CHAPTER - I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Statement of the Problem

The status of women is recognised as inferior by every religion and they are

considered as inferior and occupied the secondary position which is not because of

religion but the patriarchal system (Engineer, 1994). At global level, women are

monitored occasionally by international organizations of United Nations. In this

context, The Commission on Status of Women is instrumental in applauding the

rights of women, assessing the reality of women‘s lives globally and determining the

standards in terms of gender equality at global level through empowering of women

(UN Women, 2019). Despite such monitoring, the status of women varies among

religious groups wherein Muslim women are the most backward section in socio-

economic scale in comparison to women of other religious groups. Generally,

Muslims are highly concentrated in Central Asia, Northern Africa and South-East

Asia, whereas the highest percentage is recorded as 99.6 in Afghanistan. Muslims

cover 24.1 per cent of total population with a huge crowd of 1.8 billion (2015). It is a

fact that women constitute the half of total population, but their status is not equal to

men in Islam. Globally, Muslim women have been presented in the research world

with the multi-faceted explanations including socio-economic conditions, rights in

Islamic law and its reforms, political participation, role in Muslim society, hijab and

identity etc. (Abu-Lughod, 2012; Amin, 2015; Arimbi, 2009; Atasoy, 2003;

Barazangi, 2009; Barlow & Akbarzadeh, 2006; Cohen & Peery, 2006; Domingo,

2005; Dwyer, 2008; Foroutan, 2008; Furseth, 2011; Hammam, 1981; Khan, 1998;

Lacar, 1991; Lothspeich, 1995; Maqsood, 2003; Minault, 2000; Pojmann, 2010;

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Sukla, 1996; Wallace, 2015; Wenden, 1998; Yaghoobi, 2012). Additionally, previous

researches of women in Muslim countries also have ensured that the way of living and

thinking of Muslim women varies (Ask & Tjomsland, 1998; Beck & Keddie, 1978;

Bodman & Tohidi, 1998; Moghadam, 1994; Predelli, 2004). However, Muslim

women have been found somewhat deprived in every developmental attributes.

Although, Muslim women were recognized at international level for the first time

long back in 1980s, when the first international conference on ‗Muslim Women in

Some South Asian and Middle Eastern Countries‘ was held on 14th December 1981

with the presence of two hundred women at Philippines International Convention

Center. In this conference, the most discussing theme was reform in the status of

Muslim women wherein the importance of education of Muslim women was in front

with utmost priority (O‘Shaughnessy, 1983).

In India, Muslims constitute the second largest religious group and they are

the largest religious minority. The 2011 Census enumerated India's Muslim

population as 172 million with a share of 14.02 per cent to the total population of

India. As Muslims are the largest minority in the country, majority of this community

is educationally and economically backward. Where as the other minorities are

educationally and economically better-off as compared to Muslims. Unfortunately,

Muslims have not been able to get their due share in welfare work done by the

government, especially for economically weaker sections of the society in the country

since Independence. Different governments appointed committees from time-to-time

to find out the causes of educational and economic backwardness of Muslims like

Hunter Commission (1870), Gopal Singh Committee Report (1983) and the latest one

is Sachar Committee Report (2006). Most Indian Muslims today consist of working

class and the landless agricultural labourers in rural areas. They are artisans and

2
craftsmen and other daily wage earners in urban areas; the appeal of education to

Muslims is limited for several reasons. Educationally, Muslims are recognised as the

most backward communities in the country. Muslim girls and women lag behind their

male counterparts and women of all other communities (Ahmad, 2012; Devi, 2014;

Khalidi, 1994). According to Census 2011, the literacy rate among Muslims (59.1 %)

was far below the national average (64.8 %) and Non-Muslim communities (70.8 %).

The Muslim female literacy rate was 50.1 per cent which is considerably below the

Muslim male literacy rate of 67.6 %. Devi (2014) and Ramkrishnaya (1986)

highlighted some reasons for the educational backwardness of Indian Muslim

Women, which were actually summarised by the Backward Classes Commission as

follows:

 Traditional apathy for education on account of social environmental condition

or occupational handicaps.

 Poverty and lack of means among the communities to educate their children.

 Lack of a sufficient number of educational institutions in rural areas.

 Living in inaccessible areas and lack of proper communications.

 Lack of adequate educational aid, in the form of scholarship, monetary grant

for the purpose of books, clothing and hostel facility.

Education is an inevitable factor for improving the status of women, is

associated with many of the modern roles as it is not only to gain necessary

knowledge and expertise enabling them to rise in their status, but also broadens their

intellectual ability in comparison to men to set their position in society (Menon, 1979).

Muslim women have the lowest Work Participation Rate (WPR) among major three

religious categories such as Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. Sixty per cent of

Muslim women are self-employed, which is the highest percentage among these three

3
religious categories. Muslim women employment as regular workers in urban areas is

15.7 per cent, which is almost half of Hindu women (27.7 per cent) and more than

three times lesser than Christian women (51.5 per cent), thus highlighting their

marginal presence in salaried jobs. In rural areas, the employment status for Hindu is

3.6 per cent and for Muslim it is 3 per cent (Kazi, 1999). Women‘s experience of the

labour market in India, like in any other country, is substantially different from that of

men. They are more likely than men to be unemployed, underemployed or outside the

labour force altogether. They are relatively over-represented in certain sectors and

under-represented in others, and have lower levels of human capital (Chakraborty &

Chakraborty, 2009).

In general, Female is not treated at par with her male siblings. The backward

states in the country suffer from heinous crimes like female foeticide, sex- selective

abortion etc., which tends to affect adversely the sex ratio at birth. Another grave

crime which often strikes media as female infanticide is still prevalent among lower

strata of society in urban areas and in Indian villages. Abandoning, selling or

trafficking of a girl child is a common practise in Indian society today. A woman in

Indian household is frequently subjected to marital rape and other acts of barbarism

which she has to tolerate owing to cultural values prevalent in Indian society even in

the present 21st century. The sex ratio whether general or child has some determinants

which include female literacy, mean age of marriage for girls, level of awareness as

well as female work participation rate (Dawn & Basu, 2015).

1.1.1 Observations of Sachar Committee Report about Muslim Women in

India

By the notification of PMO on 9th March 2005, a High Level Committee was

formulated to prepare a report on the social, economic and educational status of

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Muslim community of India. This committee was named as Sachar Committee as it

was chaired or headed by Rajinder Sachar, the former Chief Justice of Delhi High

Court. The report of this committee was released in November 2006, which has

actually assessed the socio-economic condition of Muslims across the states of India.

It has also revealed some key insights on Muslim women who are seemingly the most

backward section in terms of socio-religious contexts. The major observations in this

report about Muslim women are enlisted below.

 On the basis of interaction with some women, it was found that hijab wearing

women face difficulty to find jobs and as far as social behaviour is concerned,

they face impolite treatment in the places like market, hospitals, schools,

public transport etc.

 Muslim women in India, find safe and secure place within the boundaries of

their home and community for physical as well as identity protection. They

see themselves unsafe due to anything beyond the wall of Islamic ghetto.

Although, it was also mentioned by some women respondents, they could be

able to face and confront these problems in a better way if they were given

opportunities to get educated and employed.

 There is enormous fear and feeling of defencelessness impacting on education

and mobility of Muslim girls due to the violent communal conflicts where in

Muslim women in large number became the victim of sexual violence which

even spread to other parts of the country.

 Due to increasing ghettoization, the lack of the basic services like water,

electricity, schools, sanitation, public health facilities, Anganwadi, banking

facilities, ration shops, roads, and transport facilities affects Muslim women

5
 immensely, because they are unable to access these facilities beyond the

boundary of safe neighbourhood.

 Societal gender-biasness affects education of Muslim girls as the poor parents

tend to send only son to private schools. Despite the previous perception that

Muslims somehow militates against educating girls due to their conservatism,

the present research refers to poverty and financial constraints as the major

responsible factors preventing Muslim girls from attaining modern or secular

education. Muslim women even face clear discrimination from school

authorities at the time of getting admission or availing scholarships for their

children.

 The fear of parents associated with increasing communal violence restricts

their children to go to school at the upper primary and middle school that

consequently results into high drop-out rates among Muslim girls in this age

group.

 Muslim women are over represented in self-employment especially home-

based work including sewing, zari work, embroidery, chikan work, readymade

garments, beedi rolling, agarbatti rolling etc. The characteristics of their work

conditions are low income, meagre work conditions, lack of toilet and crèche

facilities, lack of social security benefits like health insurance and the absence

of bargaining power.

 Muslim women face acute poverty due to lack of education and technical

skills resulting in low skilled ability and low income. They are very poor in

bargaining for their work which restricts them from employment opportunities

and wages. As a result of restriction of mobility or simply ghettoization,

Muslim men leave Muslim women within the boundary of home based works

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 only which are also operated by middle-men, thus minimizing their direct

participation in the government micro-finance programmes like Self Help

Groups (SHGs), Watershed Programmes and Panchayat Raj. So that,

government should give contract directly to Muslim women for jobs, like

stitching of school uniforms etc., that can reduce the dependency on middle-

men.

 Muslim women were reported as affected by TB highly in some areas. This

was partially caused by nature of their work and unhygienic condition and

sanitation. This disease among Muslim women leaves bad impact on her entire

family due to lack of awareness about this.

 Muslim women rarely get access to government development schemes, like

Jawahar Rozgar Yojana for BPL (below poverty line) beneficiaries, housing

loans, procuring widow pensions etc.

 Muslim women are not aware about the population control programmes and

use of contraceptives which is one of the reasons of high fertility rate among

them. The Muslim women do not prefer to go to private health centres, as they

could not afford the expensive treatment due to financial crunch and lack of

lady doctors.

 Fortunately, Muslim women with 50 per cent literacy rate have been at par

with women of other communities and they stand ahead of the women

belonging to SC/ST in rural areas. But, the educational attainment of Muslim

women is lower than men.

