties are considered as influential because they are
nearer to the seats of power. In municipal towns
councillors are influential in their respective areas.
Some of them may command respect from the whole tial perSOllS in Muvattupuzha Municipality a3 repm-
townfolk T11C detail~ of ;1 few l'''~pe''!rd anl1 influen- tec1 by some sample households are given below:
Table 11.1

pARTICULARS OF A FEW RESPECTED AND INFLUENTIAL PERlsONS IN MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN

Reason for respect

Name Religion Educational level Occupation and influence

2 3 4

1. Nellore Mathew Christian RA.,B.L. Notary Professional and

financial
2. P.P. Esthose Christian S.S.L.C. EK-M.P. and Political
Ex-Municipal
Chairman
3. G;;urge Joseph Mundak1ml Christian M.A. M.P. Political
4. A. R. Sadasivan Nair Rinda S.S.L.C. Social work Political
S. I.A. Issac Christian B.A., B.L. Advocate Professional and
financial
6. T.V. Antony Christian 8.S.L.C. Shop-k~pcr Financial and
(Ex-councillor) political
7. A.K. Raman Pillal Hindu Diplolna in Engi- K.S.E.B. Engineer Professional
neering
8. P.T. Mathew Christian B.A. Municipal Professional
Councillor
9. Dr. Rapai Christian M.B.B.S. Doctor Professional
10. Kurien Christian M.A., L.L.B. Advocate Professional
11. K.N. Balakri~hnan Nair Hindu S.S.L.c. Merchant Financial
12. Has~an Rawther Muslim 9th Std. Merchant Financial
13. Sayed Muhammed Muslim s.s.L.e. Ex-Municipal Political
Chairman
14. Rajasekharan Hindu 7th Std. Merchant Financial
15. Radhakrishnan Hindu M.A. L.L.B. Advocate Professional

11.8. Most of the persons reported as influential
persons in the town are businessmen and political
workers who have played important roles in the so-
dal, cultural land political activities of the town and
who are normally invited to all important functions'
in the town. Sarvashree P. P. Esthose, Nellore Ma-
thew, A. R. Sadasivan Nair, T. A. Issac etc. are in-
volved in the various social and political activities in
the town.

77
 CHAPTER XU
LEISURE A~D RECREATlO~, SOCIAL PA"RTICIPATION. SOCIAL AWARENESS, RELIGION
ANDCRfME
Culturat and Recreational centres 12.5 The Tagore Centenary Memorial Library has
aho.ut 5000 Malayalam books and 500 English hooks
The people of the town do not have specified beSides newspapers. weeklies and periodicals. The
hours of rest and recreation. The recreational facili- library has a membership of about 250.
ties in the town are limited. There are three cinema
theatres, two libraries and a municipal stadium. There
is no good play ground or park worth the name in Cinema houses
the t~wn. Th.e Nehru Park on the Kothamangalam
road IS only m name and has no facilities for relaxa- 12.6. The three cinema theatres in the towu are
tion or entertainment. There is no Town Hall in the Letha in Bus stand ward on Thodupuzha ROld. Lek-
town though there are proposals to convert the old shmi in Velloorkunnam ward on Alwave-Ernakulam
municipal building into a town hall. Some Malaya- Road and Apsara in Market ward on- Kacheripadi-
lam dramas are occasionally staged in the Mela Kothamangalam Road. While Letha and Lekihmi
aUditor.ium situated near Velloorkunnam temple. have asbestos roofs, false ceilings and fans etc., Ap-
There IS no good art or music club in the town. sara has a temp-orary thatched shed and does not
have fans. Letha theatre was established in 1962,
Lekshmi in 1950 and Apsara in 1969. Letha and
12.2. There is no orgamsed form of recreation. The Lekshmi have a floor area of about 5000 sq. It. where-
people are spending. a lot of leisure time by meeting as Apsara has a floor space of only 3600 sq. ft. The
friends. discussing politics and other matters and read- following statement shows the ticket charges and seat-
ing . newsl?apers and periodicals either in the library ing capacity in the three cinema houses.
or In theIr own houses. People of all communities
and age-groups occasionally go to the movies in the
TABLE 12.1
three dnema theatres. Some people go in the even-
ings to certain spots like Muvattupuzha bridge and SEATING CAPACITY AND TICKET RATES
the river banks to enjoy the breeze. The film shows. IN THE CINEMAiHOUSES
tournaments, public meetings. exhihitions and drcUl'i
s~ows occasionally conducted in the municipal sm- Ticket
d1U!ll also attr~ct people of the town. Besides these. Name of the cinema Class rate in Seating
varIety ~ntertamments have become part of the annual house Rs. capacity
celebratIOns of some religious and cultural vrganisa- 2 ~ 4
tions and institutions.
Letha Reserved 3.50 198
Libraries 1st class 2.50 320
2nd c1as, 1.50 220
12.3. The two libraries in the town are the Central
Public Library in Sivankunnu ward near PWD Rest 3rd class 0.80 200
Honse ~oun~ed in 1933 and the Tagore Centenary Total 938
Memonal Llbrary near old Municipal building found-
ed in 1966. Both the libraries are under the control Reserved 3.50 100
and management of the Municipality. The libra- I st class 2.50 400
ries are getting grant from the Government. 2nd class 1.50 300
3Td class 0.80 215
12.4. The Central Public Library has a collection Total 1015
of about 7500 Malayalam books, 3000 English
books and 300 Hindi books. The books include fic- Apsara Reserved 3.00 120
tions, drama, poetry, biography, children's books 1st class 2.10 125
etc. Most of the Malayalam newspapers. weeklies 2nd class 1.40 ISO
1l;nd perio~icals and iu:portant English newspapers 3rd class 0.80 202
llke the Hmdu and Ind13n Express are also available
in the library. The library has a membership of about Tntal 597
300. There are three types of membership viz. life
membership, A class membership and B class mem-
bership. Life membership is given to those depositing The average number of tickets sold and the amount
Rs. 100, A class membership to those depositing of collections per day in March 1984 were 1087 and
Rs. 10 and paying a monthly subscription of Rs. 2 Rs. 1750 in Letha, 964 and Rs. 1459 in Lekshmi and
and B Qass membership to those depositing Rs. 7 411 and Rs. 606 in Apsara respectively. Usually
and paying a monthly subscription of Re. 1. An en- Malayalam films are screened in these threatres. Three
trance fee of Rs. 2 is also charged. regular shows are being conducted daily.

78
'. ~

" "':..

Central Public Library

~rY
.
.
.~'..t...
'11"1"
"
~

;' '. : .
,
~i"",·",\ ..tiJw,-. ~,\,..~..

A Cinema HOllse
 Newspapers and .Joomals
12.7. There is no newspaper and periodical pub-
lished from the town. However, as in other parts of
the State different newspapers and periodicals pub-
lished from other areas are widely read by the peo-
ple of the town. MathrubhoomL Malaya1a Manor::una
and Deshabhimani are the newspapers widely circula-
ted in the town. Malayala Manorama is Gublished
from Kottayam and Mathrubhoomi and Deshr:bhi-
mani from Cochin. Besides these. Deepika pub:ished
from Kottayam. Chandrika from Kozhikode. Express
from Trichur, Kerala KauInundi from Trivandru'11 and
Janayugam from Quilon are some of the Malavalam
newspapers circulated in the town. Jndi:ln Express
and Hindu are the English newspapers read by seme
people in the town. The important weeklies circulated
in the town are Malayala Manorama, Mangalaw.
Deepika, Mathrubhoomi, Kalakaumudi. Keralashab-
clom. Kumkumam etc. Different children's maga-
zines like Poompatta. Balarama etc. also are popu-
lar in the town. For important Malayalam and Eng-
lish newspapers there are representatives in the town.
The newspapers and periodicals are brought to the
town by Transport buses and vehicles of the publish-
ers and distributed through agents and small shop
keepers. There is no book stall exclusively for the sale
of newsp~!pers and journals. There are some petty
p:m shops which collect a few copies of important
newspapers and periodicals and sell to the people.
Religious institutions
.12.8. Pcople of the town are generally leligious
mmded. Some of them go to the places of worship
regularly and some others go occasionally. As already
staled. the religions followed by the people of the
town are Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. Therefore
places of worship of these three religions are found
in the town. There are 4 important churches. 2 mos-
ques and 6 temples in the town. The churches are
Holi Magi Church. Christ the King Church, St. Tho-
mas Church and St. Paul C. S. 1. Church and among
these Holi Magi Church is the most famous. The im-
porf::lT1t temples in the town are Puzhakkarakavu Devi
temple, Ramamangalam Siva temple. Sivankunnu
temple, Vellurkunnam temple. Subramonia Swc~my
temple and OoUupura Ganapathy temple. The most
renowned temple of the town is Puzhakkarakavu Devi
temple. The mosques are Petta J ama Masjid and
Kavurnkara Jama Ath mosque. Some details perta:n-
ing to these religious institutions in the tovm are
given in the following paragraphs.
Puzhaklmmkavu Devi Temple
12.9. It is the most important Hindu temple in
Mllvattupuzha town. According to the legend regard-
ing the origin of the temple this place was once a
forest area. About 200 years ba::k a member of
Thekkedath Mana was passing through the forest
with a palm leaf umbrella. On the way re put the
umbrella at a place and went for passing urine. After-
wards he could not lift the umbrella from that place
when he tried to do so for continuing his journey.
He even felt that when he was pulling up the um-
79
12-19 RGI!ND/88
br~l1a a . force :was pullmg it down. Perplexed over
lhls he Immediately returned home leaving the um-
breJla there and consulted an astrologer. He was
t~ld ti;at it so happened because of th; presence of
GoddESS Dclrg<l at that place and that a temple is to
be constructed there. Accordingly Thekkedath Nam-
boofliri c~nstructed a sma~l temple there and perfor-
mfe! pooJas. For a long tIme the ownership c.f the
temple rested with T!1ekkedath Namboodiri fami-
ly. But later a Trust was formed for its manage-
m~nt. The tem;Jle is now managed by a Committee
cOilstituted by the people of the locality.
12.10. The main deity of the L~mple is Durga in
h~r seren2 form. As the temple is situated on the
bank of the river the deity is known as 'Puzhakkara-
kavu Devi' (Puzha. means river, kara means land
and kavu means temple). The p;:culiarity of the tem-
ple is that there is no roof for th~ Sreekovil (Sanctum.
Sanctorum). It is believed that the deity being 'Vana
Durga' (Forest Goddess) she will not like to have a
roof for her abode. The temple has Nalambalam aDd
an Anapandal in front of it. Other deities of the tem-
ple al'e Lord Ganapathy (Vighneswara) and Lord
Ayyappa (Sastha) :md they are installed in separate
huildings.
12.11 Routine poojas of the' temple start with
'Palliunarthal' (awakening the Goddess) at 5 a.m.
The temple will be closed after ucha pooja (noon-
worship) at 12 noon but will again reopen at 5 p.m.
The temple is closed after the athazha pooja (last
pooja) at 8 p.m. Devotees numbering between J00
and 200 come to the temple for worship daily. The
annual festival (u(savam) of the tC!mple is held on
three days (9th, 10th and 11th) in the Malayalam
month of Dhanu (Dec~mber) besides the 'Pooram'
celebrated in the month of Meenam, {March-April).
It is reported that about 5000 people attend these fes-
tival~. 'Vedi' (fire-work) is considered to be an impor-
tant offering to be made in the temple to please the
Goddess.
Ramamangaklm Siva Temple
12.12. This is an ancient temple believed to be one
of the two Siva temples attached to the armoury of
Vaclakkumkur Rajas whose main deity was Lord
Siva. Some people believe that this temple is 1000
yea,s old. The present Nalambalam, l\IIandapam and
the surrounding waH was constructed two hundred
years ago. Ganapathy (Vighneswara) is the other
deity in this temple. The temple is now lI1J.c1er the
management of Travancore Devaswom Board.
12.13 Daily routine of the temple begins with
Palliunarthal (awakening the God) at 5 a.m. Usha
pooja. Theertha pooja, Seeveli etc. are conducted in
lhe foren("loTI. Th~ temple closes by noon and re-
opens again at 5 p.m. Thereafter Deeparadhana and
Seeveli etc. will be held and is closed at 8 p.m. About
50 devotees daily worship in this temple at morning
and evening. The annual festival is held an Thiruva-
thira day in the month of Dhanu (December). On this
day the idol will be taken alit ill a p:'JCes~lOn on a
caparisoned elephant with the accompaniment of the
sound of drums and other temple musical instruments.
KathakaIi, Kadhaprasangam etc. will be held for
entertainment at night. About 3000 pel)ple attend
this festival.
VeUoorkunnam Siva Temple
12.14. This temple renovated 100 yeats back is
believed to be constructed about 500 years back.
This temple is owned by two ancestral Namboodiri
families viz., Thekkedath and Marithasseri mams.
12.15. The main deity is Lord Siva. Idols of Lord
Ganapathy and Lord Sastha are installed separately
in two small temples. Idol of Nagarnja is also instal-
led in the temple. Lord Krishna's idol is installed in
a temple outside the main temple. Daily routine in
the temple starts at 4 a.m. with 'PalliunarthaI'. As in
other tempJes 'Usha pooja' 'Ucha pooja' (lloon pooja),
Deeparadhana, Atbazha pooja ctc. are lcnducted
here daily. Every day about 300 devotees come to the
temple for wor"~hip. Sivarathri in the month nf Kum-
bham (March) and Ashtami Rohini in thc month of
Chingam (August) are the annual festival,. celebrated
h the temple. Large number of people attend these
celebrations.
Subramonia Swamy Temple
12.16 This temple was constructed about 150 years
back. The idols were installed by Sree Neelakanta
Theerthapadar. The temple is owned and managed by
the Sree Narayana Dharma Pal ana Sanghom (SNDP)
Union). To the right of the Lord Subramonia, Lord
Siva is also installed. Idols of Lord Vighneswara and
Lord Sastha also are in&talled in this temple. There
is also a statue of Sree N:uayana Guru. The routine
of th~ temple starts at 5 a.m. The temple closes at
11 a m. but reopens at 5 p.m. for evening poojas.
It is closed [l.t 8 p.m. after the pooja,. About 50 p:or
sons worshio daily in this temple in the morning and
evening. 'Pooyam' in the month of Kumbhom (Febr-
uary-March) is the annnal festival celebrated here. The
idol will be taken out in procession on a caparisoned
elephant with the accompaniment of the sound of
drums and other temple musical instruments. The cele-
brations will last for three days and there will be
variety of cultural programmes at night.
Oottupura Gallapathy Temple
12.17 This small temple now under the management
of the Travancore Devaswom Board is about 200 years
old. Once there was an Oottupura (free meal kitchen)
in this place. An idol of Lord Vigneswara was ins-
talled there and worshipped to a;oid hindrance to
the free meal programme. But free feasting was dis-
continued in course of time. Later with the endeavour
of local ceople and Devaswom Board the reinstalla-
tion of the idol of Lord Ganapathy was done in the
present temple. The temple is opened at 6.45 a.m.
and closed at 9.30 3"m. after the poojas. In the even-
ing it reopens at 6 p.m. and closes after poojas at
7.30 p.m.
80
Holy Magi Church
12.18 It is believed that during 1000 AD a foreign
missionary had installed a cross for worship for the
people at Arakuzha and this was converted into a
parish church in July 1819 when the area gradually
developed as Muvattupuzha town. The present church
was inaugurated on 4-1-1970 by His Gracious Cardi-
nal Joserh Parakkat. The church hall is 125 feet long
and 40 feet wide. Daily routine of the church begins
with ringing of the morning bell at 5.30 a.m. followed
by morning prayer at 5.45 a.m. There are two masses
one at 6 a.m. and the other at 6.45 a.m. About 250
devotees attend the masses daily. On Saturdays and
Sundays the timings will be slightly different and there
will be a mass in thG evening also. The number of
people attending these masses on Saturdays and Sun-
days will be very large.
12.19 Every year from 4th to 6th January the
Epiphany Festival is heing conducted and about
10,000 devotees attend th l' ceremonies. A glorious
procession will be taken out around the Muvattu-
puzha town in connection with the same. On Good
Fridays, morning prayer will be heM at 7 [I.m, ?nd
about 2,000 devotees attend the same. In the evening
a procession with about 15,000 persons will be con-
ducted arOlmd the Muvattupuzha town. In the month
of April the Crucification Convention will be held
and about 2000 delegates participate in the conven-
tion. On all second Saturdays, a (me day seminar will
be held and about 250 pmons usually attend the
same.
Christ the King amrch
12,20 A mission centre was eRtablished on the side
of the Ernakulam-Alwaye road at Muvattupuzha in
February 1924 and in December 1926 the foundation
stone for the present church was laid. After comple-
tion of construction, the church was blessed by Rev.
Fr. Angel Metropolis. This church and its land was
m.vned by the Navara Providence of Spain. Later it
was owned by Providence of Malabar and it is now
under the contra] of the Vijayapuram Bishop. The
church main hall is facing south and has a length of
75 ft. and breadth of 35 ft. with 4 rooms behind the
same. The hall has a verandah of to ft. wide at the
western side. There are two ch3rel~ one if! the name
of Virgin Mary 'Ind the other in the name of Holy
Ouseph. Morning prayers are held at 5.30 a.m. and
Holy mass at 6.15 a.m. during ordinary days. On
Fridays and Saturdays, mass prayer will be held at
6.30 a.m. and at 5.30 p.m. During Sundays and
other festive days 2 mass~s are he]j at 6.30 a.m. and
9 a.m. Usually 50 to 60 persons attend the church
during ordinary days and about 100 to 300 persons
attend on Saturdays and Sundays.
12.21 Annual festival i~ held on the last Sunday
in the month of November every year and the Saint
Sebastian's Day will be observed on the Sunday
following the 20th January. St. George's Day is also
being celebrated on the Sunday after April 24th and
Holy Ouseph's Day will be celebrated on 1st Mayor
the next following Sunday. Holy Mother's Day will
be observed on 16th of July. A large number of devo-
Puzhakkarakaru Temple
 ""~",w..,, ~ .",,,_,,,' ,,', ,
~",. ,< ,""-',"*".....~~,,~~~