 In terms of work participation rate, Muslim women are under-represented as

compared to upper caste Hindu women because of socio-cultural constraints of

women to work. Work participation of Muslim women was found lower in

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 urban areas as compared to rural areas due to relative availability of work

opportunities within the household.

 The higher dependency rate of Muslim women is due to the large share of

younger population, which is one of the reasons for their lower work

participation, thus leading to their stay at home.

 In many cases, the traditional barrier restricts not only Muslim women but also

Hindu higher caste women from going out of their houses for work.

In West Bengal, the share of Muslim Population to the total population is

27.01 % and they are the largest minority (Census, 2011). The Census report of West

Bengal of previous decade has shown that some districts, such as Darjeeling,

Jalpaiguri, Koch Behar, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur in the north,

Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum in the west, and both the Twenty Four Parganas (North

and South) stretching across the Sunderbans are relatively more backward socio-

economically than the rest of the districts in West Bengal (MCD, n.d.). Out of the

above mentioned districts, Murshidabad, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Birbhum and South

Twenty Four Parganas have a higher concentration of Muslim minorities that

outnumbers the state average. It is important to note that the concentration of Muslim

minority in the state of West Bengal is higher than the national average of India. In

this state, the conditions of Muslim women are very deplorable in almost every

segment of development, including educational attainment, progressive work

participation, economic and political empowerment etc., where they are recognised as

the most underprivileged, marginalised and secluded section of the society and thus

depicting a situation of apathy which has pushed them away from the mainstream of

normal progress (Hossain, 2012).

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1.1.2 Highlights of Association SNAP Report about Muslim Women in West

Bengal

The report entitled ―Living Realities of Muslims in West Bengal: A Report‖, was

visualised to scrutinize the socio-economic condition of Muslims living in West

Bengal. It was prepared by the collaboration of Association SNAP (Social Network

for Assistance to People) and Pratichi Institute, Kolkata. This report was released in

2016 by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. In this report, some crucial insights have been

found about Muslim women of West Bengal, which are as follows:

 The rapid rate of progress amongst Muslim women in terms of literacy is

probably a trend setter for many in the future, and highlights the potential of

the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

 In terms of rural-urban gap in literacy rate of women, the 2011 Census noted a

difference of 2.2 per cent between general and Muslim women, but the

primary survey found the equal Muslim female literacy to general female

literacy as per Census, 2011.

 The popular impression is that for traditions and societal norms, Muslim

women tend to participate less in work which requires them to go outside their

home.

 The overall low work participation rate among the Muslims is due to very low

work participation among the women. Only 8.9 per cent of the Muslim women

during their working age were found to be working.

 More than 45 per cent women are bidi workers (23.9 per cent) and daily

labourers (21.4). Besides these, working as domestic help (11.4), Jodi / smith

worker (8.2) and beggar / rag picker are the major occupations of the working

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 Muslim women in West Bengal. These five occupations contribute more than

70 per cent of Muslim women workers, and the remaining 30 per cent are

distributed amongst the other mentioned occupations. Thus the major

occupation of Muslim women turns out to be bidi-rolling.

 The mean age of marriage for the Muslim women (aged 15-49 years) is 17.6

years, while the median age is 17 years.

 One of the most common rumours in India about Muslim married life is the

frequent practice of the triple-talaq by men to divorce their wives. However, in

West Bengal, only 0.6 per cent Muslim women are found to be divorced, and

0.7 per cent separated, bringing the total number of such women to 1.3 per

cent. Compared to the findings of the 2011 Census, which finds divorced,

separated and deserted women account for 9.6 per cent in West Bengal.

 Within the land owning families, the land ownership by female members

account for 27.8 per cent which is comparatively low.

 About 74 per cent of women, combining rural and urban areas, participate in

everyday purchases, a bulk of which concerns spending on everyday food

consumption.

 Here around 54 per cent Muslim women declare that they are going to markets

purposefully. The custom of veiling, popularly called ‗borka or ‗burkha‘ is not

prevalent among the Muslim women of West Bengal; however, it was noticed

that the full borka had become a regular feature in public spaces in some urban

areas. Almost 54 per cent women from such areas declared that they were able

to go out so as to markets without a male escort, even though going to the

markets was not an everyday affair for them.

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  Overall, the level of literacy amongst Muslim women has increased the

attendance in schools at elementary and secondary levels has shown an

increasing trend but they were lagging behind in getting technical training,

research based education and employment. Most of the Muslim working

women use to work for low remuneration in labour-intensive jobs. Given a

relatively As a result of high rate of widowhood among Muslim women, many

such women face lot of difficult in bringing up their families with their meagre

income.

1.2 Review of Literature

There are many studies based on social and economic status of Muslim

Women in West Bengal, which have been carried by the scholars. Thus, in this

chapter, an attempt has been made to review few of those studies for understanding

the conceptual background and for developing the methodological framework for the

present study of socio-economic condition of Muslim women in West Bengal in

general and Malda district in particular. The review of the selected studies and

researches are mentioned as under:

Devi, L. (2014), in her research paper ―Socio-economic Development of

Muslim Women: Impact of Education‖, has prolifically portrayed the socio-economic

condition of Muslim women in India with the enlightening highlights of their

education and economic participation. She has firstly described the problems faced by

Indian Muslims who are generally backward in socio-economic spectrum which is the

main reason of their backwardness. She has further blamed low enrolment of women

in modern or secular education instead of traditional education. She has put stress on

the prevailing poverty and gender biasness among Muslims as the main reason of low

level of education of Muslim women in India. To demonstrate these opinions, she has

11
based her study on secondary sources of data, i.e., NSSO and Census of India. She has

finally suggested in her conclusion, that there is a necessity to make special provision

of basic education for Muslim girl at least up to 8th class with the purpose to improve

their participation in secondary, higher technical and professional education which

can result in their effective contribution in the socio-economic development of the

country.

Cherayi, S. and Jose, J. P. (2016), in their research paper ―Empowerment

and social inclusion of Muslim women: Towards a new conceptual model‖, have

developed a conceptual model of empowerment in response to social inclusion,

postulating that social inclusion and justice organizations are improved by women's

empowerment in social, economic, psychological and political spheres. They have

used multi-stage cluster sampling procedure to employ 300 rural Muslim women who

have been tested through that conceptual model. The results of their study show that

women's personal autonomy, political empowerment and household decision-making

have designated significant partial effect on social inclusion while the domestic

consultation and political empowerment have designated significant partial effect on

access to justice organizations. They have concluded in their study that empowerment

in social, political, personal and familial domains of women notably improved their

social inclusion and access to justice institutions.

Abdelhadi, E. (2019), in his research paper ―The Hijab and Muslim women‘s

employment in the United States‖, has tried to find out the difference among religions

in terms of employment of women with reference to Muslim women in the United

States. He has intended to find out the relative difference in payment between Muslim

and non-Muslim women; socio-demographic characteristics of them as the factor for

such difference; and likelihood of employment on the basis of wearing hijab. In his

12
result, he has found out that women with hijab are likely to be in employment as

compared to non-Muslim women or women without hijab. He has also investigated

the factors responsible for such difference due to ―the hijab effect‖, which are

demographic, human capital, and household composition among sample population.

Bhalotra, S., Valente, C. and Soest, A. V. (2010), in their research paper

―The puzzle of Muslim advantage in child survival in India‖, have tried to analyse the

puzzle that in spite of being backward in socio-economic scale, Muslims exhibit

higher child survival rates in India. Moreover, according to decomposition of the

survival differential, Muslims are favoured by some compositional effects favour, but

Muslims deficit in parental education refers to Muslim disadvantage. The result of

their paper is the addition in recent literature debating the importance of socio-

economic status (SES) in defining health and survival. They have emphasized in their

study by pointing out that the growing literature depicting the role of religion or

culture affects health, which is sufficient to reverse the common SES gradients.

Hossain, M. I.(2012), in his article ―Muslim Women of West Bengal: An

Enquiry into the Minority Status‖, has tried to examine the socio-economic condition

of the largest religious minority population in general and the position of Muslim

women of West Bengal in particular. He has also emphasized the prevailing socio-

economic backwardness among Muslims on the basis of historico-religious

perspective. He has able to found out the factors which contribute to the development

and social change of Muslims. He has also observed that the conditions of Muslim

women are very deplorable more or less in all aspects of development due to several

factors, like modernization, globalization, urbanization, westernization, allocation and

utilization of government infrastructure, spread of education, mass media, lawful

13
enactment towards marginal sections of the society like Muslims etc., and their

society is continuously experiencing change in the advancement to masculinity and

femininity deriving from their frustration, fear psychosis and tradition bounded

nature, low level of ambition, inferiority and minority complex. He has finally

admitted that these factors, which kept them retarded and immobilised from normal

progress, are now proving the means of development and empowerment to both

Muslim males and females of West Bengal.

Ghosh, B. (2011), in his article ―Child Marriage, Community and Adolescent

Girls: The Silence of Tradition and Modernity in Malda District‖, has exposed the fact

that early marriage of daughters is widespread not only in India, but also in many

other parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This illegal practice is largely

practiced as social tradition in India and in Malda district of West Bengal. Based on

field data, this paper has tried to analyse the responses of rural population regarding

the practice of early marriage in order to see the substitutes to control this social evil.

The author on the basis of his findings, concluded that the main reasons of child

marriage in Malda are patriarchal and authoritarian social structure, unemployment,

poverty, illiteracy, lack of awareness and development deficit, and this can be

checked with the advancement of females including daughters and mothers, through

education, employment and skill enhancement, awareness and motivation building

and administrative and community actions.

Mukhopadhaya, H. (2008) in her research paper ―The Role of Education in

the Empowerment of Women in a District of West Bengal, India: Reflection on a

Survey of Women‖, has emphasised the role of education in the empowerment of

women in the district of Malda. By conducting a survey of forty two villages, she

tried to find out the status of women including attitude towards girls‘ education in the

14
society, problems hindering the education of women and the importance of marriage

in women‘s life thus affecting education as well as the empowerment of women,

whereas women empowerment through education has emerged as the only way to put

an end to the horrors of dowry, as established by the survey. She has concluded her

study with the expression that the empowerment of women in Malda district has been

obstructed for centuries for various reasons amongst which the initial reason was in

the form of depriving women in basic educational facilities.

Hussain, Abbas and Owais (2012), in their article ―Muslims in West Bengal:

Trends of Population Growth and Educational Status‖, have presented a demographic

and educational profile of Muslims in West Bengal which constitutes the largest

minority in the state. With taking into account secondary sources of data from Census

2001, the authors have used Coefficient of Equality (CE) method in order to measure

the educational backwardness of Muslims in the districts of West Bengal which

reveals that Muslims were significantly backward in North Twenty Four Parganas,

Uttar Dinajpur, Nadia, Darjiling, Maldah and Murshidabad districts. They have also

found that the districts with high and low concentration of Muslims were

characterised by low literacy rate as compared to general literacy except Darjiling

district. They have also suggested some policy measures in which the federation of all

Muslims‘ social and educational organisations and institutions is of paramount

significance.

Basak, P. and Mukherjee, S.R. (2012), in their article ―District level

variation in Literacy Rate in West Bengal‖, have focused mainly on the state of West

Bengal and its districts so as to understand its educational backwardness. Their entire

analysis was based on secondary sources of data and they have depicted the variation

and development of literacy rate in 17 districts with 341 blocks in the state of West

15
Bengal. They have adopted the Range Equalization Method of UNDP for the

measurement of literacy development in the districts of West Bengal during 1951-

2001. In addition, they also used multiple regression method for determining the other

socio-economic aspects of educational disparity in this state. The authors have found

out that occupational diversification, female work participation rate, asset holding,

banking facility and school availability were the main factors affecting the literacy

rate in this state. They have suggested that increase in number of female teachers in

schools would be helpful to increase the female literacy rate.

Hussain, N. and Mainuddin, M. (2011), in their research paper ―Education

and Employment: An Analysis of the Deprivation among Muslims of Malda District

(West Bengal)‖, have explained the poor level of employment due to educational

backwardness among Muslim women, whereas empirical research dealing with the

determinants of education and economic growth has naturally ignored the impact of

religion. In order to fill this gap, the authors have explored the determinants of

religious education and employment at the micro regional level by using primary

survey data on education and employment from the total 2590 (1300 Muslims and

1290 Hindus) households in 80 villages of 15 development blocks of Malda district.

They have collected data related to economic, educational status and religious

background of 2590 households and thus emphasized the interrelationship among

these variables. Finally, they concluded that the share of Hindus increases with

increasing income and education but Muslims are still deprived and backward.

Naskar, R. (2011), in her research paper ―The Role of Folk Media and

Participatory Communication in Rural Development: An Exploratory Case Study of

Combating Child Marriage in Maldah‖, has found that the practice of female‘s early

marriage is prevalent and widespread among educationally and economically

16
backward villages of West Bengal. Her findings show that the highest incidences of

child marriage was recorded in Maldah district of West Bengal due to many factors,

such as parent‘s guardianship for their daughters, their protection from sexual assault

and pregnancy without marriage, which may result in severe negative impact on

health. The central objective of her research paper is to explore and design a strong

mechanism against this evil practice of early marriage in Maldah with the help of the

folk media in response to participatory awareness and mobilization programmes. Such

campaign was spread in 30 villages of 15 blocks of Maldah through workshops,

theatre shows and meetings, thus resulting in positive responses by creating and

improving the awareness of child marriage in the society. She has finally concluded

that the diffusion of information through different means of media so as to educate

ignorant, illiterate superstitious section of rural people about the practice of child

marriage.

John, A. and Shinde, S.V. (2012), in their article ―Educational Status of

Muslim Women in India‖, have emphasised the role of education to social, economic

and cultural development of communities, wherein Muslim girls are the most

educationally backward section of Indian society. Their study was based on secondary

data so as to examine the trend of education of Muslims in India. The major finding of

their study is that dropout among Muslims is very high at primary, middle and

secondary level. They have concluded their study by demonstrating some important

problems of Muslim women in attaining higher education.

Ismail, M. and Mustaqim, M. (2015), in their research paper “Distribution of

nutritional deficiency diseases of Minority Muslim in India‖, have described the

regional distribution of nutritional deficiency diseases among Muslim minority in

Maldah district of West Bengal. They have taken samples from Muslim population

17
for assessing the pattern of diseases and their causes. Their study shows that 36 per

cent Muslim people are affected by different kinds of chronic diseases, out of which

63 per cent patients are females including female children and 37 per cent are males

including male children. The most common diseases which are recorded in Maldah

are anaemia, skin diseases and goitre. Moreover, Muslim females are affected highly

by chronic diseases due to gender difference in food intake. Eventually, they have

given some valid suggestions which include improvement in health treatment,

employment awareness, and living condition etc.

Siddiqui, M. H. (2013), in his research paper ―The Problems of School Drop

Outs among Minorities with Special Reference to Muslims in India‖, has highlighted

the problems of school dropouts among minorities, especially Muslims of India. He

has analysed the real facts on the basis of a personal interview with an equal number

of households in rural as well as urban areas, and has found that the problem of school

dropouts is more in rural areas in comparison to urban areas. He has found several

reasons for dropouts among Muslims in India, like poor socio-economic status and

per capita income, children engaged in household activities, large family size,

unawareness about the importance of education, many other problems in schools,

social problems like the insecurity of girls etc. The author has also suggested some

remedial measures for improving the problem of dropouts among Muslims in India,

like increasing awareness about the importance of education, dynamic Muslim

leadership, providing financial help etc.

Dharmalingam, A., Navaneetham, K. and Morgan, S. P. (2005), in their

article “Muslim-Hindu Fertility Differences: Evidence from National Family Health

Survey-II‖, have analysed the difference between Muslim and Hindu fertility in terms

of their desire for an additional child and the use of contraceptives. They have used

18
data from NFHS (National Family Health Survey) conducted in 1998-1999, and they

calculated their results through the application of multi-variate and multi-level

regression models. Their result shows that such difference in fertility is invariably

pervasive across India and even in states and districts, and it is continued from the

first NFHS in 1992-1993. However, Muslim-Hindu fertility differences have been

narrowed between1992-1993 and 1998-1999, thus it has been argued that Muslim-

Hindu fertility behaviour appears to be moving towards convergence. Finally, they

have concluded their study by declaring that the pervasiveness of reproductive

behaviour difference between Muslim and Hindu demands for 'global explanations'

with balancing effort.

Hussain, N. and Kirmani, M. (2010), in their research paper ―Gender

Differences: A Case Study of Maldah District of West Bengal, India‖, have

emphasised on gender equality by measuring the gender difference in socio-economic

conditions of population in Maldah district, which is one of backward district of West

Bengal. On the basis of secondary data from Census of India (2001), they have

investigated gender differences and its issues in terms of gender or sex ratio,

education considering literacy rate and employment or work participation over the

blocks of this district. They have also discussed different crimes against women such

as physical and mental cruelty, domestic and dowry-related violence, sexual

harassment and abuse at home and at workplace, rape and bigamy and desertion.

Ghatak, A. (2006), in her article ―Faith, Work, and Women in a Changing

World: The Influence of Religion in the Lives of Beedi Rollers in West Bengal‖, has

discussed about the role of religious norms and values in shaping the lives of women

and girls in many communities. One of the sections of such communities is beedi

rollers. Firstly, she has tried to find out how the lives of beedi rollers among Muslim

19
women and girls of West Bengal are influenced by their religion. Secondly, she has

tried to assess the role of two secular NGOs in modifying the influence of religion

upon beedi rolling work and lives of women and girls in the villages of Murshidabad

district. The author has suggested that NGOs must come out and discuss the sensitive

religious believes, within the community and their own organisations, in order to

bring out significant changes in women's lives.

Wilkinston, S. (2007), in his article ―A Comment on the Analysis in Sachar

Report‖, has reviewed and commented upon the Sachar Committee Report on the

socio-economic status of Muslims in India. He has found out some important factors

for explaining the accessibility of education to the Muslims, which have not been

addressed properly in the report. The author has highlighted two points from Sachar

Committee Report. He has studied some of the methods used in the report and has

subsequently claimed that Sachar Committee has not fully explored about the

processes of discrimination and the factors that may be responsible for solving the

major problems of Muslim minority in India through the intervention of government

and NGO. In the end, he has given few suggestions about different kinds of analyses

that would be done in future to test the hypothesis for finding the reasons of poor

socio-economic representation of Indian Muslims.

Basant, R. (2012), in his report ―Education and Employment among Muslims

in India - An Analysis of Patterns and Trends‖, has explained the inter-relationship

between education and employment among Indian Muslims. He has based his study

by comparing the estimates derived from the most recent round of the National

Sample Survey for the year 2009-2010 with the earlier years (1999-2000 and 2004-

2005) and he has tried to assess the changes in the patterns and trends of education

and employment among Muslims. He has drawn a perception about discrimination of

20
Muslims that relates with endowments, opportunities, supply side conditions and

attitudes, which result in different patterns of participation of Muslims in employment

and education. The author has also demanded an entirely different set of policy

actions that may be required for minimizing and improving the deplorable condition

of Muslims.

Abusharaf, A. (2006), in her article ―Women in Islamic Communities: The

Quest for Gender Justice Research‖, has made an effort in the context of the

jurisprudential social legitimacy of Muslim women's roles and rights. She has also

discussed the factors responsible for women‘s lagging behind in getting justice and

gender equality in Muslim countries. Firstly, she has examined the influence of

religious institutions over interpretation and application of Muslim women's roles and

rights. Secondly, she has discussed the social policy with views from different

institutions and the extent to which it matches with the principles of gender justice.