Holy Magi Church

tees participate in the cdebrations and puriri
cation.
Sr. Paul's Church
12.22 This church belonging to the protestants was
established 4{} years ago by the Sabha created by
the foreign missiJnary. The management and control
of the church is vested with the Bishop of the East
Kerala Maha Edavaka (senior diocese) the capHal of
which is Melukkavumattom in Kottayam district.
12.27 Routine prayers are being held 5 times a day.
At 5 a.m. there is Subhi and nearly 100 persons
attend the prayer. The noon prayer LuJwr is held at
J2.45 p.m. and about 200 persons attend the same. At
3.45 p.m. the Asar is being conducted and nearly 200
p~rsons attend the same. At 6 p.m. Maharib prayer
and at 7.30 p.m. [sha prayer will be held and about
100 persons may attend the same. The timings will
V;!ry slightly depending on sun rise and sun set. Dur-
illY. Fridays there will be no Luhar but luma prayer
will b:' held and <lbout 1000 persons attend the same.

12.23 Aboul 300 persons can be accommodated for 12.28 There arc two Faunals celebrated during a
prayers in this church. The front side of the church year, one Id-Ul-Fitre (Ramzan) and the other Bakrid.
built with granite stones is 40 ft. high and Holy Special prayers are being held during these festive
Cross is fixed on it in the middle. For religious activi- days between 9.30 to 10.30 a.m. The affairs of the
ties the church is opened at 8 a.m. on all Sundays mosque are being looked after by a Governing Com-
and divotees numbering between 50 and tOO assemble mittee elected. for the purpose every year.
for prayers. A Sunday School is run for ~eaching
Bible to children below the age of 15. Important fes- Crimes and deviant behaviour
tivals are Christmas Carol Serv lee and Harvest Festi-
val and between 100 and 200 persons participate in it.
12.29 As i1\ any other part of the state crimes of
different types are affecting the life of Muvattupuzha
town also. There is a police station in the town which
Petta Jama Mujid is one of the oldest institutions. The details of crimes
reported within Muvattupuzha municipality for three
12.24 This Jama Masjid is said to be 200 years old years are given below:
constructed for the offering of prayers for the Mus-
lims in Petta and nearby areas in Muvattupuzha, iJ'J Table 12.1
who settled there from several places. This mosque
was renovated during 1964 with a new prayer hall CRIMES REPORTED IN THE POLICE STATION FROM
50 ft. long and 50 ft. wide providing a partition to use MUVATTUPUZHA MUNICIPAL AREA FOR THREE YEARS
the same as two halls. There is a Madrassa attached
to this mosque. The mosque is being managed by a No. reported in
,-------'------,
committee called "Mahal Renovation Society". Particulars of crime 1981 1982 1983
2 3 4
12.25 Routine activities are prayers 5 times daily.
The morning prayer is at 5 a.m. and about 50 per- Murder (other than for gain) 2
sons attend the same and it is known as Sub hi. The Attempt 10 suicide
second prayer is at 12.45 p.m. is called Luhar and Grievous hurt 2
nearly 75 persons attend it and the third prayer is at Hurt 19 14 13
3.45 p.m. called Asar and about 75 persons attend Assault to public servant 5 3 3
the same. The Motheen usually announces the prayer Rash and negligent ;_driving causing
time by giving Bang. The noon prayer held at t p.m. death 5 2 5
on Fridays is considered very important and about House breaking and theft. 15 24 14
125 people attend this prayer. At I} p.m. Maharib Rash act causing hurt :,9 26 43
prayer is held and later at 7.30 p.m. Isha the last Ordinary theft 2 9 18
prayer is also held. About 125 persons attend the same. Criminal breach of trust 2 3
The usual annual festival known as "Perunal" is celebra- Cheating 3 4
ted twice in an year, one is ca1led 'Cheriya Perunal'
Man missing 3 4 2
(Ramzan) and the other 'Valia Perunal., (Bakrid).
Special prayers are being offered during these festivals Robbery
and more than 500 persons take part in the prayers. Rape
Other special and local laws 4
Rioting or unlawful assembly. • 15 12 15
Kavumkara Jamaatb Mosque
Crimes under Kerala Games Act 2 2
12.26 This mosque IDeated between Muvattupuzha Kerala Police Act 13 4
market and stadium ground was established about 60 Economic Crimes Act
years. back by one Haji AA Pareed Pillai. There was 107 Cr.'PC 2 1 2
no mosque in this locality where Muslims are thickly 109 Cr. PC 2
populated. At first the mosque consisted of two rooms IIO Cr. PC 6 3
and later a new hall about 200 it. long and 100 ft.
151 Cr. PC
wide was Xll1structed at the northern side of the old
mosque. Other o!knc\)s not mentioned above 36 28 3.

81
 12.30 The cases of deviant behaviour, ie. suicide and
unnatural death n:ported from Muvattupuzba town
were 18 in 1981, 6 in 1982 and 10 in 1983. These
deaths were mainly by hanging, poison and drowning.
In 1981 four deaths were by hanging, seven by POiSO;l,
two by drowning and the rest by other types. hl 1982
Qne death each occurred by hanging and drowning and
two each by poison and other types. Jn 1983 three
82
deaths occurred by hanging, two by drowning and
live by other types.
12.31 There are two criminal courts. one Second
Class Magistrate's C(nrt lll,d one First Class Magis-
trate's Court in the town for the trial of criminal cases.
nut their jurisdiction extends to areas in the taluk
outside the town also.
Kavumkara Mosque