The author has concluded with some issues and research questions for concerned

groups at international and national level to implement the planning measures for the

betterment of Muslim women.

Dasgupta, A. (2009), in his article ―On the Margins: Muslims in West

Bengal‖, has illustrated the historical phenomena of country‘s partition that

dramatically changed the demographic profile of Muslim population of West Bengal

and it affected the Hindus in East Pakistan with massive displacement of both Muslim

and Hindu population. The author has noted that the underprivileged section of this

numerically significant Muslim minority group has not received social and political

support from the state, if their condition is compared with the Hindu community. He

has further commented that, the marginalisation of dalits and backward Muslims in

21
West Bengal has been noticed considering the issue of affirmative action for Muslims,

but the deserving dalits and backward Muslims have been excluded in the list of Other

Backward Classes in the state, where as 56 other castes, communities, and

occupational groups are included in that list.

Engineer, A. A. (1994), in his article ―Status of Muslim Women‖, has

emphasized the status of Muslim Women in Indian society. According to him, women

are considered inferior by all religions and are relegated to a secondary position and it

is indeed considered in Islam as well. He has tried to bring the status of Muslim

women in the forefront by throwing light on some of the crucial aspects, like question

of identity, gender justice in Qur‘an, illiteracy and poverty, and communal

propaganda. He has eventually commented that religion itself is the result of

patriarchal society and women will continue to suffer because of the association

between religion and patriarchal society unless these basic societal values change in

the form of development in functional literacy and minimal attainment of traditional

or religious education among Muslim girls instead of modern education.

Ghazal, J. and Bartkowski, J. P. (2000), in their article ―To Veil or Not to

Veil? A Case Study of Identity Negotiation among Muslim Women in Austin, Texas‖,

has signified the feminist approach towards the Muslim women‘s way of living. Their

study has been based on empirical evidence to bear on current debates about the

meaning of the word veil in Islam. They have first examined the conflicting meanings

of the word veil among Muslim religious elites and Islamic feminists and then, they

have examined the effect of discursive disputes on gender identity negotiation among

veiled and unveiled Muslim women living in Austin, Texas. They have given special

attention to the individual disparities and points of similarity between both groups of

22
respondents. The authors have concluded by suggesting the ways for future research

on the relationship of gender, religion, and cultural differences.

Barlow, R. and Akbarzadeh, S. (2006), in their article ―Women's Rights in

the Muslim World: Reform or Reconstruction?‖, have pointed out the contrasting

opinions of two Muslim feminist groups, whereas one group is entirely concerned

about women‘s rights within the Islamic framework, and another group of secular

feminism advocates the standard universal rights for Muslims and non-Muslims. The

authors have dealt with the writings of the Moroccan feminist Fatima Mernissi to

detect the development of her evolution journey from advocating secular

reconstruction of Muslim societies to a position that resembles Islamic reformism.

Saxena, P. (2014), in her article ―Muslim Women in Higher Education in

India and Pakistan: A Comparative Study‖, has drafted a literature review of Muslim

women in India and Pakistan attaining higher education and these women are bound

to leave higher education for various reasons apart from religious associations. The

main objective of her paper is to highlight the necessity to handle the religious

associations by the policy makers of both India and Pakistan. There are many

countries where Muslim women do not have to overcome patriarchal outlooks to get

educational freedom. She has finally outlined that Muslim women need to be

encouraged by their family members and society in attaining education and security,

which can improve their status not only in India and Pakistan but at the global level as

well.

Kazi, S. (1999), in her report― Muslim Women in India: An MRG

International Report‖, has located the political, socio-economic and legal position of

Muslim women within a historical framework, beginning with the evolution of Islam

23
in India and its subsequent interaction with Indian society. She has emphasized the

complex diversity of women in Muslim communities and the range of factors

influencing their status. The author has traced the developments in discourses of

Muslim women from the late nineteenth century to the present day and has defined

Muslim women‘s shift from as British to Indian citizens. She has outlined the

contributions of Muslim women, successes, and failures within the women‘s

movement and also formidable challenges as they face as members of India‘s largest

religious minority community for five decades in post-independence. She has also

provided some facts and figures in this report on socio-economic profile of Muslim

women in India. Finally, her report has been tried to correlate the status of Muslim

women in India before independence and after independence.

Islam, F. et al.(2014), in their article ―Comparative Study of Muslim

Women's Education in the Context of employment, access to media, marital status,

family planning and political participation - Case Study of Azamgarh District‖, have

designed this research paper in order to examine the status of education among

Muslim women with respect to accessibility of employment, media, marital status,

family planning, and status of political participation etc. in Azamgarh district of Uttar

Pradesh. In order to pursue both qualitative and quantitative analysis, they have used

random sampling method to collect primary data from 365 respondents as per the

need and objectives of their study. Their study has found out positive relationship

between education and access to media and marital status of Muslim women, while no

impact of education has been found on family planning and political participation of

Muslim women in the district. The authors have finally demanded the attention of

government towards the betterment of economically-disadvantaged groups especially

Muslims.

24
 Latif, N. (2002), in her thesis ―Women, Islam and Human Rights‖, has tried to

explore the position of women in contemporary Muslim societies. She has argued

about many restrictions on Muslim women and these restrictions are due to Islamic

edicts, while human rights documents address those restrictions. She has investigated

the areas of family law, political and legal participation, and veiling with reference to

Pakistan and Iran for showing the position of women. Based on the findings of the

case studies, she has also argued that human rights standards which embodied in the

International Bill of Human Rights and these have overlooked many aspects of

Muslim women's sufferings. In particular, she has analysed that, how socio-economic

status affects the ability of Muslim women to escape the abuse suffered at private and

public sectors. Finally, she has suggested that both Islam and human rights can work

together to empower Muslim women in the society.

Das, P. K. and Marjit, S. (2016), ―Socio-economic Status of Muslims in

West Bengal: Reflections on a Recent Report‖, have analysed the socio-economic

characteristics of Muslims residing in West Bengal. In this paper, they have notably

commented upon the previous government reports including MCDs (Minority

Concentration Districts) Report (2007-2008) and Association SNAP Report (2016).

This paper is pertained to both primary and secondary data, which analyses the

residential dwellings, major professions, education, health, financial inclusions and

government sponsored programmes. They have finally handed over their work to

future research with the suggestion that socio-economic dynamics of Muslim

population in this state should be evaluated with greater care and attention towards

scientific judgement.

25
 Hossain, I. (2013), in his article ―Other Backward Class Muslims of West

Bengal, India: A Sociological and Social Anthropological Insight‖, has highlighted

the condition of Muslim Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in particular and Muslims

of India in general. His paper is a modest attempt to examine the socio-economic

characteristics of Muslims in West Bengal and the social stratification among the

Muslims in the context of larger Indian society. He has further highlighted the

backwardness of OBC Muslims in socio-economic parameters. He has concluded this

paper with the emphasis on the level of consciousness and degree of inspiration and

participation in different developmental programs to ensure security, progress and

social advancement of Muslims.

Hussain, N. (2009), in his research paper ―Muslims of West Bengal: An

Analysis of the Educational Status of a Minority Community in India‖, has attempted

to portray the relationship between Muslim concentration and their literacy rate in the

districts of West Bengal. He has broadly intended to analyse the regional imbalances

of Muslim population after independence in 1947 with the future projection followed

by the relationship with literacy rate collected from Census of India. His findings

reveal that the comparative backwardness in education of Muslims triggers the

economic backwardness among them in India. He has finally delivered a demand of

urgency to uplift the socio-economic condition of Muslims for the sake of balanced

socio-economic development across religious communities in India.

Hussain, M., Khan, M. A. and Khan, F. A. (2018), in their research paper

―Educational Status of Muslim Women in India: Issues and Challenges‖, have pointed

out the importance of education of Muslim women in Indian society. They have

highlighted educational condition of Muslim women along with the reasons behind

their educational backwardness and constraints facing by them. They have used data

26
provided by UGC for showing enrolment ratio among religious groups in higher

education and Census data for analysing literacy rate among religious groups. They

have concluded from the results of their study that Muslims are far behind

educationally as compared to other religious communities in India and have

recommended several reforms among which the transformation of Madrasa education

into modern education is noticeable.

Kar, N. B. and Ghosh, B. N.(2017), in their research paper ―Education and

Socio-economic Marginalization of Muslim Women: A Case Study of North 24-

Parganas District in West Bengal‖, have examined the reciprocal association between

literacy and socio-economic determinants of Muslim community in West Bengal.

They have also focused on the analysis of empowerment of Muslim women in three

selected villages of North Twenty Four Parganas district. They have found out from

the field work, that the Muslim women with high education level enjoy better social

status, employment scope and other social related facilities than other religions in the

villages. They have concluded their study with the suggestion to increase Muslim

literacy that could be the most effective solution to eradicate disparities in socio-

economic conditions among the religious groups of West Bengal.

Mistry, M. B. (2005), in her research paper ―Muslims in India: A

Demographic and Socio-Economic Profile‖, has exhibited the demographic history of

Muslim population across the states of India. She has also assessed the comparative

analysis of fertility and mortality rate to show the differential growth of Muslim

population. The results of her study show that backwardness of Muslim community

especially Muslim women is responsible for high fertility among Muslim population.

She has also reviewed the role of Muslims in the politics, art and culture of India, with

the derivation of communalism and communal violence characterizing the Indian

27
political scene. She has eventually concluded her paper with the argument favouring

justice and human rights for Muslims and have emphasised the importance of NGOs

in developing the condition of Muslim community in India.

Sarikhani, N. (2008), in her paper ―Muslim Women‘s Work Participation in

India‖, has investigated the work participation of Muslim women in India, on the

basis of Census 2001, with the help of descriptive approach. One of the results of her

paper delivers. The results of her paper show that the significant portion of unskilled

Muslim women was recorded in the country. Moreover, there exists wide gap between

percentage of male and female workers. In order to improve this social gap, she has

given suggestions about implementation of various programmes and legislations that

can protect the rights of Muslim working women through advertisement, plays and

films.

Sarikhani, N. (2009), in her another research paper ―Level of Awareness of

Muslim Working Women toward Their Rights in Islam: A Case Study in Government

Offices in Mysore‖, has made an effort to study the level of awareness of Muslim

working women towards their rights in Islam in the government offices of Mysore.

For this, she has randomly selected 146 samples of Muslim working women in

government offices. The result of this investigation reveals that Muslim working

women have average level of awareness about their Islamic rights, and they have not

used their rights properly in real life. She has also suggested in her conclusion that

Muslim women should be encouraged to get awareness about their Islamic rights so

that their condition and status would be improved and raised in the society.

Sarkar, R. (2017), in his research paper ―Recent Status of Education,

Employment and Empowerment of Women in West Bengal‖, investigated the impact

of education and employment on empowerment of women in West Bengal. Firstly, he

28
has established correlation between gender ratio and literacy, and secondly, he has

looked into the socio-demographic associated variables of women‘s employment with

defining impact on women‘s empowerment on the basis of secondary data, i.e.,

Census of India and NFHS-3. The main findings of his paper show that there is a

positive impact of women employment on their active participation in decision

making at her house. Moreover, he has also found that Hindu women are good

contributor towards empowerment as compared to Muslim women. His paper has

demanded the special attention of the state government so as to empower the women,

as their educational and occupational status is considered very poor.

Sur, E. (2014), in her research paper ―Revisiting the Marginal Locations of

Muslim Women on Various Sites in India‖, has broadly illustrated the untouched

functions of the concept called marginality and subsequently has located Muslim

women on the basis of popular and academic revelations on marginality. She has

covered in her study some inter-linking aspects like community and marginalisation,

religion and culture, and state and political leadership. She has concluded that the

marginality of Muslim women is embedded in socio-economic condition, but it needs

some discussion and it can be understood with the explanation of politics for mixing of

gender, class, religion, and community in India.

1.3 Study Area

1.3.1 West Bengal

The state of West Bengal is located in the eastern part of India stretching from 21˚20'

N to 27˚32' N latitude and from 85˚50' E to 89˚52' E longitude. It is spread in the

shape of elongated land from Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south

(Figure 1.1). This state is spread over an area of 88,752 sq. km. covering 2.7 per cent

of the total land of the country. The state is surrounded by the international

29
boundaries of Bangladesh in the east, Nepal and Bhutan in the north and is sharing the

national boundaries of Sikkim and Assam in the north, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa in

the west. According to Census 2011, West Bengal is divided into nineteen districts

under three administrative divisions, which are as follows:

 Jalpaiguri Division: This division includes six districts of the state namely,

Darjiling, Jalpaiguri, Koch Behar, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and

Maldah.

 Barddhaman Division: Seven districts come under this division, such as

Barddhaman, Birbhum, Bankura, Puruliya, Hugli, Purba Medinipur and

Paschim Medinipur, and

 Presidency Division: This division comprises of six districts, i.e.,

Murshidabad, Nadia, North Twenty Four Parganas, South Twenty Four

Parganas, Haora and Kolkata.

1.3.1.1 Physiography

The physiography of West Bengal can be divided into two major regions:

A. Himalayan Region

B. Gangetic Plains

A. Himalayan Region: This is further sub-divided into two parts:

i. Darjeeling Himalayas: This zone consists of Darjeeling district (except the

Siliguri Sub-Division). The hills are comparatively of recent origin, generally

steep sided and prone to landslides. Soils are brown, loamy in nature, rich in

nutrients, organically rich and acidic in reaction. Most of the rivers originate

here.

30
 ii. Sub-Himalayan: This zone comprises of the plain districts of Jalpaiguri and

Cooch Behar and Siliguri Sub-Division of Darjeeling district. Soils are mostly

sandy, highly acidic, heavily leached and poor in base and plant nutrients.

Since most of the hilly river flows through this region, these areas are flood

prone.

B. Gangetic Plains: The Lower Ganga Plain in West Bengal forms a part of the Indo-

Gangetic Plains. 14 districts of West Bengal are contained in this physiographic

region. This region is further divided into four micro physiographic zones. These are:

i. Barind Tract comprising of Koch Bihar, Maldah, Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur

districts.

ii. Moribund Delta comprising of Murshidabad and Nadia districts.

iii. Proper Delta consisting of the districts of Barddhaman, Kolkata, Hugli, Haora,

South & North Twenty Four Parganas.

iv. Rarh Plain is spread over Purba and Paschim Medinipur districts, Bankura,

Birbhum, and Purulia.

31
 Figure 1.1: Location Map of West Bengal and Malda District

In the north, three main rivers namely Teesta, Torsa, and Jaldhak flow and

they are the tributaries of the River Brahmaputra. The other two important rivers

passing through the state are Ganga and Hugli (Figure 1.2). The Ganga River drains

into the Bay of Bengal forming the famous delta of Indian Sundarbans.

The state has many shallow marshy depressions which are the relatively

unfilled parts of ancient topographic formations. These are subjected to annual

inundation during the monsoon months, having in many instances permanent

wetlands in their shallowest parts. In addition to all these, there are many types of

landforms neighbouring the northern Himalayan Mountain as also the western Deccan

Plateau within West Bengal which had developed originally by the sediments brought

32
by the rivers in the ancient geological periods. Many of these are now suffering from

the problem of erosion.

On the basis of physiographic characteristics, the state can be divided into four

physiographic divisions, namely, the Himalayan Region; Eastern fringe of

Chotanagpur Plateau; the Deltaic Zone; and the Alluvial Plains covering remaining

areas of the state. On the basis of distribution of climate and soil, the agricultural

feasibility, the state is divided into 6 distinct agro-climatic zones, and they are as

under (Figure 1.2):

 Hill Region: Darjiling, Koch Bihar, and Jalpaiguri.

 Old Alluvial Zone: Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, and Maldah.

 New Alluvial Zone: Murshidabad, Nadia, North Twenty Four Parganas, Hugli

and Barddhaman.

 Red and Laterite Zone: Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia and Paschim Medinipur.

 Saline Coastal Region: Haora, Purba Medinipur, South Twenty Four

Parganas and Kolkata.

33
 Source: Bhukosh, Geological Survey of India, 2019

Figure 1.2: Physiography and Drainage of West Bengal

1.3.1.2 Soils

In the Himalayan region, the soils are predominantly shallow to moderately shallow

but also deep at places, well drained, coarse-loamy to gravelly loamy in texture. They

are classified as Typic Haplumbrepts and Typic Udorthents. In the foothills of

Himalayas, soils are coarse-loamy to fine loamy in texture. While, soils of the alluvial

plains which include Indo-Gangetic alluvium (recent, active and old) are also very

deep, imperfectly to poorly drained, fine-loamy and coarse-loamy in texture. The

34
western part has soils shallow to very shallow, well-drained and gravelly loam and

coarse-loamy. The coastal plain is represented by soils of both sandy as well as fine in

texture, very deep with salinity problems in some places.

1.3.1.3 Climate

The climate of the state is tropical and humid except in the northern hilly region

which is close to the Himalayas. The temperature in the mainland normally varies

between 24° C to 40° C during the summer and 7° C to 26° C during the winter

seasons. The average rainfall in the State is about 1750 mm with considerable

variation among the districts ranging between 1234 mm in Birbhum to 4136 mm in

Jalpaiguri.

1.3.1.4 Demography

Demography is closely associated with population studies, and it deals with fertility,

mortality, and migration of population. In other words, demography is closely linked

with population studies with wide dimensions of sharing attributes of each other. The

estimated population of West Bengal in 2009 was 87.8 million and was recorded as

91.3 million as per Census of India, 2011. The densely populated districts considering

having more than 1000 persons / sq. km. are found in a separate region, i.e., mostly in

southern part of West Bengal including the districts of Maldah, Murshidabad,

Barddhaman, Nadia, Hugli, Haora, Kolkata, North Twenty Four Parganas and Purba

Medinipur (Figure 1.3). The decadal growth rate of population in West Bengal during

the period 2001-2011 has been recorded as 13.93 per cent, which has decreased from

17.77 per cent during the period 1991-2001. North Twenty Four Parganas has the

highest population of 8.9 million and the density of population was very high in

Kolkata with 24252 persons / sq. km. (Census, 2011). The sex ratio of 950 females

35
per 1000 males was recorded in the state as against India‘s sex ratio of 940 in 2011.

The sex ratio in West Bengal has been steadily increasing during last five decades

after India‘s Independence, whereas it has been decreasing during this period at

national level. The shares of rural and urban population in India were recorded as

68.13 per cent and 31.87 per cent in 2011. The literacy rates of urban and rural

population was recorded as 84.78 per cent and 72.13 per cent in 2011.

Data Source: Census of India, 2011

Figure 1.3: Population Density in West Bengal

36
1.3.1.5 Water Resources

West Bengal is endowed with 7.5 per cent of the water resource of the country. The

main source of water in West Bengal is rainfall; the average annual rainfall is around

1762 mm. Out of this, about 76 per cent is received during the monsoon months and

the rest during the non-monsoon period. About 21 per cent of the rainfall infiltrates

through the soils and recharges the ground water and 49 per cent goes back to the

atmosphere as evapo-transpiration. The net annual water resource generated from

rainfall in West Bengal amounts to 51.02 bcm (WBPCB, 2009). About 60 per cent of

the water resource is available in the northern and 40 per cent in the northern parts of

West Bengal. The replenishable ground water resources including natural discharge

are 34.20 bcm of which 31 per cent is in the northern part and 69 per cent in southern

part of West Bengal. The state receives 598.56 bcm of trans-boundary water from

neighbouring states. The River Ganga carries 525 bcm of water from its large

catchment covering 26 per cent of the Indian geographical area.