Police Station
 CHAPTER XLII
LINKAGES A 'iD CONTIMJ/\
Uemographic and ecolu}mic characteristics (J,f the
distrid
Emakulalll distri..:t in which Muvattupulha town
is situated is bounded on the west by Arabian sea, on
the east by ldukki district, on the north by Trichur
district and on the south by Kottayam and Alleppey
district:;. The present Emakulam district w~s part of
the princely statc, of Travancore and qochm 'H1~1 t!lC
Malabar district of Madras state. ThIs new clistm;t
was carved out on I st April 1958 of the former,
Trichur, Kottayam :md Malabar di~tricts of 1951. T~le
district comprising of seven taluks VIZ. Alwaye. Cochm,
Kanayannur.. Kunnathunad, Kothamangalam. ~uvat­
tupuzha and Parur is divided into ?9 revenu~ vd~a~es.
There are I Corporation viz. Co:::hm and 7 mUnIcIpal
towns viz. Alwaye, Angamaly, Kothamangalam,
Muvattupuzha, Parur, Perumbavoor and Trippunithura
and 8 ct:nsus towns viz. Chendamangalam, Cherrya-
kadavu, Eloor, Kalamassery, Kottuval1.y, Maradu,
Mulavukad and Vadakkekara. Of these sIXteen towns,
Cochin is cI,iSS I town (having a populati~n over I
iakh) Cheriyakadavu is class V town (havlllg popu-
latio~ 500(}--1O,000) and all the remaining 14 are dr,ss
III towns (having population 20.000---49.999). Ac,;or-
ding to the 1971 Census, the district had 11 towns
and 88 revenue villages. Thus between 1971.and 1981,
the proportion of to~ns per 100 n:vc_nue vIIlage~ h~s
increased from 12.5 III 1971 to 20.25 m 1981 whIch IS
a goo9 indicator of urbanisation of the distr.ict. B.ut
in Muvattupuzha taluk which has only one town VIZ.
Muvattupuzha, the proportion of towns per 100 viI·
lages is only 5.55 in 1981.
13.2 As in other districts of the State, tht: eastlirn
side of the district has also thic~ forests. The forest
areas of the district lie in Alwaye, Kunnathunad and
Muvattapuzha taluks.. Mu~attllpu~ha taluk is well
served by two large nvers VIZ. Pcnyar a~d Muvattu-
puzha. The most important crops of thIS taluk arc
arecanut and pepper.
13.3 Emakulam district has an area of 2.408.00 .sq.
km. and it ranks 7th in area in the. st~te .. Accordmg
to 1981 census. the population of the dlstnct IS 2.535,294
consisting of 1,269.174 males and 1.266,120 females.
This gives a decada I increase of 17.18 per cent as
against 19.24 p~r cent in. the State during 1971-81.
The density of populatJOn I~ 1.053 persons per sq. km.
as against the density of 65~ f~r the State. The rural
and urban density of the (listnct are 755 and 2,656
persons per sq. km. respecti~ely. The rural. density is
higher than the corr.esp?ndmg State density of 5~8
while the urban denslty IS somewhat . lower th~1l that
of State urban density of 2.669. The hlgher.den~lty can
be attributed to higher pr.:ssurc r~f ~opuiallon m. (."na:~­
tat arca~ of the district. The (Ilstnct ranks thIrd In
83
loud density among the districts of the state. ill urban
density, the district Idds the 6th rank and in rural
density 3rd rank. Til.' sex ratio for total rural and
urbCln areas of the (Lstri::t are 998. 1000 and 993 res.
pc~tivcly. the corresponding ligurcs fJr the State being
1.032, 1.034 and l.021 respectively. The lower sex
ratio of the district as compared to the State is duc
to the higher proportion of urban population (39.56
per cent) in the district against 18.74 per c(;nt urban
pl!pulation of the ,tate. Urbanized areas generally
hav~ lower sex ratio and the district holds the top
runk in regard to urban population amDng the districts
of the state.
13.4 Ernakulam district has a literacy fate of 76.82
per cent. All the talllks it> Ernakulam district have
literacy rates above 70 per cent. Muvattupuzha taluk
has the literacy rate of 77.28 per cent. The literacy
rate of Muvattupuzha town is lower than the district
and taluk literacy rates. Howt:vcr. the difference in
literacy rate between the town and distri<;t is not
appreciable.
13.5 Ernakulam is one of the few distrkts in the
state when; there is concentration of Christian popu-
lation. They constitute 40.20 per cent of the population
in the district closely following Hindus with 46.29
per cent. But in Muvaaupuzha town, Christians with
20.87 per cent ()f population come only third in nume-
rical strength after, Hindus and Muslims.
13.6 Ernakularu district ranks 4th among the dis-
tricts of the State, in respect of the percentage of main
workers I st rank going to Idukki di~trict. In the district
n.?9 per ~cnt of the total P?pulation is economically
actIve (maIO workers) as agamst 26.68 per cent in the
State. The rates of participation in work for males
and females are 43.00 and 12.94 per cent respectively.
13.7 Cultivation forms the occupation of large num-
ber of the people of the district as in other pans of the
Slate. Paddy is the most important crop in the district
which accounts for about 10 per cent of the total area
under paddy in the State and 35 per cent of the total
cropped area of the district. Economically the most
important crop, the cocoanut palm, also thrives in all
areas of the district. Tapioca, rubber, pepper, casht:w-
nut, areca nut are other important crops of the district.
10.42 per cent of the total main workers are engaged
as cultivators and 18.30 per cent as agricultural
labourers. 3.37 per cent find work in household indus-
try and the remaining 67.91 per cent are employed in
trade. commerce, industry. transport and communi-
cation. cOllstruction and other services.
118 Out of the total population of 2.535294 per-
sun~ in thl' district. 1532.402 (60.44 per l:cnt) reside
 in rural areas and 1,002.892 (39.56 per cent) in mban
areas. The 16 towns of the district differ greatly in
terms of area, popUlation, growth rate, density, sex
ratio and Jitt:racy. Morc than half of district urban
popUlation (51.18 per cent) is inhabited in Cochin
Corporation, The proportion of urban population in
towns other than Cochin Corporation ranges between
0.67 per cent in Cheriyakadavu census town to 4.67
m in Eloor census town. The proportion of popUlation
ill Muvattupuzha town to the district urban popula-
tion is 2.53 per cent.
13.9 Just as any other town in the district, Muval-
tupuzha town also is having administrative, economic
and trade links with Cochin which is the district head-
quarters and most important port city in the state.
By virtue of their proximity, Kothamangalam and
Perumbavoor Municipal towns in Ernakulam district
ant! Thodupuzha municipality in ldukki district nrc
also interdependent with Muvattupuzha town.
13.10 Communication facilities, especially by road
have considerably improved after independence and
the formation of Kerala State. New roads were opened
to the remote areas of the district and existing roads
improved. The National Highways leading to Coim-
batore and Mangalore and some State Highways fonn
t);;: n~ajn artery of communication between places in
Kerala and those in Tamil Nadu and Kamataka
States. The district roads are also maintained in good
condition. There are important roads passing through
all the towns of th>;; district and some villages. The
district is well served by railways, air and sea. The
railway line was opened in the district on 16th July
1902 with the construction of metre gauge railway
[me connecting Shoranur and Ernakulam. Consequent
on the development of the Cochin Harbour. the metre
gauge railway line was converted into broadgauge dur-
ing 1930-35. During the decade 1951-6\. a new metre
gauge line was constructed connecting Ernakulam
with Quilon which was la1er converted into a
broad gauge line upto Trlvandrum, the State capital.
The Aerodrome at Cochin is located withjn the Naval
Base at Willingdon Island. Daily services enroute to
Bombay, Bangalore. Madras and Delhi are operated
by Indian Airlines. Cochin Port, the 'Queen of Ara-
bian Sea' is an all weather Harbour on the west coast
south of Bombay and Marma Goa.
Travel Index of Population
[3.11 The' average of the maximum distance travell-
ed by members of households aged 5 and above is
termed as Travel Index. ThC!IC are 1,145 members aged
5 years and above in the 225 sample households stu-
died in the town and the Travel Index for them is
375.92 km. The Travel Index for males (540.19 kro.)
is more than double the Travel Index for females
(218.68 km.). Agricultural labourers numbering 21
have a Travel Index of 42.19 whereas the Travel Index
for 9 cultivators is 1,729,11 km. Motor vehicle drivers
numbering 43 and merchants and shopkeepers in re-
tail trade numbering 41 have the Travel Index 637.53
km. and 1,054.93 km. respectively. There are 18
labourers not elsewhere classified and their Travel
Index is 56.00 km, The Travel Index for different
types of occupation pursued hy 5 or mOre persons in
the sample households is given in the folklwing table.

Table 13.1
TRAVEL INDEX OF PERSONS, MALES AND FEMALES BY OCCUPATIONS HAVING RETURN OF
5 OR MORE PERSONS
No. of workers Travel Index (km.)
r-.----.--.....;...__----~
Occupation P M F

2 3 4 6 7

Cultivators 9 9 1,729,11 1,729 11

Agricultural labourers 21 16 5 42.19 35.63 63,20
Teachers (Primary) 6 I 5 327.83 625.00 268.00
Clerks (General) 5 4 338.40 271.25 607.00
Office attendants (Peons, Daftries etc) 5 5 742.40 742.40
Merchants, shop keepers, who lesale traders 7 7 713.43 713.43
Merchants, shopkeepers, retail traders 41 41 1,054.09 1,054,98
Domestic servants 9 9 5.56 5.56
Tailors and dress makers 9 8 277.78 307.13 43.00
Carpenters 7 7 303.57 303.57
Mechanics, repairmen, others 9 786.44 7116.44
Doctors and freight handlers 8 8 81.13 81.13
Tramcar and Motor vehicle drivers 43 43 637.53 637 . 53
Labourers H.C.C. 18 16 2 56. ()I) 6t .4~ 12.50

84
Social, economic and Cultural relations with other directly OJ" through some other routes. Distance from
places Muvattupulha town to these villages by road is not
13.12. The town has got social. economic and cul- the samt' as the radial distance from tIle town. The
tural relations with many other towns both within rletails of the villages lying within 10 kilometres from
the district and outside. There are three village the town are given below:
offices namely Marady, Vellurkunnam and Muvattu-
pUzha in the town for attending to revenue adminis- Table 13.2
tration. All HIe taluk headquarter offices are within DETAILS OF VILLAGES WITHIN A RADIUS OF SAND
10 km OF MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN
the town and the district offices such as Collectorate
etc. are at Emakulam. The people from the villages Distance
of the tal uk have been coming to the town for finding bv
road
sollitions to different problems affecting them from from
the offices at the taluk headquarters. There are suffi- Mavat-
Route tupuzha
cient facilities in the town for obtaining education
upto high school level. Many boys and girls from 2 3
the neighbouring villages corne to the town for high
llplO 5 km
school education. There is one college by name
Nirmala College on the outskirts partly within the Mulavoor Main Central Road to Ang~maly 5 km.
town and partly :lutside. For college education the Marady Main Central Road to Kotlayam 1 kID.
boys and girls arc coming to the college from the (Portion)
town and also from the neighbouring areas. Then: Valakom Muvattupuzha - Thripunithura 5 km.
is no milway station in the town. The nearest rail-
way station is at Piravom road located at a dis- 6 to 10 km

tance of 19 km. from the town. There are both Eramalloor Muvattupuzha, Kothamangalam, 18 km.
state transport and private bus stands in the town. Perumbavoor Road
The nearest town with less than one lakh population Varapetty Muvattupuzha-Kothamangalam.' 7 km.
Muvattupuzha-Kodikulam Road
is Kothamangalam which is 13 km. away and nearest
Enanalloor Muvattupuzha-Kodikulam Road Skm,
air port, sea port etc. are at Cochin 43 km. away
Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha-·Thodupuzha Road SkIn.
from Muvattupuzha town. The town is a market (portion)
centre of hill produce for hinterland villages. So Arakuzha Muvattupuzha-Palai Road 6 km.
people from the surrounding areas come to the town 13 km.
Memury Muvattupuzha·--Vaikom Road
for selling their hill produce. The town has also
Mazhuvannoor Main Central road to Angamaly IOkm.
some famous and important religious institutions and
three cinema houses for entertainment. People from Note :-AII the villages except Eramalloor and Mazhuvannoor are
hinterland villages and neighbouring Kothamangalam in Muvattupuzha taluk. Eramalloor is in Kothamanga-
town also come to attend various festivals in the tem- lam taluk and the nearest town is Kothamangalam Muni-
cipality. Mazhuvannoor is in Kunnathunad talule
ple and churches and for entertainment in the cinema even though its nearest town is Muvattupuzha.
houses.
13.14. Of the three villages within 5 kilometre
radius of the town, Mulavoor and Marady lie on the
Demographic and other charaderistics of n('igbhouring MC Road, the former towards Angamaly and the lat-
villages
ter towards Kottayam and Valakom on the Thripuni-
13. 13. In order to bring out the penetration of urban thura road. Of the seven villages within 6· 10 kilo-
influence the villages within a radius of 5 kIll, 10 metres, Eramallor is on Kothamangalam-Perumba-
km and 20 km from the town on various routes: were voor road, Varappetty in between Muvattupuzha-
examined. There are 49 such villages of whkh 3 Kothamangalarn road and Muvattupuzha-Kodikulam
fail within 5 km, 7 within 6- J0 km and 39 villages road, Enanallor on Muvattupuzha-Kodikulam road,
within 10-20 km radius of Muvattupuzha town. All Muvattupuha (portion) on Muvattupuzha-Thodupuzha
these Yillages are connected to tbis town by roads road, Arakuzha on Muvattupuzha-Palai road, Memuri

85
on Muvattunuzlw-Vuikom road :md Malhuv:innoor 011 area, population, density. literacy, work participation
the Me road towards Angamaly. The di:lails of 1Ut..: dc. of these villages ure given below:

TABLE 1:1.3
AREA, POI~ULATIO:"l, I)E~.sITY,
LITERACY, HOUSEHOLDS PER HOUSE AND WORK PARTICIPATION
IN THE VILLAGES F,\.LUNG WITHIN 10 K!LO"\1ETRES OF MUVATTUPUZHA TOWN

Percentage
of other
workers (ie
non-agricultu -
No. of ral and non-
households Percentage household
per 100 of main industry) to
."rca in PerccntGge census workers to total main
Village sq. km. Population D~l1sity of literacy houses population workers

:! 4 5 (:, 7 8

Vpto 5 km
Mulavoor 2fi.·Hi 10.~9c) 79[) fiU7 102 27.59 47.55
Marady (Portion) 17.93 11,531 64:1 73.48 100 29.43 48.70
Valakom 21.(}Q 13,768 653 79.42 101 32.80 35.27

6 to 10 km
Er~un~l1l0l)r 27_61 24,176 876 6+.18 1m 26.44 45.09
Varapctty 21.52 13,48+ 6'..7 73.37 10[ 29.69 42.79
Enanalloor 33.90 I R,007 5]1 76.9el [00 29.22 34.19
Muvattupuzha (P,lrtion) 18.60 13,757 740 78.93 101 29.40 53.36
Arakuzha 27.35 12,983 475 80.35 101 30.97 41.16
Me,nnry 22.94 11,520 502 76.61 101 34-.44 30.90
Ma'lhuvanno l) [ 49.11 25,571 52l 77.07 100 37.91 26.25