1.3.1.6 Biodiversity and Forests

The climate and physiography of West Bengal support the rich diversity of life forms

in the form of flora and fauna. The state covers only 2.7 per cent of the Indian

landmass, but it is a home of 12.27 per cent of Indian biodiversity known till date.

The state has more than 7000 species of described flora including bacteria, algae,

fungi, bryophytes, pteridophytes and angiosperms, and more than 10,000 species of

described fauna. The forests of West Bengal are classified into seven categories viz.,

Tropical Semi-Evergreen Forest, Tropical Moist Deciduous Forest, Tropical Dry

Deciduous Forest, Littoral and Swampy Forest, Sub-Tropical Hill Forest, Eastern

Himalayan Wet Temperate Forest and Alpine Forest. The state has a recorded forest

37
cover of 11,879 sq. km., of which 7,054 sq. km. is Reserved Forest, 3,772 sq. km. is

Protected Forest and 1,053 sq. km. is Unclassified State Forest; thus it constitutes

13.38 per cent of the geographical area of the state. Under the conservation and

protection regime, the state has one Biosphere Reserve, two Tiger Reserves, five

National Parks and 15 Wildlife Sanctuaries.

1.3.2 Maldah

1.3.2.1 Historical Background and Creation of the District

Malda district has developed a unique character with the combination of historical and

geographical elements. The history of the district is interlinked with the different

periods of time of this country. The composite township of Malda is presently the

headquarter of Malda district, locating a few kilometres northwest of the ancient city

of Gaur, which was once the capital of the ancient bhukti or political divisions of

Bengal known as Pundravardhan that lies on the eastern extremity of the Gupta

Empire. The Gupta dynasty was followed by the king of Karnasubarna, Pala Dynasty

and Sen Dynasty till 1204 A.D. Thereafter, Muslims came and started ruling for about

five hundred years before Siraj-ud-Daullah was defeated by Lord Clive of British East

India Company at the battle of Plassey in 1757 (Bhatt, 1998; Shodhganga, n.d.).

During this period, the Kingdoms of Iliyas Shah, Sultan Nasiruddin and Hasan Shah

at Gour and Pandua, is presently known as Malda district, and the Kingdom of Nawab

Siraj-ud-Daullah in Murshidabad attracted Muslim population, that consequently

resulted in increasing the Muslim concentration in central part of West Bengal

including Uttar Dinajpur and Birbhum (Hussain, 2009). The district was formed with

9 outlying thanas of Purnia, Dinajpur and Rajshahi district in 1813 through an act of

incorporation, when serious crimes were prevailing in the Kaliachak and Sahebganj

38
thanas and also on the rivers like Ganga and Mahananda, a Joint Magistrate and

Deputy Collector was appointed at English Bazar with jurisdiction over a number of

police stations centring there and taken from the two districts. Thus, the district of

Malda was born. In August 1947, this district has seen the effect of partition. The fate

of the district was undecided, as to which side it should go (Pakistan or India)

between 12th and 15th August of the Independence year, because Sir Radcliff did not

clear his point in the announcement of the award of partition. The district was under

the control of Magistrate of East Pakistan during those days, but the district was being

included in West Bengal on 17th August 1947 after publishing the details of Radcliff

award. The new town has since metamorphosed into the city identified more

commonly as Malda today, while the older settlement on the Mahananda North bank

is now known as Old Malda. Administrative reconstitution of the nine original thanas

of Malda has made it a district with 15 development blocks presently, which have

been recently regrouped into subdivisions for administrative reasons (Shodhganga,

n.d.).

1.3.2.2 Location and Area

Malda is called the gateway of North Bengal, once the capital of Gour-Banga.

The word ‗Malda‘ derived from the Arabic word ‗Mal‘ which means wealth, so

‗Malda‘ in Arabic indicates a place where financial transactions are performed and

where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a large number of persons (Census of

India, 1991). Malda is situated from 24˚40‘20‖ N to 25˚32‘08‖ N latitudes and from

87˚45‘50‖ E to 88˚28‘10‖ E longitudes and it covers an area of 3,733.66 sq. km.

Malda is surrounded by Bangladesh in the east, Bihar, and Jharkhand in the west,

North and South Dinajpur in the north and Murshidabad in the south. This district is

39
composed of 15 Blocks, 2 Municipalities, 146 Gram Panchayats, 1814 Mouzas and

3701 Villages (Census 2011).

1.3.2.3 Physiography, Drainage, Climate, Vegetation, and Soil

The district of Maldah occupies mostly the low-lying plains having slopes towards the

south. On the basis of nature of topography and soil, Maldah has been divided into

three broad physiographic divisions, i.e., Barind, Diara, and Tal (Figure 1.4). The

Barind region of mature alluvium was named after its old historical name of Varendri

or Barendri, lies on the eastern margin of the Mahananda River, and it includes Old

Malda, Habibpur, Bamongola and Gazole blocks. Diara is characterized by a well-

drained flat land formed by the fluvial deposition of newer alluvium in the transitional

zone between the Barind upland and the marshy Tal tract of the Ganges and the old

channels of Bhagirathi River, lies to the south of the River Kalindri, spanning towards

Manikchak, English Bazar, Kaliachak I, Kaliachak II and Kaliachak III blocks of the

district. The soil is very fertile with sandy appearance, where mango gardens and

mulberry are common in this natural division. Tal is composed of bog lands of

number of marshy pockets around vestigial inland drainage, lays to the west of the

River Mahananda and to the north of the River Kalindri, comprising Ratua I, Ratua II,

Chanchal I, Chanchal II, Harischandrapur I and Harischandrapur II blocks of Maldah.

40
 Figure 1.4: Physiography and Drainage of Maldah

The main rivers of Maldah district include the Ganges, Mahananda, Kalindri,

Fulahar, Tangoan, Pagla, Punarbhaba and Bhagirathi. All the main rivers of the

district have their origin in Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan region flowing in

southerly directions with the general slope of the land and cover the area from north,

north-east, and north-west (Figure 1.4).

Himalayas in the north and proximity of Bay of Bengal in the south

characterise hot and sultry summer season (19˚C average annual temperature) with

41
high rainfall (1450 mm per annum) and moisture in the air throughout the year.

Irrespective of the general vagaries and mechanism of the monsoon, seasonal

distribution of the elements of weather, such as temperature, rainfall, and relative

humidity are too even. Kal baisakhi wind is predominant which blows every year.

The district has a small vegetation cover, extending from the River Kosi to the

Brahmaputra. This is an alteration of beels and village shrubberies with the drier

jungle of Barind region. Where the ground is not occupied by the usual crops, it is

covered with abundant natural vegetation, except the sandy beds of rivers. The

predominant trees are Bat, Pipal, Simul, Pakur, Neem, Jack-fruit trees, Bamboo,

tamarind, and Mango. Mango trees are found in plenty throughout the region.

The soil is one of the precious resources as a gift of nature that determines the

agricultural productivity and forestry. The district is lying on the western part of the

alluvium filled gap between the Rajmahal hills on the west and Garo hills on the east.

The entire district is covered with fertile soil which is useful for the production of

plenty of aman, boro and aus paddies. Other crops like jute, wheat, maize, pulses,

barley, oil seeds etc. are also grown.

1.3.2.4 Demographic, Socio-economic and Religious Profiles

The population composition of Maldah district has been discussed here in the light of

sex ratio, socio-economic components like literacy and economy as well as religious

composition. The district of Maldah has large population size of 39.89 lakh as

compared to the total population of 9.13 Crore in West Bengal in 2011. The present

population is six times more than the population of over 6 lakhs in 1901. According to

2011 Census, Maldah district has a total population of 3988845, out of which the

number of males and females were recorded as 2051541 and 1937304 respectively.

42
The population of Maldah is very highly concentrated in three blocks, such as

Chanchal-I, Kaliachak-I and III (Figure 1.5). The blocks having high density of

population are Harischandrapur-I, Harishchandrapur-II, Ratua-I, Ratua II, Chanchal-II

and English Bazar. The Moderate density of population is found in Manikchak and

Kaliachak-II. The low population density is found in the blocks of and very low

population density is found in the blocks of Gazole, Bamangola and Maldah (Old),

while very low density is recorded only in Habibpur block. The population growth

rate has been relatively steady in the pre-independence period. In comparison with the

post-independence period, growth rate has been increasing as a result of natural

factors, i.e., decline in death rates and increase in birth rates and renewed migration as

the new settlers in some areas of Malda have dispersed throughout the district in

search of employment and work. Hence the increase in growth rates arising from

trans-border political events after 1951 was consequently mild (Shodhganga, n.d.).

The highest growth rate was recorded as 31.98 per cent during the period of 1961-71

followed by 30.33 per cent during 1951-61, 29.87 per cent during 1981-91, 26.01 per

cent during 1971-81, 24.78 per cent during 1991-2001, and 21.22 per cent during the

last decade 2001-2011. In 2011, Malda has the population density of 1100 persons per

sq. km., which is higher than the state‘s average (1028 persons/sq. km.) as well as

national average (382 persons/sq. km.).

43
 Data Sources: Census of India, 2011

Figure 1.5: Population Density in Maldah

According to Census 2011, the sex ratio of total population in Maldah is

recorded as 944 females per 1000 males, while the child sex ratio is recorded as 950

females per 1000 males, which are quite below the state‘s averages, i.e., 950 and 956

respectively. On one hand, total sex ratio of West Bengal has increased from 934 in

2001 to 950 in 2011, and the child sex ratio of West Bengal has decreased from 960 in

2001 to 956 in 2011. It clearly indicates that child mortality rate in West Bengal has

increased during 2001-2011.

44
 In Maldah, literacy rate has increased considerably from 50.28 per cent in

2001 to 61.73 per cent in 2011, wherein male literacy rate has increased from 58.8 per

cent to 66.24 per cent and female literacy rate has increased from 41.25 per cent to

56.96 per cent in 2001 and 2011 respectively. The literacy rate of Maldah is 61.73 per

cent in 2011, which is lower than the state‘s average of 76.26 per cent by substantial

margin of 14.53 per cent.