13.15. Usually villages with higher urban influence
have larger population, greakr density and high house
to household ratio. As the villages in Kerala
are generally very large the population size
canrot be taken as an indication of the influence of
,urbanisation. Therefore though Mulavoor. Eramal-
loor and Mazhuvannoor have population more than
20,000 it does not mean that they are more urban-in-
fluenced than other villages. Tn respect of density of
population non;;: of thl:: 10 villages is having density
comparable to that of Muvattupuzha town. Among
these villages the density ie. population per sq. kilo-
metre varies between 475 in Arakuzha and 876 in
Eramalloor against 1921 in Muvattupuzha town.
Among the villages within 5 kilometre radius of
Muvattupuzha the literacy rate is lowest in Mulavoor.
There is not much difference between Marady and
Valakom in respect of literacy rate. Marady and
Va~kom each have a high school whereas there is
no high school in Mulavoor. Therefore the ,higher lite-
racy rate of Marady and Valakom can be attributed
more to the educational facilities in these villages than
to the urban influence of Muvattupuzha town."Among
the seven villages situated within a radius of 6-10 kilo-
metre~ from Muvattupu7na, Arakuzha has the highest
literacy of 80.35 per cent and Eramalloor the lowest
literacy of 64.18 p::r cent. All the villages other than
Eramalloor have literacy rates above 73 per cent.
But here also it may be attributed to the general trend
C)f high literacy of the region rather than the influence
of Muvattupuzha town. The number of households
per 100 houses in the 10 hinterland villages is low
varying between 100 and 102 compared to 108 in
\{uvattupuzha town. Obviously Muvattupuzha has
not influenced the'>e villages in this respect.
13.16. The work participation pattern in the town
is in contrast to that of the villages adjoining it.
While 88.59 per cent of the total main workers in
Muvattupulha town are engaged in occupations not
connected with agriculture and household industry in
the tell hinterland villages it varies between 26.25 per
cent in Mm'.huvannoor and 53.36 per cent in Muvattu-
puzha {portion). The proportion of non-agricultural
workers is more than 40 per cent ill Mulavoor. Marady
(portion). EramalIoOi. Varapetty and Arakuzha vil-
lages. The comparatively high proportion of non-
agricu]tllral workers in Muvattupuzha (portion) MuIa-
voor and Marady (portion) may be attributed to the
\r.fincnc(' of Muvattupmha town.
 CHAPTER XIV
CONCl.USION
It will be worthwhile to recapitulate some of the
salient features of Muvattupuzha town discus~ed in
the previous chapters before concluding this repprt.
14.2. Muvattupuzha is a small municipal town in
the most industrialised Emalrulam district in south
central Kerala. The town derived its name from the
river flowing through it viz. the Muvattupuzha river
fanned out of the confluence of three rivers. It is a
class IV town situated in the midland region. It was
one of the 19 places treated as urban areas and pro-
vided with conservancy staff under the Police Regu-
lation and consequently considered as a census town in
1921 in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore.
It is a town with a chequered history of growth.
Since it was treated as a town in 1921, the area of the
town was reduced twice. first during 1941-51 and
later during 1961-71. The town being a gateway to
higb. ranges from Ernakulam district and having com-
psratively better communication facilities in the past
was an important trading centre of hinterland villages.
14.3. Strictly speaking the town is still an agricul-
tural area. Being the headquarters of the taluk and
revenue division several Government offices have come
up in the town. Apart from this no medium or
large scale industry providing employment opportu·
nities to the people or accelerating the pace of urban
development has come up here. However, as in any
other urban centre there are some busines3 and trade
establishments, hotels, looges etc.
14.4. The density of population in the town has
increased from 1086 person~ per sq. kilometre in ]93]
to 1921 persons per sq. kilometre in 1981. However
the demity of population in the town is less than the
density in the urban areas of the district and state.
The decadal growth rate of population is lower than
the growth rate in the urban areas of the district and
state.
14.5. As in other parts of the State Hindus, Mus-
lims and Christians live in the town. There are only
stray cas~s of other religious groups. Though Erna-
kulam district and Muvattupuzha taluk is a Christian
dominant area, Christians come third after Hindus
and Muslims in numerical strength in this town. While
the difference between Hindus and Muslims is only
less than 2000 penons, Christians in the town bave
only about half the strength of Hindus. Muslims
in the past were generally associated with trade and
Muvattupuzha, being a trade centre, attracted them.
Among Hindus the predominant community in the
town is Nairs followed by Ezhavas. Scheduled Castes
constitute less than 6 per cent of the population of the
town and Scheduled Tribes are insignificantly small in
number.
87
13-19 RGIfND'3~
14.6. There is no planned development for the town.
As in anv other urban centre slums are found in al-
most all wards of the town. Roughly about 2 per cent
of the area of the town is occupied by slums and about
16 per cent of the population live there. In certain
slum areas density of population is as high as 17,000
persons per sq. kilometre.
14.7. Though the literacy in the town is less than
those in the tal uk and district the literacy rate has
increased over the last decade. There are several
educational institutions in the town including a college
offering even post.graduate courses, on the outskirts
of the town. Besides Government schools there are
private educational institutions run by different com-
munities including Christian and MusHm minorities.
Almost all children of school going age are attending
school in the town. However, there are some drop
outs due to various reasons.
14.8 Medical facilities are available in the town
from Government and private institutions. However
the facilities in the taluk hospital are quite inadequate.
14.9. There are not many facilities for recreation
and leisure time activitie~ except three cinema houses
and two public libraries, There are several places
of worship to' cater to the ~piritual needs of the three
religious communities. These institutions have their
rituals and festivals.
14.10. The work participation rate in the town is
higher tban those of Emakulam district and Kerala
state, but lower than that of rural areas of Muvattu·
puzha tal uk. The town being a taluk and revenue
divisional headquarters and a market centre of hill
produce the predominant category of workers in the
town is in other services followed by trade and com-
merce. One fifth of the workers in the town are
sales workers. During the decade 1971-81 the pro-
portion of workers in primary sector has decreased
and the proportion of workers in tertiary 8t:ctor in-
ceased.
14.11. Over forty per cent of non-workers in the
town are full time students and more than one-fourth
are engaged in household duties and about one·fourth
dependents and infants. Though unemployed per-
sons constitute less than seven per cent of non workers
in the town it does not mean that the town is not
facing unemployment problem seriously. It is signi-
fleant that 57 per cent of marginal workers are seek-
ing employment.
14.12. The sex difference in occupational preference
is clearly discernib1e in the town. WhHe males
 dominate in production, process and related works
and equipment and machinery operation, females arc
mostly engaged in professional, technical and related
works and in servIces.
14.13. The town has a smaller household size than
the urban areas of the district and state. All towns
in Emakulam district except Eloor, Perumbavoor,
Kalamassery and Thrippunithura have household size
larger than Muvattupuzha. Households having size
of 4 to 7 members are more common in the town.
About half of the households are nuclear families
consisting of self, spouse. unmarried sons and daugh-
ters. But even now there are several joint families
in the town.
14.14. About 10 per ~ent of the households have
one or more family members staying outside mostly
for employment or for education. Some of those em-
ployed outside are sending money home. Those em-
ployed in Gulf countries are sending more money to
their households than others employed in <JI:her places.
14.15. About one-third of the households living in
the town are migrants mostly from rural areas of Ema-
kulam district and from the neighbouring Kottayam
district. Some of these migrant households P08SesS
properties at the place of origin and have left some
dose relatives there.
14.16. The trend of rising age at marriage in recent
years is seen among the different communities in
Muvattupuma town also. While 30 years back the
age at marriage of people in the town was 24.43 .years
for males and 17.36 years for females within the last
15 years it has risen to 26.99 years for ma1es and
20.54 for females. Even among Muslims who gene-
rally marry early compared to other communities the
llge at marriage has increased from 22.90 years to
26.20 years in the case of males and from 16.64 years
to 19.34 years in the calle of females.
14.17. Eighty per cent of houses in Muvattupuzha
town have laterite stone wa1ls and three-fourth of
houses have tiled roof. Houses vvith 2 rooms or 3
rooms are more common in the town. All these are
indications of comparative1y better living conditions in
the town.
14.18. The town bas not so far achieved a balanced
and planned growth. The streets are not wide enough,
the market is too small and there is no specially de-
marcated areas for trade and oommerce, industries,
administrative. residential or educational purposes.
Tn order to foster healthy environment and develop-
ment of the town the municipal council has drawn
up three town planning schemes. one for the central
area, another for the market area and the third for
the bus stand complex. Under these schemes areas
have been specifically demarcated for various purposes
such as residential. commercial. public and semi-pub.
lic, industrial, mixed uses, roads, playground and open
spaces, rehabilitation, water bodies, paddy fields, bus
stand. taxi stand etc.
88
14.19. Under the Central area scheme more than
2 hectares of land on the southern bank of the river
is proposed to be acquired for an industrial estate.
Small scale industnes of wood, metal, plastic and
chemicals are propused to be developed in this area
which is presently a garden land with just a couple
of residential buildings. The site is suitable for an
industrial estate due to its proximity to the rjver and
the proposed artenal road in the area. Under the
scheme, MC road is proposed to be developed to
have a uniform width of 18 m. To reduce the
trafik congestion along the MC IJad and also to
have a circular road for the town pr(}viding access to
the interior areas. a: new 20 m. road is proposed as
part of the development of the town as a whole. The
Kavumpady road is proposed to be developed to have
a uniform width of 12 m. In the areas demarcated
for public and semi public use, a library building and
a town hall are also proposed to be constructed. A
shopping centre-cum-mini market is also proposed to
be constructed in the central area.
14.20. The main objectives of the market area
scheme are:
1. To make avallable sufficient land suitable for
development of a modern Municipal Market
and Shopping Complex.
2. To develop a pub-lic play ground for the town.
3. TQ streamline the circulation pattern within
thi~ area and to improve accessibility.
4. To pave way for further development of areas
which are at present underdeveloped.
5. In general to optimise the land utilisation by
assigning to appropriate us~s.
14.21. This area is supposed to function as the city
centre and therefore other facilities such as truck ter-
minal. stadium, public and semi public offices are
also. proposed in this area. At present Kothaman-
galam road is narrow and there is often traffic disrup-
lion. To avoid this a by-pass road with a width of
W m. is proposed from a point near Nedumchalil hos-
pital and this will pass through the western side of
the stadium and join Kothamangalam road near the
Apsara theatre. The stadium road is proposed to
be widened and extended upto the by-pass. This
will enable vehicular traffic from Ernakulam and
Kottayam to Xothalpangalam and vice versa, avoiding
the congested market .area. A new market road
which will pass through the sonthem side of the pro-
posed municipal market and linking up the by-pass
and rotary road is also proposed to be constructed.
A tota! of 12.6 hectares which is 7.46 hectares mOre
than the present total area of land under commercial
use is proposed to be developed for commercial pur.
poses. Out of this a total of 1.73 hectares js pro-
posq:l to be acquired for the development of Market
and Commercial Complex. For construction of a
modern stadium. an 'area of 1.61 hectares on the wes-
tern side L1f the existing stadium ground is prop<)sed
to be acquired.
 14.22. The main objectives of the bus stand comp-
lex scheme are:
1. To acquire and develop adequate land for
trade and commercial activities.
2. To develop a hierarchial net work of roads £0
increase traffic mobility with the present mode
of transportation.
3. To organise a land usc structure llnd to control
the activities by zoning regulations.
4. To develop better housing in the periphery of
the town.
89
14.23. If all these schemes are implemented the
conditions in the town will improve considerably and
will accelerate the puce of development. But as the
implementation of the schemes involves huge expen-
diture besides acquisition of land it is not known when
it will be implemented. But the authorities concern-
cd will have [0 find ways and means to implement
these schemes with the cooperation of various sec-
tions of peopk in the town if the town is to catch
up with other developing areas of the district and
the state.
 APPENDIX I
TYPE OF IlOUSEHOLD-KOLENDA PAULIN'S CLASSIFICATION
1. Nuclear family: a couple with or without unmarri·
ed children.
2. .supplemented nuclear family: a nuclear family
plus one or more unmarried, separated, or wido-
wed relatives of the parents, other than their un-
married children.
3. Subnuclear family: a fragment of a former nuclear
family. Typical examples <!-re the widow with
unmarried children, or the widower with un-
married children, or siblings-whether unmarried,
or widowed, separated or divorced-living to-
gether.
4. Single-person household.
5. Supplemented sub nuclear : a group of relatives,
members of a formerly complete nuclear family,
plus some other unmarried, divorced, or widowed
relative who was not a member of the nuclear
family. For example, a widow and her unmar-
ried children plus her widowed mother-in-law.
6. Collateral joint family: two or more married
couples between whom there is a sibling bond-
usually & brother-brother relationship plus un-
married children.
7. Supplemented collateral jOint family: a collateral
joint family plus unmarried, divorced, or widow-
ed relatives. Typically, such supplemental rela-
tives are the widowed mother of the married
brc.thers, or the widower father, or an unmarried
sibling.
8. Linea! joint family: two couples between whom
there is a lineal link, usually between parents
91
and married son, sometimes between parents and
married daughter.
9. Supplemented lineal jOint family: a lineal joint
family plus unmarried, divorced, or widowed fe-
latives who do not belong to either of the lineally
linked nuclear families; for example, the father's
widower brother Of the son's wife's unmarried
brother.
10. Lineal-cOllateral ;oint family: three or mOre
couples linked lineally and collaterally. TYPI-
cally, parents and their two or more married sons,
plus the unmarried children of the three or more
couples.
11. ~upplememed !i~eal.coI~ateral joint family: a
hneal-collateral jomt family plus unmarried, wido-
wed, separated relatives who belong to wne of
t!te nucl~ar families lineally and collaterally
lmked; for example. the father's widowed sister
or brother; or an unmarried nephew of the father.
12. Others-(Those not covered above)
Kolenda, Pauline M.
- Religion,. Caste and Family Structure: A
comparatIve study of the Indian "Joint"
Family.
in
Structure and Change in Indian Society--edit-
ed . by Milton Singer and Bernard S. Cohn;
ChIcago, 1968, pp. 346-347.
 APPENDIX ll-Tables
I'AGE

[abk DislribUlion of households and population by CastelTribefContrr.unity and Sex 93