In contrast, work participation rate in Maldah has slightly decreased from 40.8

per cent in 2001 to 38.55 per cent in 2011, which includes 52.96 per cent male

workers and 23.30 female workers. Moreover, work participation rate was 1 per cent

higher in rural areas with 38.7 per cent as compared to urban areas with 37.7 per cent

respectively, because Maldah is an agrarian district where most of the people are

engaged in workforce as agricultural labourers and cultivators.

As far as religion is concerned, Maldah has a mix of all the major religions

similar with West Bengal as a whole. It is already stated, that this district has the

majority of Muslim population constituting 51.27 per cent of total population,

followed by Hindus with 47.99 per cent, Christians with 0.33 per cent, Sikhs with

0.02 per cent, Buddhists with 0.01 per cent and other religions with 0.2 per cent, while

0.16 per cent population did not disclose their religion.

1.4 Research Questions

On the basis of the identified problems related to Muslims especially Muslim women

in the present study, it has been tried to seek answers of the following questions:

1. To what extent socio-economic indicators of females varies over the districts

and among the major religious groups of West Bengal?

2. How far Muslim females do deviate in gender equality with reference to

literacy and work participation in West Bengal?

45
 3. In what manner rural-urban disparity in terms of sex ratio and female literacy

rate is distributed over the districts of West Bengal?

4. What are the determinant factors of low Muslim female literacy rate and work

participation rate in West Bengal?

5. What extent Muslim concentration affects the socio-economic indicators of

Muslims in West Bengal?

6. What are the reasons of socio-economic backwardness of Muslims in West

Bengal?

7. What is the ground reality of Muslims in general and Muslim women in

particular as compared to Non-Muslims in terms of socio-economic conditions

in Maldah district?

1.5 Objectives

The broad objectives of the present study are:

 To examine the trends of Muslim Women in terms of sex ratio, literacy and

work participation in West Bengal.

 To examine the spatial pattern of gender inequality in literacy and work

participation of Muslim across the states.

 To assess the rural-urban disparity of Muslim sex ratio and Muslim female

literacy rate in West Bengal.

 To establish the relationship between Muslim concentration in West Bengal

and their socio-economic indicators.

 To trace out the determinant factors backwardness of Muslim females of West

Bengal in socio-economic scale.

46
  To analyse a comparative study between Muslim and non-Muslim women of

Maldah district of West Bengal by looking at their socio-economic attributes.

1.6 Hypotheses

With taking into account the research questions of the study, four hypotheses have

been formulated. These hypotheses are mentioned below:

H1: There is a relationship between Muslim child sex ratio and antenatal care,

availability of facilities and health personnel, sterilization and contraception

and socio-economic condition in terms of sanitation facilities.

H2: There is a relationship between Muslim female literacy rate and poverty,

percentage of schools in the districts and educational level of families.

H3: There is a relationship between Muslim female work participation rate

and Muslim female literacy rate and percentage of Muslim rural females.

H4: There is a relationship between Muslim concentration and one of their

socio-economic indicators such literacy rate, work participation rate and sex

ratio.

1.7 Database and Methodology

The present study is based both on primary as well as secondary sources of

data. The study can be more significant by taking district as a unit, which is the best

representative to exhibit the ground reality for larger heterogeneities inside a smaller

regional boundary and this can also encouraged planners as well as academicians (N.

Hussain et al., 2012). The primary data has been collected through conducting a

primary survey with an open-ended questionnaire from the 8 selected blocks of

Maldah district, where 640 households (including 320 households for Muslims and

47
320 households for Non-Muslims) were covered in the survey. There are total 15

blocks in Maldah district and it is not possible to cover all the blocks. Thus, nested

mean method has been used for the selection of the blocks in Maldah. So the total 8

blocks have been selected from the district (Table 1.1 and Figure 1.6). Later, the total

sample of 80 households has been selected through random sampling method from

each block which includes 40 households each for Muslims and Non-Muslims. The

half of the total number of blocks of Maldah were selected by using nested mean

method (Table 1.1), wherein four different means were calculated according to the

percentage of Muslims in the blocks. The first mean of Muslims was calculated as

52.32 per cent for the total 15 blocks of Maldah, out of which Habibpur, Gazole and

Manikchak blocks were selected. The second mean of the 8 blocks was found as

72.05 per cent, out of which Harischandrapur-I, Ratua-I and Chanchal-I were

selected. The third mean of the 3 blocks was calculated as 80.55 per cent, out of

which Harischandrapur-II was selected. Lastly, the remaining one block of Kaliachak-

I was automatically selected for the primary survey. The block of Kaliachak-I has the

highest concentration of Muslim population in Maldah district with 89.29 per cent,

while the lowest concentration of Muslims was recorded in Habibpur block with 1.28

per cent. As a result, the total 8 blocks were selected from Maldah district for

conducting the primary survey.

48
 Table 1.1: Selection of Blocks by Using Nested Mean Method

Percentage of No. of Blocks for Mean Nested Selected

Blocks
Muslims Calculation Mean Blocks
Habibpur 1.28 15 52.32 Habibpur
Bamangola 8.87
Gazole 23.60 Gazole
Maldah (Old) 28.60
Manikchak 43.88 Manikchak
Kaliachak – III 50.72
English Bazar 51.49
Harischandrapur 72.05 Harischandrap
59.41 8
–I ur-I
Kaliachak – II 65.98
Ratua – I 66.88 Ratua-I
Chanchal – I 71.22 Chanchal-I
Chanchal – II 71.25
Harischandrapur 80.55 Harischandrap
73.65 3
– II ur-II
Ratua – II 78.71
Kaliachak – I 89.29 1 89.29 Kaliachak-I
Source: Census of India, 2011

Figure 1.6: Selected Blocks from Maldah District for Primary Survey

49
 The secondary data for West Bengal and Maldah for the Census 2001 have

been collected from the CD of religious table of PCA (Primary Census Abstract),

2001. While the religious data of Census 2011 have been collected from the web

portal named ‗Digital Library‘ of the Census of India. The website ‗Indiastat.com‘ has

also been used for getting the district wise religious data of West Bengal and Maldah

(2001 and 2011) through mail. Later the other data related to demographic, socio-

economic and infrastructural attributes including birth and abortion, antenatal care,

availability of facilities and health personnel, sterilization and conception etc. have

been taken from DLHS (District Level Household and Facility Survey) Report, 2012-

2013. While the data related to poverty, number of schools, education of families etc.

were taken from Association SNAP Report, 2016. The detailed description about the

various sources of data has been given in Table1.2.

Table 1.2: Description of Secondary Sources of Data

S.
Description of Data Source Year
No.
1 Religious PCA (Primary Census Abstract) of West Bengal Census of India 1991, 2001
considering sex ratio, literacy rate, work participation rate, through CD ROM, and 2011
percentage of urban population and percentage of ―Digital Library‖
population by their residence. portal and
Indiastat.com

2 Fertility of ever married women, live birth, still birth, DLHS (District 2012-2013
induced abortion, spontaneous abortion, any ANC check- Level Household
up, Government health facility, Government ICDS / and Facility
Mobile Unit, private health facility, other care, primary Survey)
and middle school, Sub-Health Centre, PHCs, any
Government health facility, Anganwadi Centre, VHNSC,
current use of family planning methods, any modern
method, male sterilization, female sterilization, IUD, Pill,
Condom, Rhythm method, withdrawal method, other
method, household with electricity, improved sources of
drinking water, using liquefied petroleum gas, living in
pucca house, and households having BPL (Below Poverty
Line) card.

3 BPL households (on the basis of income), number of Association SNAP 2016
schools/10000 population, girl‘s enrolment, pupil teacher Report entitled
ratio, schools without toilet, illiterate families, families ―Living Reality of
with primary education, families with secondary education, Muslims in West
marriage of girls at below 18 years, non-institutional Bengal: A Report‖

50
 delivery of child, delivery at below 18 years, more number
of boys than girls, more number of girls than boys, equal
number of boys and girls, women‘s decision making,
women‘s decision making regarding child‘s education,
total migration, rural migration, urban migration and
migration for service, work and education.

4 Shape file of physiography and drainage of West Bengal Bhukosh, 2019

Geological Survey
of India

The data have been analysed in respective chapters with the help of the

following statistical methods:

1.7.1 Literacy Rate

Literacy rate as total population (LRTP)

= * 100

(1)

= * 100

(2)

= * 100

(3)

Where,
= Total population literacy rate of age group in year
= Male literacy rate of age group in year
= Female literacy rate of age group in year
= Literate population of age group of total population in year
= Literate population of age group of male population in year
= Literate population of age group of female population in year
= Population of age group in year

Literacy rate as number of literates (LRNL)

51
 = * 100

(4)

= * 100

(5)

Where,

= Male literacy rate of age group in year

= Female literacy rate of age group in year
= Male literate population of age group in year
= Female literate population of age group in year
= Total literate population of age group in year

In these equations (1 to 5), comprises of population with more than 6 years

age group while represents two different census years, i.e., 2001 and 2011. With the

help of first three equations (LRTP), three types of literacy rates comprising of total

literacy rate, male literacy rate and female literacy rate, have been calculated

respectively with respect to total population. Similarly, the remaining two equations

(LRNL) are used to calculate male literate and female literate among number of total

literate population. Total literacy rate as number of literates is not applicable because

the numerator and denominator are same. All the five equations are drawn from a

report given by Institute for Statistics of UNESCO with the title ―Guidelines and

methodology for the collection, processing and dissemination of international literacy

data‖ (Pessoa, 2008). On the basis of these formulas, work participation rate was

calculated with the help of the following formulas:

1.7. 2 Work Participation Rate

Work Participation Rate as Total Population (WPRTP)

52
 = * 100

(6)

= * 100

(7)

= * 100

(8)

Where,
= Total population work participation rate of all age group in
year
= Male work participation rate of all age group in year
= Female work participation rate of all age group in year
= Workers of all age group of total population in year
= Workers of all age group of male population in year
= Workers of all age group of female population in year
= Population of all age group in year

Work Participation Rate as Number of Workers (WPRNW)

= * 100

(9)

= * 100

(10)

Where,
= Male work participation rate of all age group in year
= Male work participation rate of all age group in year
= Male workers of all age group in year
= Female workers of all age group in year
= Total workers of all age group in year

53
 In these equations (6 to 10), comprises of population of all age groups

including children below 6 years unlike literacy rate, while represents two different

census years, i.e., 2001 and 2011. Through first three equations (WPRTP), three types

of work participation rates comprising of total work participation rate, male work

participation rate and female work participation rate have been calculated respectively

with respect to total population. Similarly, the remaining two equations (WPRNW) are

used to calculate male work participation rate and female work participation rate

among number of total workers. Similarly literacy rate, total work participation rate as

number of workers is not applicable because the numerator and denominator are

same.