Table 2 Distribution of Population by Age, Sex and marital status 93
Table 3 Distribution of wJrkers ,mu non-workers by Sex, caste, tribe or community and blilad ag~ group 94
Table 4 Type of occupation, distance from place of work and mode of transport 95
Table ; Employment Status of worker& by Caste/Tribe/Community and Sex 96
Table 6 Distribution of non-workers by Sell, age and type of activity 97
Table 7 NClinber of non-w:Jrken seeking em[Jloyment by broad age group, sex and nature of activity 98
Table 8 Nilmber of persons se:king employment by educationallevcl, sex and mirital status 98
Table 9 Number of persons seeking employment for the first time by age, sex and educational level 98
Table 10: Practice of Animll H\lsbl'1d~ry by tYjle a'HI f.Jliglon Caste{Tribe{COIDnllJllity 99
Table II KnowleJge of Sub~jjiary language and average educational score 99
Table 12 Distrilmtio-n of PO;JIJla :iou by S~'" Occuplti{)a and educational level 100
Table 13 : Distribution of households by type and educationall<>.vel of head of household tOl
Table 14: Distribution of population by age, sex and educational level 101
Table 15: Distribution ()f populltion by Sex Ca'ite/Tribe/CO:lllllUnity and cducatiortJ.llevcl 102
Table 16 Age. sex and study in Educational iMtitutions by Caste/TribefCommunity 103
Table 17 Distribution of nou,<nolds by Caste/Tribe/Community and aVeIage eQucational soore. 105
Table 18 Distributiol1 of households bey typ~ and average educational score lOS
Table 19 Di,tribution of h~useholds by number of m~mber5, migration stat~ and place of birth of head of household 106
Table 20 Dj.i~ri() ..Hjo'l of hou,eholds by number of me,nb~rs, migratioR 31atus and I4st residence of head of household 106
Table 21 : Place of la~t re,idence of members of hou>ehold as related to place of birth 107
Table 22 Migration stages of h~useholds hailing from outside 108
Table 23 Distribution of rULBeholds by ClstejTdbe/Con1'Dunity of head or household and type of hOtlseho«! 109
Table 24 Dist,ibcltion o' h):.m'l)lh by typ~ of h.:lu;e;1·:lld an:! type of occupation of head of household 110
Table 25 Particulars of persons stayil1g outside by occupation of head of lII}u~ehoJd and nature of relation with bead of
household 110
Table 26 P4fticui<lF!> of ra'uily momb<:f3 staying outside by ag.:, and relation of head of household HI
Table 27 Particulars of family menber> stayil1g outside by ejucationallevel and relation to head of household III
Table 28 Particulars of nOll-worker family members who. are staying outside by nailire of activity and relationship to
head of homehold III
Table 29 Frequency of visit to rural areas by members of household classified by distance of the places visited 112
Table 30 Frequency of being visited by friends, relatives and economically connected. 112
Table 31 Distribution of houses by predominant materials of floor, wall, roof and ceiling 113
Table 32 Homeholds chmified by nllmber of married couples, without other members agt:d 5 and above iwith
other members aged 5 and above and number of room(occupied by them 113
Table 33 : Availability of emenities 114
Table 34: Existence of furniture and durati()n of stay in present residence 114
. Table 35 : Materials of which utensils are made classified by religion and CastejTribejCommunity and migration status US
Table 36: Light and fuel by migration status of household 116
Table 37: Presence of luxury and costly goods by religion and Caste/TribejCommunity 116
Table 38 : Presence of luxury and costly goods by educational level of head of household 117
Table 39: PI'actiC0 of family planning measures by Religion, CastejTribejEducation and Sex 117
Table 40: Travel ludex of persons, males and fem'lles by Caste/TribejCommunity 118
 Table 1

DlSTRmurlO:'ll OF HOUSEHOLDS i\~O rO'PUL~TIONBY CASTE/TRmE!COMMUNITY AND SEX

PopLilation
r- ------.
Caste/Tribe/Community Household P M F

2 3 4 5
Total 225 1253 624 629
Nair 35 164 76 88
Ezhava 26 132 66 66
KoHan 4 16 8 8
Asari 6 37 22 15
Thattan 2 12 7 5
Veera Shaiva 2 3
Velar 4 3
Paravan (SC) 3 20 13 7
Parayan (SC) 5 20 10 10
Pulayan (SC) 7 35 17 18
Velan eSC) 2 8 5 3
UUadan (Sn 1 9 5 4
Jacobite 26 128 68 60
Catholic 30 159 75 84
Marthoma 1 7 4 3
Shaft 57 384 192 192
Hanafi 18 113 53 60

Table 2
DISTRIBUTION OF POPJL\TlON BY AGE, S8:X A"ID ~HR1H.L ST-\TU~

Population with Marital Status

r------------------\.-----~-.
Never married Married Widowed Separated
-. ..
Divorced
r _ _ '_'

Total
._- -----"""'
,------A--, r - - - . A . - . r---_..t.._-~ ,_.A..-._-, r----_A___,,-, , - - -......- - - ,
Age group M F M F M F M F M F M F
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Total 360 288 254 269 9 63 3 1 6 624 629

0-4 64 44 64 41
5-9 45 59 45 59
10-14 83 13 83 73
15-19 69 71 11 69 82
20-24 58 26 8 44 66 71
25-29 30 10 20 36 2 50 18
30-34 9 3 36 45 45 48
35-49 106 82 12 3 108 10)
50-59 43 33 I 8 2 44 44
60--69 26 13 3 16 30 30
70+ J5 5 5 25 20 30
Age not stated

·93
 Table 3
DISfRlBUTlON OF WORKERS AND NON·WORKERS BY SEX, CASTE, TRmE OR COMMUNITY AND BROAD AGE·GROUP

0-14 is-59
r--------~ -----'- ---~ r------------"-------- - - ,
Workers Workers Non-workers
r----~------. ,-_ _ _ A_-------,
Caste/Tribe/Community P M F P M F P M F

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ii 12 13
Total 368 192 176 323 277 46 452 105 347
Nair 54 31 23 36 28 8 52 11 41
Ezhava 39 22 17 36 31 5 41 6 35
Asari 14 9 5 10 10 13 3 10
Thattan 2 5 5 3 3
Kollan 2 1 6 4 2 3 2
Veera Shaiva 3 2 1
Velar 4 3
Paravan eSC) 4 3 1 5 5 8 3 5
Parayan (SC) 2 2 6 6 8 3 5
Pulayan (SC) II 6 5 10 8 2 12 11
Velan (SC) 3 3 3 2 I 1
Ulladan (ST) 2 5 4
Shaft 127 58 69 87 83 4 145 38 101
Hanafi 37 18 19 27 26 42 6 36
Catholic 32 18 14 44 30 14 71 20 51
Jacobite 34 18 16 40 34 6 45 12 33
Marthoma 3 2 I 2 2

Table 3-concld.

00+ ~A~
,..--_ _ _.____ --" .- __ , r - ' - - - - - ____ ___.A_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ,

Workers
, . -_ _ _-A. ------,
Non-workers
, - - _ _.A.__ _ _ _,
Workers -.
Non-workers
, - - - -_ _. A . _ _ _ - - - .

P M F P M F P M F P M F Caste/Tribe:CommuniIY

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

20 17 3 90 33 57 343 294 49 910 330 580 Total

1 I 21 5 16 37 29 127 47 80 Nair
2 2 14 5 9 38 33 5 94 33 61 Ezhav;l
10 10 27 12 15 Asari
2 I 5 5 1 2 5 Thattan
4 3 7 5 2 9 3 6 Kollan
I 1 4 Veera Shaiva
4 3 Velar
2 2 1 7 7 13 6 7 Paravan eSC)
2 I 2 2 8 7 I 12 3 9 Parayan eSC)
2 2 12 10 2 23 7 16 Pula}an eSC)
3 2 5 3 2 Velan (SC)
1 2 2 7 3 4 Ulladan (Sn
4 21 9 12 91 87 <!, 193 IQS lSb Shaffi
I 6 2 4 28 27 I 85 26 59 Hanafi
5 3 2 7 4 :> :9 33 16 110 42 68 Cathalk
9 4 -'I 34 6 88 34 54 Jacobite
I 6 3 3 Marthoma

94
 Table 4
TYPE OF OCCUPATION, DISTANCE FROM PLACE OF WORK AND MODE OF TRANSPORT

Average Mode of Transport

.A. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ... _ _
distance . ,----- ~

from place
of work in Motor Auto All
Type of Occupation km On foot By cycle Bus cycle Jeep rickshaw Car means

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Total 13. OS 250 12 S9 12 3 2 5 343

Unskilled manual 1.85 78 5 84
Skilled manual 1.44 31 2 35
Lowest Professional and admini~- 14.61 13 2 14 30
trative (eg. Primary teachers)

Small business 3.47 31 3 3 2 39

Highly skilled and Sup~rvi~ory 2.61 58 2 13 74
manual

Clerks and Shop assistants 1. 75 4 6

Intermediate professional and re- 107.78 10 12 26
lated posts, secondary teachers
etc.

Medium business 13.62 15 7 6 2 3 34

Higher professional and salariej 37.37 3 2 6
posts.

Owners of factories, large shop,

etc.

Cultivators 0.44 9 9

95
 Table 5
EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF WORKERS BY CASTE/JRIBE{COMMUNITY AND SEX
Employment status by Sex
Total workers ----,
Employer EmpkJyee Single worker
,---_",."...__--, r-----..A----1 , - - - - " - - -....... ,----"-------
Caste/Tribe/Community p M F P M F P M F P M F
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 B
Total 343 294 49 6 6 164 125 39 138 133 5
Nair 37 29 8 26 18 8 10 10
Ezhava 38 33 5 16 12 4 18 17
Asari 10 10 4 4 6 6
Thattan 5 5 5 5
KoHan 7 5 2 4 2 2 3 3
Veera Shaiva I
Velar 4 I 2 2
Paravan (SC) 7 7 7 7
Parayan (SC) S 7 4 3
Pulayan (SC) 12 10 2 2 2 3 3
Velan (SC) 3 2 3 2
Ulladan (ST) 2 2 1 1 ..
Shafi 91 87 4 3 34 30 4 47 47
Hanafi 28 27 1 14 B I 14 14
Catholic ·19 33 16 32 18 i4 13 11 2
Jacobite 40 34 6 2 2 16 12 4 16 16
Marthoma 1

Table 5-'-concld.
EMPLOYMENT STATUS OF WORKERS BY CASTE/TRIBE/COMMUNITY AND SEX-concld.
Employment status by Sex
,- --.......
Family worker Cultivator ,
Agricultural Labourers
_ _ _ ......A_ _ _ - - - - - . ,
,,---------"--------.,. r---_________J.._----~
p ?vI P P M F P M F Ca~teITribe/Community

14 13 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 1

5 5 9 9 21 16 5 Total
1 Nair
2 2 2 2 E7:hava
Asa1'i
Thattan
KoHan
Veera Shaiva
:2 Velar
Paravan (SC)
3 3 Parayan (SC)
7 5 2 Pulayan eSC)
Velan (SC)
Ulladan (ST)
5 2 2 Shaffi
Hanafi
2 2 1 Catholic
5 3 2 Jacobite
Marthoma

96
 Table 6
DISTRlBUT.f(}N OF NON~WORKERS BY SEX, AGE AND TYPE OF ACTIVITY
No. of Non-workers Full ti.n~ student Household duty D~penJant Infant
r--_A--......, ,--_A-:---1 ,-___ A._---. ,--_---.A. ___ ., r---~A---,
A.ge-grcup T M F T M [' T M F T M F T M F

2 3 4 5 6 7 B 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16

Total 910 330 580 363 179 184 250 2 Z48 242 112 130 14 11 3
Below-lO 212 109 103 99 43 56 99 55 44 14 11 3
10-14 156 83 73 153 81 72 2 2
1;-19 135 60 75 85 42 43 14 14 29 16 13
20-24 88 20 68 2S 13 12 44 43 6
25-29 48 7 41 37 37 R .<
30-34 45 3 42 41 41 2
35-39 37 34 33 3J 3 2
40-49 50 3 41 41 40 9 2 7
50-59 49 9 40 26 26 16 4 12
60--64 24 10 14 Ii Ii 14 6 8
65+ 66 2:\ 43 7 7 53 18 35
ANS

Table 6-cOJlcld.
DISTRIBUTION OF NON-WORKERS BY SEX, AGE AND TYPE OF ACTIVITY-cOncld.

Beggars/Vagrants!
Rentier having Inmates of Insti-
Disabled Retired Independent means tutions Others
, -_ __A.. _ _ _
,--- -'----, r------A...---. r-----A... - - , ~

r----..A..---~
T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F Age-group

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 2'+ 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

2 1 17 14 3 1 1 21 10 II Total
BekJw-10
10-14
7 2 5 15-19
2 10 4 6 20-24
2 2 25-29
2 2 30-34
35-39
40-49
6 4 2 50--59
4 4 60-64
Ii 5 6H
A.NS

97
 Tabk 7
NUMBER OF NON-WORKERS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT BY BROAD AGE-GROUP, SEX AND NATURE 01<' ACTIVITY
Total no. of non- No. of non-workers seeking employment by age-group and sex
workers by sex ,-- ..A......... -.,
0-14 15-24 25-34 35+
, _ _ ..A.........--,
f-:---A---., r--~.....-..A.-~ r----.A...-----, ,..----"-----.,
Nature of activity of non-workers P M F P M F P M F P M F P M F

2 3 4 5 {\ 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Total 57 23 34 45 19 26 12 4 8
Household duties 12 12 5 5 7 7
Students 22 10 12 21 10 11
Dependents 7 5 2 7 j 2
Retired & Rentiers
Beggars
Inmates of Institutions
Others 16 8 8 12 4 8 4 4

Table 8
NUMBER OF PERSm-lS SEEKlNG EMPLOYMENT BY EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, SEX AND MARITAL STATUS
Number of persons seeking Employment whose marital statu-
Unmarried
-------~---~
Married
,------------------
Widowed/Divorced/
, - - _ _ _ _..A--_ _ _- . , _ _ _ ..A--_ _ _- .
Separate<!
,--_ _ _ .A. _ _ _- - ,

Educational level P M F P M F P M F
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Total 42 22 20 15 1 14
(a) Seeking employment for first time
Illiterate
Below primary
Primary 14 6 4 4
Malric 23 11 12 5 5
Diploma and Certificate 3 2 1
Degree and above 2 2
(b) Seeking employment but have previou> employ-
ment background
Illiterate
Below primary
Primaty
Matric
Diploma and Certificate
Degree and above
Table 9
NUMBER OF PERSONS SEEKrNG EMPLOYMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME BY AGE, SEX AND
EDUCATIONAL LEVEL
Number seeking EmpJo)ment for the first time who are
Age groups ,---- ------.,
Below Diploma & Dcgr~ &
Total number Illiterate primary Primary certificateMatTie ab:we
r--_J..__--.,. ,--, ,---..A.........-., ,---A---, ,----"--, r--.}..___-. r----'---.
p M F M F M F M F M F M F M F
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Total 53 21 32 1 8 10 11 17 2 3
0-14
15-19 22 14 3 3 4 11
20-24 22 II 11 5 5 6 5
25-29 5 2 3 1
30-34 4 4 2
35 and above

98
 Tabie 10
I'R.ACTICE OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY BY TYPE AND RELiGIONiCASTEjTRIBEjCOMMUNITY
Description of Livestock and Poultry
r-----------~____A ------,
Cow
,-._ _.A.._ _ _,
Hen Goat Buffalo
r--~__,A_------"\ ,------"---, ,------'----,
No. of households Total Total No. of No. of No.:of No. of
rearing belonging to no. of number house- house- house- hOuse-
religion/caste/tribe households reared holds No. holds No. holds No. holds No.
or community rearing rearing reared rearing reared rearing reared rearing reared
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Total 96 2SS 46 69 32 153 14 27 4 6

Hindu
Nair 9 J9 7 JO 1 8 1
Ezhava 11 28 6 8 3 15 2 5
Asari 1 1
Thattan 3 5 1 1 2 2
KoJlan 2 6 1 4 2
Paravan (SC) 1 1 1 1
Parayan (SC) 1 3 3
Pulayan (SC) 8 26 2 2 5 22 2
Velan eSC) 2 2
Muslim
Shafi 30 67 15 21 9 37 5 8
Hanafi 4 10 1 2 2 7
Christian
Catholic 11 32 5 10 3 18 1 2 3
Jacobite 13 53 7 13 5 39 1
Marthoma 2 1 2

Table 11
KNOWLEDGE OF SUBSIDIARY LANGUAGE AND AVERAGE EDUCATIONAL SCORE
Subsidiary language No. of speakers* Average educational score
.A. _ _ _ _..__"
-'--- ,-
P M F P M F
2 3 4 5 6 7

Mother-tongue-Malayalam
English 109 59 50 2.27 2.24 2.30
English·Hindi 368 195 173 2.69 2.74 2.64
Arabic 75 36 39 1.52 1.64 1.41
English·Arabic 23 9 14 2.26 2.44 2.14
English-Arabic·Tamil I 2.00 2.00
English·Hindi.Arabic 21 13 8 2.57 2.77 2.25
Tamil·Hindi-Arabic 1 2.00 2.00
Tamil·Arabic 2.00 2.00
English· Tamil I 2.00 l.QO
Tamil-Urdu-Arabic 2 2 2.00 2.00
Tamil 5 2 3 1.60 2.00 1.33
English·Hindi-Latin.French 1 3.00 3.00
English-Hindi·Tamil 2 2 2.00 2.00
Mother tongue-Tamil
Malayalam 5 3 2 1.20 l.33 1.00

*Excludes children aged 0-4. There is one such male chad each having Arabic subsidiary language under Malayalam mother.
tongue and having Ma1ayalam subsidiary language under Tamil mother-tongue.

99
 Table 12
blSTRI8U'l1ON OF POPUlATION BY SEX, OCCUPATJON AND EDUCAl'IONAL LEVEL

,--:. ____ - __ - Educational Level

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.A..-. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ,

Tech. degree
or diploma
Non T~h. Post equal to de-
tech. dip.. Gra.. gree or Post-
Lite- High- dip- loma Gra- duate graduate
rate er Se- lorna or ce- duate de- degree
with-Matri- con- or cer- rtift- degree gree r-----..A.-~
out cula- daryl tificate cate other other Engl-
Edu- tion! Inter- not not than than neer-
Male/ catio-Sec- medi- equal equal tech. tech. ing &
fe- Total JIlite- 001 Pri- Mi- on- ate' to de- to de- de- de- Tech- Tea-
Type of Occuoation male rate level miry ddle dary PUC gree gree gree gJ'ee nology ching

2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15

Total M 624 104 87 t14 175 78 14 13 J2 3 3 1

F 629 128 95 131 171 70 16 6 8 3

Unskilled manual M 65 8 21 22 8 6
F 19 9 5 4 I

Skilled manual M 33 3 3 II 14 2
F 2

Lowest professional and administrative M 20 6 10 3

(eg. Primary teacher,) F 10 6 :)

Small bu$iness M 39 2 5 10 16 6
F

Highly ,kil1e(l and Suoervisory manual M 70 2 3 19 37 8

F 4

Clerks and shop-a,;i;tmts M {) 4

F

Intermediate profelSional and related M t2 3 6

post~, Secondary teachc['!; etc. F 14 5 2 4

Mdiurn busines~ M 3~ 2 4 to 14 2 2
F

Higbef professional and salaried p!}~ts M 6 3 2

F

Cultivators M 9 4 3 2
F

Non.workers (Including pensioners and M 330 89 5J 64 77 31 9 3 2 2

retired personnels) F 580 111 90 125 165 61 15 2 4

100
 Table 13

DISnuBtmON OF HO'(JSImOLDS BY TYPE AND EDUCATIONAL LEvtL Of HEAD OF rroUSEHOi:.D

Number of households where Educational level of head of household i~

r---
Literates
Without Deploma
Educatio· Below and Cer- Degree
Type of household Illiterate nallevel Primary Primary Matrie ficate and above Total

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Total 31 2 71 72 32 6 10 225
Nuclear family 8 36 30 24 4 6 109
Supplemented nuclear 9 10 12 3 4 39
Sub nuclear 3 7 7 17
Single Person 2 3
Supplemented Subnuclear 2
Collateral joint
SUj1piemented collateral joint 3 2 4 ,
1

Lineal joint 4 8 8 3 24
Supplemented lineal joint 4 5
Lineal collateral joint 3 3 5 11
Supplemented lineal collateral joint 1 1
Others 2 4

Table 14

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION BY AGE, SEX AND EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Age and Sex

r---------------"""----------------.
5-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-34 35-49 50+ TOtal
r--_A_-~ ,-~..A.......---::,\ ,.-_...A..~ ,------"---., r----"---, r----"-----. r---A.--, ,--A.._]
Educational level M F M F M F M F M F M F M F M F

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Total 4S 59 83 73 69 81. 66 71 95 9S 168 to') 9~ 11)1 SS(t 535
Illiterate 14 11 1 I 2 2 5 2 5 21 16 44 4~ 84
Literate with Ej'lca~ioml 29 45 1:1- 7 3 7 4 4 II 16 19 IS 87 95
level
Primary 2 2 42 39 7 It 12 10 21 21 25 23 2~ 25 134 131
Middle 27 26 32 49 27 H 42 37 2) 2~ 19 II 175 171
Matriculation/Secondary 21 14 1 20 17 21 21 10 12 5 78 70
Higher Secondary/lntermedi- 4 3 7 7 6 2 Ii 16
ate/PUC
Non-technical diploma or
Certificate not equal to
degree.
Technical diploma or certifi- 4 (} 3 13 6
cate not equal to degree.
Graduate degree other than 2 2 5 4 5 2 12 8
technical degree.
Post-graduate degree other 2 2 3 3
than technical degree.
Technical degree or diploma 2 4-
equal to degree or Post-
graduate degree.
(i) Engineering & Tech- 2 3
nology
(ii) Teach ing 1

101
 Table 15

D1STRIBUTION OF POPULATION BY SEX, CASTE/TRIBE/COMMUNITY. AND EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Educational level
,--------- ----.A. ---..
Tech. degree or
Techni-
Non- cal dip- Gradu- Post- diploma equal to
tech. lorna ateate gradu- degree or post.
Higher diploma or eer- degree de- graduate degree
Literate secon- or cer- tificate other gree ,----"-----.
without Matri- daryl tificate not than othel Engi-
Caste! educa·· culationj Inter not eq- equal techni- than neering
Tribe; Male! tional Pri· secon- mediate! ual to to de- cal tech. & Tech- Tea-
Community female Total Illiterrate level mary Middle dary PUC degree gree degree degree nology ching

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Total M 560 40 87 134 175 78 14 13 12 3 3 1

F 585 84 95 131 171 70 16 6 8 3 1
Nair M 68 4 5 11 27 15 2 2
F 80 10 8 12 30 11 3 4
Ezhava M 58 3 9 20 17 4 2 1
F 60 7 16 13 16 5 2
Asari M 21 4 4 6 7
F 14 2 5 4 3
Thattan M 5 1 3
F 5 3 2
KoHan M 7 2 4
F g 3 3
Yeera Shaiva M 1 1
F 3 1
Velar M
F
Para van eSC) M II 4 6
F 6 2 3
Parayan esC) M 10 2 2 2 1
F 10 3 4 2
Pulayan (SC) M 13 3 2 5
F 17 5 2 5 5
Velao. M 5 1 2
F 3 1 2
Ulladan (ST) M 5
F 4 3
Shafi M 171 9 31 n 64 23 2 4
F 174 25 38 38 52 19 2
Hanafi M 50 4 6 19 12 7
F 56 10 4 19 18 5
Catholic M 70 2 8 16 13 19 5 2 2 2
F 81 8 3 21 17 19 7 3 2
Jacobite M 60 4 7 9 20 7 4 5 2
F 58 5 7 11 17 11 6
Marthoma M 4
F 3

102
 Table 16

AGE, SEX AND STllDY IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITlJTIO],; BY CASTE!TJUBEiCOMMUNny

Total Number studying Number not studying

, _ _ _ - - A _ _ _ -----,
Category of
~ _~ _ _.A.. _ _ ~'--"

r---.A.'------. Male Ferr,ale

Caste/Tribel Com'11Ul1ity Age-group Male Female Male Female
4 5 6 7 8
2
68 80 27 17 41 63
Nair Total
5-9 7 6 6 6
10-14 ]6, 9 16 9
15-19 5 2 4 1 1
20-24 3 7 2 6
37 56 37 56
25+

Ezha\a Total 58 60 17 17 41 43
5-9 5 8 5 8
10-14 9 5 9 5
2 4 2 1
15-19 4
20-24 6 6 5 6
25+ 34 36 34 36

14 7 6 14 8
Asari Total 21
5-9 2 4 2 4
10,--14 4 4
15-19 2 3 I 2
5 1 5 1
20-24
25+ 8 5 8 5

Total 5 5 4 5
Thattan
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24 2 2
2 5 2 5
25+
8 1 6 7
Kollan Total 7
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24 3 2 3 2
3 5 3 5
25+
Veera Shaiva Total 3 2 1
5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24
25+
3 3
VeJar Total
5--9
10-14
15-19 2 2
20--24
25+
Totnl 11 6 10 6
Para 'Ian (SC)
5-9
10-14
15-19 3 2 3 2
20-,24 2 2 1
25+ 5 5 3

103
15-19!RGljND/8S
 Table 16-concld.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8
t'arayan (SC) Total 10 10 1 3 9 7
5-9 1
1~14
15-19 I
20-24 2 2
25+ 7 7 7 7
Putayan (SC) Total 13 17 3 7 10 10
5-9 2 2
10-14 2 2 2 2
15-19 2 5 I 3 2
20-24 2 2
25+ 9 6 9 6

Velan (SC) Total 5 3 3 2 3

5--9 2 2
10-14 1 1
15-19
20-24
25+ 2 3 2 3

UJ1a1an CST) Total 5 4 2 3 4

5-9
10-14
15-19
20-24 1 1
25+ 2 3 2

Shafi Total 171 174 52 61 119 113

5-9 9 23 9 21 2
10-14 25 2S 23 24 2 1
15-19 25 27 16 10 9 17
20-?A 22 29 4 6 18 23
25+ 90 70 90 70

"Lfanafi Total 50 56 19 20 31 36
5-9 5 3 5 3
10·-14 9 12 9 12
15--19 6 11 4 5 2 6
20-24 6 5 1 5 5
251- 24 25 24 25

Cat1Jlic rJ)lal 70 81 22 26 48 55
5--9 8 3 7 2 1 1
10-14 8 9 8 9
15-19 8 15 4 12 4 3
7.~24 6 12 3 2 3 10
25+ 40 42 40 41

Jacobite Total 60 58 21 :n 39 lS
5-9 6 7 6 7
10-- 14 4 Ii 4 8
15-19 11 7 8 5 3 2
20-2-1 9 5 3 3 6 2
25+ 30 31 30 31

Marthoma . Total 4 3 2 2 2
5-9 I
10--14 2 2
15-19
20-24
25 ~ 2 2 2 2

104
 Table 17
.'" DlSl1UBO:rION op ..I-IOU<;'EHOUJ6 BY CAtiTJ:/'.I1I.ME;COWMIJN1lf AND AV,t:R.\GE EDUCAHONAL b'CORE

Population {Age 5+) Average educational score

, - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .A_____ _ _ _ _ _ _ • _ _ _ _ ,

Nl>mber Per head Per household

Cl>tcjIribc/ of , - -_ _ _ _ _ A.__" _ _ _ _ _ _ ' l r----- A ---.---.--, r-------'--------.,
Comillunity households Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female

2 3 6 7 8 9 10 11

Total 2!:i 1L4S 5')0 535 1.89 2.0) 1.77 9.6!J 4.99 4.61
Nair 35 148 68 80 2.17 2.26 2.09 9.17 4.40 4.77
Ezhava 2.6 118 58 60 1.82 I. 95 1. 70 8.27 4.35 3.92
Asari (, 35 2l [4 1.40 1.43 I. 36 8.17 5.00 3.17
Thattan 2 10 5 5 1.10 [ .40 0.80 5.50 3.50 2.00
Kollan 4 15 7 8 0.87 0.86 0.88 3.25 l.50 I. 75
Veera Shaiva I 4 3 1. 75 2.00 1.67 7.00 2.08 5.00
Velar 1 4 1 3 1.00 1.00 1.00 4.00 1.00 3.00
Paravan (SC) 3 17 II 6 1.65 1.64 1.67 9.33 6.CO 3.33
Parayan (SC) 5 20 \.0 10 1.30 [ .8G 0.80 5.20 3.60 1.60
Pulaya:l (SC) 7 30 13 17 [.33 I. 38 1.29 5.71 2.57 3.14
Vdan (Sel 2. 8 5 3 1.38 i 040 1.33 5.50 3.50 2.0J
Ulladan (ST) 9 5 4 1.56 1.40 1.75 14.00 7 OJ 7.00
Shafi 57 345 171 174 1.7", l. 95 1.61 10.75 5.84 4.91
Hanafi 18 106 50 56 1.78 1.90 1.68 10.50 5.28 5.22
Catholic 30 151 70 81 2.3S 2.41 2.36 12.00 5.63 6.37
Jacobite 26 118 60 5S 2.0~ 2.27 1.90 9.46 5.23 4.23
Marthoma 7 4 3 1. 7[ 2.00 U3 12.00 8.00 4.00

Table 18

DISTRIBUTION OF 'HOUSEHOLDS BY TYPE AND AVERAGE EDUCAfIONAL SCORE

Average educational score

~---------A--------~_l
Number Population CAge 5+} Per head Per household
of r-----.A..--.~- ---., r------~----__.., r-........· - - · ........- - - - - - ,
Type of home\uld l\;>useholls TO'al Male female 'l\llal Male FC:,lnJc rotal Mal.,: Female

2 -1 5 7 9 10 11

Total 225 1145 560 5115 1.89 2.00 1.77 96'\ 4.99 4.61
Nuclcar f,lmily 109 ·1-81 2\3 238 1.9-\ 1.07 1. HI :3,55 tf.61 3.9·1
Supplemcllted nude lr 39 20G 97 109 1.68 1.92 1.47 '1.S7 4.77 4.10
family.
Sub-nuclear family 17 54 19 35 1.83 1.95 1. 77 5.83 2.18 3.65
Single person household 3 3 I 2 2.33 3.00 2.00 2.33 1.00 1.33
Supplemented Sub- 2 11 4 7 1. 73 1.50 1.86 ') 50 3.00 6.50
nuclear family.
Collateral joint family I 5 1 4 [.l10 2.00 1. 75 9.00 2.00 7.00
Supplemented collateral 9 67 33 34 1.78 1.82 1.71- 13.22 6.67 6.55
joint family.
Lineal joint family 24 146 78 68 2.05 2. i3 ],96 12.46 6.92 5.54
-Supplemented lineal 5 42 21 21 I. 74 I. 81 1.67 14.60 7.60 7.00
joint family.
Lineal collateral joint 11 95 52 43 1. 89 1.98 1. 79 16.36 9.36 7.00
family.
Supplemented lineal II 3 5 1. 75 1.33 2.00 14.00 4.00 10.00
collateral joint family
Others 4 27 8 19 2.30 1.88 2.47 15.50 3.75 11.75
 Table 19
DISTRIBUTION Oli HOUSEHOLDS BY NUMBER Of' MEMBERS, MIGRAnON STATUS AI'D PLACE 0.11 BIRTH
OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD

, - -_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Number of households having members
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _• _ _ _ _
Migration status and Place of birth of

,
.
A
_
~
~
head of household Single 2 3 4 5 6-7 8-9 10-12 13+ Total
2 J <1- 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Total 3 13 22 42 47 54 28 ]5 1 225
A. Non-migrant (Born in the town) 2 7 13 25 33 40 25 10 155
B. Migrant
(1) Born outside the town in (a) Rural 4 6 8 9 5 2 4 40
th·c district. (b) Urban I I 2
(ll) Born wIthin the State out
side the district.
l. Malappuram {a) Rural 2
(b) Urban
2. Trichur (a) Rural 2
(b) Urban
3. ldukki (a) Rural J 4
(b) Urban
4. Koltayam (a) Rural 4 2 L. 10
(b) Urban 2 1 3
5. Allepr,ey (a) Rural .. 1
(b) Urban 1 1
6. Quilon (a) Rural 1
(b) Urban
7. Trivalldrull1 (a) Rural .. I
(b) Urban I 2
III. Bom outli.le tiD SLlt~ (a) Rural
Tamil Nadu (b) Urban
IV. Born in other Country

Table 20
DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS BY NUMBER OF MEMBERS, MIGRAlION STATUS AND UST
RESIDENCE OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD
Numb~r of householos having member,
Migration statu' ami last resiJen~·" c;r r- - _.- - " - - - - _ _ _ _ _ _ ---' _ _ ..)t... _ _
head of household Single 2 3 -l 5 6-7 8-9 10-12 LH Total
1 1. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Total 3 lJ 22 42 47 S4 2M 15 1 225
A. Non-migrant (BOt,1 ill the [own) 2 7 13 23 32 40 26 10 153
B. Migrant
1. La5l re;idell': o:.lt,iJ" the "') Rur.ll •• 6 9 5 37
town but in the district. j Uroan 1 3
II. Last residence outside the district
but ,\ i~hin the stat~.
1. Wayanad Rura~
Urban
2. Ma!appuram Rur.!1 1.
Urban
3. Trichur Rural 2
Urban
4. Idukki Rural 3 5
Urban
5. Kottayam Rural .. S 2 2 10
llrban I 1 1 3
6. AlJeppey Rural
Urban 1
7. Quilol1 Rural
Urban
R. Trivandrum Rural I
Urban 2
III. Last residence in other State Rural 2 2
Tamil Nadu. Urban
IV. Last residence in other
Country Yemen

106
 Table 21

PLACE OF LAST RESIDENCE OF MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS AS RELATED TO PLACE OF BIRTH

Place of last residence

r-----------------"----------,------.
Same as place of birth Different from place of birth Total
, - - - - ___A._ _ _ _ - , ,-------'---------, r---------"---,
I>la,,;c of Birth Male Female Male Female Male Female

2 3 4 6 7

Total 610 615 14 14 624 629

T. Same place 497 397 8 6 505 403

11. Same District Rural 5+ 137 3 4 57 J41

Urban (, ::: 6 8

m. Other Di,tricts of Sate

Wayanad Rur-tl 2 3 2 3
Urban

KOlhikodc Rural 2 2
Urban

Malappuram Rural 2 2
Urban

Palghat Runl 2 2
Urban

Tr;chur Rural G 13 6 13
Urban

Idukki Rural 15 28 3 2 18 30
Urban

Kottayam Rural 12 13 12 18
Urban 3 3

Alleppey Rur.ll 3 I J 5
Urban

Quilon Rural 1 2 2
IJrban 1

Trivalldl'ULU Rm"-l
Urban 2

1V. Other State

Tamil Nadu Rural 3 3
Urban

V. Other Country
Yemen

107
 Ta.bk 22

MlQti.TlON SfAQ,l! Ol" HOUbEHGLDS HAlLING ·}<'ROM uvr· SIDE

Number of households migrating
r---'~~-----------.A..-----------------~
No. of ,..-_____ i966·10
.A. _ _ _ _ _ .......
During.A._---.,
1911·75 During 1976
. -___ & later
__;.._ _ _ ---,
house- Direc- Direct. Direc-
Total holds tly 1y tty
num- migrat- from Four from Four from (n Four
ber of ing the In or the In or the two or
Place from where the house- Prior pJace of two Three more place of two Three more; plac<: of sta· Three more
household hails holds to 1966 origin stages ~tages stages origin stages stages stages origin ges stages staBCs

2 4 5 6 7 8 9 JO 11 12 [3 14 15

Total 70 25 5 8 30 1

Other towns of the district

Cochin Corporation

Alwaye
Rural areas of the distri.;l I') 2 14

Other districts of tne State

Malappuram R 2
U

Trichur It 2 2
U

Idukki R 4 2 2
U

Kottayam R 10 2 6
U 3 1

Alleppey R
U

Quilan. R
U

Trivanurum R
U 2

Other State
Tamil NlIdu R
U

Other countries

ltij6
 Table 23
DJS'YlfBVTION OF HOVSEHOfJJS BY CASTE;TRIBE/COMMUNITY OF HEAl) OF HOUSEHOLD
AND tYPE OF HOUSlOOLD

Number of households where head of household belongs to

r-~-'--------------------_- _ __J... _ _ _ - _ -_ _ - - - - - - - - - - - - ,
Para- Para- Pula- Velan Ulla-
Type of Kc- 'Tha- Ezh1- Veel'u van yan yan dan Hana- Sha- Ca- Jaco- Mar-
household Nair A'lllri lIan ttan va saiva Velar {SO (SCl (SCI (SC) (ST) fi ffi (ltolic bite thoma Total

2 3 4 5 6 1 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 13 19

Total 35 6 4 2 26 1 1 7 5 3 2 18 57 30 26 1 215

I. Nu:lear 9 4 14 5 3 27 17 18 109

2, Supple.n~­ 7 2 2 2 2 9 4 39
nted nucl-
ear.

3. ~!l" na;blf 6 2 2 17

4. Single Per- 2 3
son.

5. Sup )leme- 2
nled Sub-
nuclear.

6. Collateral
jeint.

7. Suppleme- 2 2 2 9
nted colla-
teral joint.

8. Lin~aljoint 5 2 2 6 3 3 24

9. Suppleme- 5 5
nted lineal
joint.

10. Lincal cO'I- 3 4 11

lateral joint

1] . Supplemc-
nt~d lineal
collateral
joint.

12. Other> 2 2

1()9
 Table 24
DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS BY TYPE m' HOUSEHOLD AND TYPE OF OCCUPATION OF
HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD
Number of household where type of household is
, _----------------------------"----------
..
Supple-
----.
mented
Type of Supple- Supple- Supple- Lineal lineal
Occupation of Supple- mented Coli a- mented mented collat- collat-
head of mented Sub- Single sub- teral collate- Lineal lineal eral joint eral
household Nuclear nuclear nuclear person nuclear joint ral joint joint joint joint Others Total

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 J3 14

Total 109 39 17 3 2 1 9 24 5 11 1 4 225

Unskilled manual. 22 6 3 2 2 35
Skilled manual 7 4 14
Lowest professional 10 2 13
and administra-
tive (eg. primary
teacher).
Small Business 12 4 3 2 23
Highly skilled and 14 1 4 23
supervisory ma-
nual.
Clerks and shor as- 2
sistants_
Intermediate pro· 7 4 2 2 15
fessional & rela-
ted posts second-
ary teachers etc.
Medium Business. 14 2 19
Higber professional 4 4
and Salaried po-
sts.
Owners offactories,
Jarge shops etc.
Cultiva tors 2 2 7

Pensioners and re- 4 6 12

tired personnels.
Beggars and prosti-
tutes.
Unclassified
Non-workers 12 11 12 2 6 4 3 () 58

Table 25
PARTICULARS OF PERSONS STAyrNG OUTSIDE BY OCCUPATION OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLDS AND NATURE
OF RELATION WITH HEAD OF HOUSEHOLDS
Number of households whose members staying
outside are related to head of household a~
TOlal number , __________ _"A. _ _ _ _ _ _ ~--"1

Occupation of head of household of househOld~ Mother Son Daughter

Total 19 2 12 5
Cultivator 1 1
070 Physicians and Surgeons, Allopathic
250 Working Proprietors, Directors and Manll;(ers and related
Executives, Transport.
400 Merchants and shopkeepers, Wholesale Trade 1 1
401 Merchants amI shopkeepers, Retail Trade 2 2
550 Laundrymen, washennen and Dhobies
~ 11 Carpenters 1
Non-workers 11 2 5 4

no
 Table 26
PARTICULARS OF fl"MtL'f MEMBEIS STAYING OUTSIDE BY AGE AND RELATION TO HEAD OF HOUSFHOLD

Age Group Number staying outside who are related to head of household as
c---------------A
Mother Son Daughter
~

2 4

Total 2 16 5
0-9
10-14
15-24 6 4
25--34 6
35-59 1 3
60+ 1

Table 27
PARTICULARS OF FAMILY MEMBERS STAYING OUTSIDE BY EDUCATIONAL LEVEL AND RELATION
TO HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD

Number
,- -_ _ of _
persons
_ _ _staying
_ _ _outside who
_ -----A- are related to head of household "'"'
Educational level
Mother Son Daughter

2 3 4

Total 16
Illiterate
Below Primary 1
Primary t II
Matric 4 3
Diploma or certificate
Degree anli aboYe

Table 28
PARl'JCULARS OF NON.WORKER FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE STAYING OUTSIDE BY NATURE OF
ACTIVITY AND RELi\TIONSffiP TO HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD

Nature 'Of activity of non-worker family members Number who are related to head of househOld as
staying outside ,.-
Mother Son Daughter

2 3 4

Total 2 5 2
Dependant
Household duties
Students 5 2

Hi
16-19 RGJIND/88
 Table 29
'FREQUENCY OF'VISIT TO RURAL AREAS BY MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLD CLASSIFIED BY DISTANCE
OF THE Pl. \CES VISITED

-Number of ,', , No. of

,-_-.:.. _ _ _ _:_:_....:. households
__ ____ members
_ --A _of_which
_ _ visited
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ --.
households
Total whose mem-
number of bers visited Dis!~nce of plllccs four times Five times All frequen-
households rural areas visited OllCC Twice Thrice or more des

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

225 114 All distances 25 19 57 10 7 118

Upto JOkm 4 3 5 2 15
11-20km 4 7 II 4 26
21-50km 8 3 28 6 2 47
51 - 100 km I 2 6
101 - 200km 2 2 3 8
201+ 4 8 16

Table 30

FREQUENCY OF BEING VISITED BY FRIENDS, RELATIVES AND ECONOMICALLY CONNECTED PERSONS

BY DISTANCES OF PLACES FROM WHERE VISITED

Average distance
Total number of from where visitors
Friend'!. and relatives visited households came per hOusehold
2 3

Total 225
Households which were ;hited a~ Clteg.Jry of relation, friend etc. 94 222.81
H.)useholds which Wcr~ visited by Friend, 5 46.40
Relations
l. Father 3 24.00
2. Mother 6 79.00
3. Brother 27 121.18
·k Sister 11 32.36
5. Son 4 782.00
6. Daughter 19 513.05
7. Wifc'~ father 7 22.71
K Wife:, I]l.Qther 11 18.09
9, Wife', ,ister '4 24-.1-5 _,
,.. .. : ~:

10. Wife's hrother II 53.64

II. Wift\ sister's Jilisbanli 5 199.20
.l2,,_12~11~b!.~r~§..h_lIs1:~d ,.. , 2 -·19.50
13. Daugfl\er's hl1~band'!I mother 50.00
14. Daughter's hu,band" father 50.00
I ,~. Son's wife 2 17.50
!Ii. Son's SOil I 280.00
17. Son's wife's fath~r 5 54.00
18. Son's wife's mother 5 39.00
19. Son's wife's brother 1 20.00
20. Husband's brother's SDn 12.00
21. Sister's husban1 22.00

l12
 Table 31
DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSES BY PREDOMINANT MATERIALS OF FLOOR, WALL, ROm Al'IlJ CEILING

Pre-dominant Pre-dominant Pre-dominant Pre-dominant Pre-dominant

material of floor material of wall materi,!] of roof material of ceiling material of doors anj
windows
,------..A...--~-l r - - - -:-- __ ..A... _ _ _ ~ r- - - - _..... - - --, r- - -- -.--"--------~ r---------_,A_----~
Material No. of hou~es Material No. of houses ~htci"idl No. of hJuses MltcriJI No. of houses Mlterial No. of hOllse3
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cement J68 Burnt- 11 Concrete 21 Wooden 79 Wood 209

Bricks
Mud 54 Unburnt- 2 Tiles lis A.C. sheet Coconut
bricks leaves
Mmaic Laterite- 180 CO~0nut 27
stone leaves
Laterite ;ton~. Wood 9 Gro" :2
Mud 19
Coconut 4
leaves

Table 32
HOUSEHOLDS CL\SSlFIED BY NUMBER OF M~RRIED COUPLES WITHOUT OTHER MEMBERS AGED 5 AND
ABOVE WITH OTHER MEMBERS AGED 5 AND ABOVE AND NUMBER OF ROOMS OCCUPIED BY THEM

Households HouSl)ltol.ls Households Households Households

occupying occupying occupying occupying occupying
one room two rooms three rooms four roums live and more
rooms
Total Total ,- __ ..A.. _ _ - , , - _ _ A._._, ,.---A._----, r- - " - ~ .-----, ,..-_--A.___ -,
number number No. of No. of Nu. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of
Classification of of hou- of mem- house- mem- housc- mem- house- mem- hou>~· mem- house- mem-
households ~e holds bers holus bers holds bers holds bers holds bers holds bers
2 3 5 6 7 8 l) 10 It 12 13
Total 225 1!53 32 141 53 278 6J 3.11 21 187 52 316
One married Couple
(a) Wllho"t other m:mbor.) 23 J 6 2 5 2 3
a~d 5 and above.

(b} With other m!mb~r' IS) 71Kl 20 97 39 202 45 15 31 162

aged 5 and above.

Two married Couplcs

(a) Without other members 10 5 5
aged 5 and above.
(b) With o~hcr m~'nbers 27 229 9 5 41 7 6 51 14 121
aged 5 and above.

Three married Couples

(a) Without other members 2 14 7 7
aged 5 and above.
(b) With other members 8 88 12 2 20 4 43 13
aged 5 and above.

Others 27 99 7 22 6 18 10 52 2

113
 Table 33
AVMLABlUTY OF AMENlIDlS

,..--_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _of
No. households
-...A. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ._ _ __

Shares with other

Amenities Not having l{a,ing separately households Total

2 3 4 5

Kitchen 10 215 225

Bathroom 19 142 4 225

Lavatory 59 161 5 225
Source of drinking water 4 176 45 225

Water for washing 121 104 225

Electricity 52 173 225

Table 34
EXISTENCE OF FURNITURE AND DURATION OF STAY IN PRESENT RESIDENCE

Furniture , - -_ _No.
__ of_households
_____ with
__ duration
_ _J.-of
_stlJ,Y
__ in_ _present
the _ _ _residence
_ _ _ _ _ ---..,

Total Less than 1 year 1-4 years 5+ years

2 3 4 5

Total 225 2 16 207

No. furniture 21 21
Chair 200 2 16 li2
Table 182 2 14 166
Cot 163 2 13 148

Sofa 3 3

Bench 5 5

114
 Table ~5
MATERIALS OF WHICH UlENSJtS ARE MADE CLA5SlF1ED BY UUGlON ,\Nl) CASTE/TRIBEjCOMMUNIIY
AND MIGRATION STATUS

Total Number of hou,eholds Nlimber of household; where utllOSils for serving food ar e
number where cooking utensils made of
of are made of "..-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ......,
Religion and house- r-------'------.
Caste/Tribel Migration holds Alumi- Earthon- Alumi- Hinda- Earthen- Porce- Brorue Enamel-
Community status nium Steel ware nium lium Steel ware lain ledplates

2 3 4 5 (; 7 8 9 10 11 12 }3

Total 225 204 4 70 30 4 187 4 28 1 11

Migrant 72 64 17 9 60 6 3
Non-migrant 153 140 3 53 21 4 127 4 22 8

Nair Migrant 14 14 2 14
Non-migrant 21 21 21 3

Ezhava Migrant 9 9 9
Non-migrant H· 17 2 16
Asari M:i,rant 3 3 2
Non-migrant 3 2 2 2

Thattan Migrant
Non· migrant 2 2 2

Kollan Migrant 2 2 .2
Non-migrant 2 I

Veera Shaiva Migrant

Non-migrant
Velar Migrant
Non-migrant
Paravan (SC) Migrant
Non-migrant 3 2 2

Parayan (SC) Migrant 2 2 2 2

Non-migrant 3 3 2 2

Puiayan eSC) Migrant

Non-migrant 6 2 5 4
Velan (SC) Migrant
Non-migrant 2 2

..U11adan (ST) Migrant

Non-migrant

Shafi Migrant 7 6 5 5
Non-migrant 50 47 30 7 4 42 14

Hanafi Migrant 5 5 2 2 4
Non-miaJ;ant 13 12 2 2 13

Catholic Migrant 17 15 2 15
Non-migrant 13 13 11 2

Jacobite Migrant 12 10 2 10 2
Non-migrant 14 14 3 14 2

Marlhomitc Migrant
Non-migrant

115
 Table %
LIGHT AND FUEL BY MIGRATION STATUS OF HOUSI<:HOLD

No. using fuel No. using light

r---------.A.
Fire wood Kerosene
----. r---~-,
Migration status Gas Electricity Kerosene
2 3 4 5 6
Total 193 13 19 173 52

Migrant households 56 8 6 57 13
Non-migrant households 137 5 13 116 . 39

TJ.ble 37

PRESENCE 011 LUXURY AND COSTLY GOODS BY RELIGION AND CASTE/TRiBE1COMMUNl1 Y

Number Number of househ¢lds posses:;ing

of house-
holds
Total possessing
number no luxury ,....---.-.._:----- -_._-"--------------,
of house- and costly Wrist Table Tape
Religion and Ca~(c/TribejCommunity holds goods watch clock Radio Television recorder YCR
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Total 225 44 147 lW 160 7 44 1

HINDUS
Nair 35 4 28 28 30 7
Ez:hava 26 3 16 12 22 4

Asari 6 2 3
Thatlan 2 1
Kollan 4 3 1
Veera Shaiva 1 1 1·
Velar
Para van (SC) 3 3
Parayan (SC) 5 2 3
Pulayan (SC) 7 6
,
Velan (SC) 2 1

UUadan (8T) 1

MUSLIMS
Shaft 57 9 40 25 . 36 3 10

Hanafi 18 3 13 10 14 5

CHRISTIANS
Catholics 30 29 24 25 it

Jacobite 26 5 t9 17 20 5
Marthoma 1 1

116
 Table 38
PRESENCE OF WXURY AN» COSTLY GOODS BY EllVCATIONAT. tEnl, OF HE;\D OF HOUSEHOLD

Number
.- -_-_._.. -.. of house-
_ -,-_... _.. --._balds
Total possessing Number of households posses$ing
, . : -_ _ _ _ _ _ • _ _ _ _A _ _ _:. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~

number no luxury
of house- and costly Wrist Table Tape
Educational level of head of household 110Ids goojs watch clock Radio Television recorder VCR
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Total 225 44 147 120 160 7 44 1-
Illiterate 32 II 11 6 20 2
Literate without educatiDnallcvel 2 1 I 1 I
Below primary 71 22 39 32 48 10
Primary 72 9 49 40 48 3 12
Marne 32 32 29 30 3 11
Diploma and Certificate 6 6 4 4 2
Degree and above 10 9 8 9 6

Table 39
PRACTICE OF FAMILY PLANNING MEASURES BY RELIGION, CASTE/TRIBE. EDUCATION AND SEX

Number of Number of females adopting

males --------~------------~
Religion adopting I.U.C.D. Lapros-
Caste/Tribe Educational level , Va~ectomy P.P.S. Sterilisation Insertion copy
1 2 4 5 6 7
Total 12 42 1
All religion
Illiterate 2 3
Literate upto matric 8 32
Matrie <Iond above 2 7
IDNDU
Nair Literate upto mltrie 5
Matrie and above 4
Ezhava Literate upto matric 4
Matric and above
Asari Illiterate
Literate upto matrie
Veera Shaivu Literate uplO matric 1
Parayan (SC) Literate uptD matrk 1
Pulayan (SC) Literate up to matcic 1
Velan (SC) LiI~rate upto matric

MUSLIM
Shafi Illiterate 2
Literate upto matric 8
Hanafi Illiterate 1
Literate upto mal ric 2 4
CHRISTIAN
Catholic Literate upto matric 4
Matric and above 1
Jacobite Literate uplo matric 4 2
Matrie and above 2

i 17
 Table 40
TRAVEL INDBX OF PFltSONS, MALES AND FEMALES BY CASTE/TRIBE;lCOMMVNITY

Travel Index
,.....--------~-----------,
CastejT.tibejCommunity PerillnS Males Female~

2 3 4

Total 375.92 540.19 118.68

Nair 631.84 1004.99 .314.68
Ezhava i3<).50 22<}.48 61.22

Asari (43.86 172.33 101.14

Thattan 65.00 69.80 60.20

Kollan 8.20 14.00 3.B

Veera Shaiva 925.00 2800.00 300.00
Velar
Paravan (SC) 14.53 18.27 7.67
Parayan (SC) 13.55 22.80 4.30
Pulayan (SCI 75.57 123.38 39.00

Yelan (SC) 43.25 49.60 32.67

Ulladm (ST)

Shaft 399.91 645.00 159.04-

Hanafi 227.64 332.90 133.66

Catholic 667.72 731.36 612.73

Jacobite 331.95 496,75 167.67
Marthomite 817 .86 mi2.S0 358.33

MGIPCBE-S4-19ltGt!ND/88 -13-9-89-300.