From the derivation of S.M.I.A. Zaidi (n.d.) entitled ―Measures of

Inequalities‖, two different equations have been adopted, such as coefficient of

variation and coefficient of equality in order to measure the variation and inequality

respectively.

1.7.3 Coefficient of Variation

√∑ ̅
CV (Coefficient of Variation) = ̅
(11)

Where,

̅ = means of total number of observation

= is the i-th observation

= 1, 2, 3, …………………….. n and

‗n‘ is the number of observation

OR

Simply, the coefficient of variation is nothing but the ratio of standard deviation and
mean:

54
 CV =

The calculated value of CV will be generally between zero and one. In case of

perfect equality, i.e., no disparity at all, the values of CV is zero, which means there is

no variation in the series of observation. However if the calculated value of CV is not

zero, it will show the extent of variation in the series of observation. Higher the

calculated value of coefficient of variation, greater the degree of variation in the

observed values.

1.7.4 Coefficient of Equality

Coefficient of equality is one of the measures of inequalities. It has been used

to represent the gender inequality and inequality between women of all religions and

Muslim women in West Bengal. The following formula is used for measuring the

male-female disparity of literacy for a specific year:

Coefficient of Equality (CE) = X1/X2

(12)

Where X2>or= X1 and

X1 and X2 are the observed values of two groups of population

The value of CE will always range between 0 and 1 (there is a modification in

which CE may be more than 1 to represent the dominance of one group on another).

In case of no disparity (i.e., perfect equality), CE will be 1. It may be interpreted as

smaller the value of CE higher the extent of disparity, and higher the value of CE

lesser the disparity (Zaidi, n.d.). In the present study, this method is used to measure

the inequality between Muslim and Non-Muslim women, wherein the CE value

crosses 1 in some districts, because the proportion of Muslim females was more as

55
compared to Non-Muslim females in these districts, as far as the literacy rates and

work participation rates are concerned.

1.7.5 Odd Ratio

Szumilas (2010) suggested that the odd of an event is a ratio of frequency of

its occurrence to the frequency of its non-occurrence and the odd ratio (OR) is used to

compare the relative odds of the occurrence of the outcome of interest with given

exposure to the variable of interest. In the language of Andrade (2015), Odd ratio is a

measure of connotation amid an exposure and an outcome; and The OR characterizes

the odds that an outcome will occur with certain exposure, in comparison to the odds

of the outcome occurring in the absence of that exposure. In the present study, this

method has been used to measure the relative odd between (i) literates and illiterates,

(ii) workers and non-workers, in response to assess the gender odd ratio considering

female and male. Moreover, male population was taken as the reference group, by

which female population is compared. The formula of odd ratio was adopted from the

research paper of Sundaram and Vaneman (2008), which is expressed as below:

Odd Ratio (Literacy) =

(13)
Where,
F = Female, M = Male, lit = Number of Literates, illit = Number of illiterates

Odd Ratio (Work Participation) =

(14)
Where,
F = Female, M = Male, W = Number of workers, NW = Number of non-workers

56
 There is an inverse relationship between odd ratio and gender gap. It means that

higher the odd ratio, lower the gender gap in education. It can also be expressed in

such a way that if the odd ratio value is more than 1, then female dominates over

males and vice versa in terms of literacy and work participation.

 OR=1 Equality

 OR>1 Dominance of females over males (females are in better condition)

 OR<1 Dominance of males over females (males are in better condition)

1.7.6 Urban-Rural Differential Index (URDI)

This method has been taken from two research papers, i.e., ‗Regional Aspects of

Urban-Rural Differentials in Literacy in India: 1971‘ of Krishan and Shayam (1978)

and ‗Regional Analysis of Urban-Rural Differentials in Literacy in Uttar Pradesh,

India‘ of Siddiqui (2011), in which they tried to measure the differential index in

literacy. In the present study, there is felt a necessity to measure such differential

index for literacy, hence, the same method has been applied for literacy.

Urban-Rural Differential Index (DI) =

(15)

Where,
U = Urban female population; R = Rural female population, LR = Literacy rate, and T
= Total female population.

 Positive DI = dominance of urban literacy rate

 Negative DI = dominance of rural literacy rate

 Higher the value of DI (whether positive or negative), higher the gap between

urban and rural literacy rate (1< 0 > -1)

57
1.7.7 Rural-Urban Differential Index (RUDI)

In order to represent the degree of rural-urban differential of sex ratio statistically, this

method was adopted from the previous method ―URDI‖, which has been modified by

the author of the present study as per the existing variables unlike literacy rate

because rural sex ratio is higher than urban sex ratio. After modification, it has been

termed as rural-urban differential index (RUDI).

RUDI=

(16)

Where,

RUDI = Rural-Urban differential index; U = Urban population;

R = Rural population; CSR = Child Sex ratio; and T = Total

population.

This method can be explained in two ways. First, greater the value of RUDI

inculcates greater extent of difference in sex ratio between rural and urban areas.

Second, positive and negative values show the dominance of rural and urban sex ratio

respectively.

1.7.8 Decadal Growth Rate

It is the simple measurement of growth rate values of a particular component during

certain time period. It is calculated as the growth rate is divided by number of units of

time.

PR= x 100

(17)

Where,

58
 = Population Growth Rate, = Value of present population, = value of
past population (Parkar, 2002)

It has been used to measure the growth rate of sex ratio between the

consecutive decades and overall growth between 1991 and 2011 (refer to Chapter-II).

1.7.9 Pearson’s Coefficient of Correlation

This method was developed by Karl Pearson who was a British Biometrician. It is

also known as product-moment correlation which is denoted by ‟r‟. Moreover, it is

the most commonly used technique to investigate the relationship between two

quantitative variables whereas it quantifies the strength of the linear relationship

between a pair of these variables (Bewick, Cheek, & Ball, 2003).

∑ ∑ ∑
√[ ∑ ∑ ][ ∑ ∑ ]

(18)

Where,

= Correlation, = number of observations and = different

variables

We can categorise the type of correlation by considering the situation, as one variable

increases what happens to the other variable:

 Positive correlation – the other variable has a tendency to increase

 Negative correlation – the other variable has a tendency to decrease

 No correlation – the other variable does not tend to either increase or decrease

The result of coefficient of correlation or simply r can be categorised in 5 different

categories to denote the strength of the correlation which are mentioned as follows:

 00 - 0.19 = very weak

 0.20 - 0.39 = weak
 0.40 - 0.59 = moderate
 0.60 - 0.79 = strong

59
  0.80 - 1.0 = very strong

1.7.10 Linear Regression Analysis

The term ‗regression‘ was propounded by Francis Galton in the nineteenth century.

This is used to draw the linear relationship between criterion variable or simply

dependent variable and one or more predictors or independent variables. Unlike

coefficient of correlation, it does not establish deterministic relationship, rather one

variable predict another variable. In other words, independent variables explain the

dependent variable. The association is also represented by „r‟ like correlation.

Y = a + bX

(19)

Where,

Y is the dependent variable, Xis the independent variable,

a is the y-intercept, and b is the slope of the line

[(i) ∑ ∑
∑
∑
∑
∑
(ii)
∑
∑
∑
∑
∑
]

1.7.11 Location Quotient (LQ)

Location quotient (Hanif et al., 2015; IB Geography, 2019; Sentz, 2011; Tseng, Wu,

Chang, Dong, & Hui, 2017) is a simple method to measure the spatial distribution,

such as dispersal or clustering of a phenomenon in a district in comparison to entire

region and it is used for economic, spatial data and human geography. Anisujjaman

(2015) applied this method to measure the share of urban concentration in different

districts of West Bengal. But, in the present study, it has been used to measure the

share of Muslim population in different districts of West Bengal and different blocks

of Maldah district.

60
 = (20)

Where,
= number of person in jth (=1, 2 ...m) category of area i (=1, 2 ...n)
=∑ = total population in all the category of area i

=∑ =Sum of persons of category j in all the n area i.e. population of

region
under Category j
P = Sum of in all the areas i.e., total population of the region in each
category.

The principle of LQ is that greater LQ inculcates the greater concentration of a

category in the particular area as compared to other categories and vice versa. In the

present study, the j category is Muslim population and i is district (Anisujjaman,

2015).

 If LQ > 1 high concentration of particular category than other categories

in total population of the region

 If LQ = 1 equal concentration of particular category and other categories

in total population of the region

 If LQ < 1 low concentration of particular category than other categories

in total population of the region

1.7.12 Gini Coefficient and Lorenz Curve

It was propounded by the Italian statistician Corrado Gini (David, 1968) and was

published in his paper "Variabilità e mutabilità" ("Variability and Mutability") in

1912. The Gini index is the Gini coefficient expressed as a percentage, and is equal to

the Gini coefficient multiplied by 100. Moreover, the Gini coefficient is equal to half

of the relative mean difference.

61
 ∑ ̅
̅

(21)

Where, x = an observed value, n = the number of values observed, i = the rank of

values in ascending order and x = the mean of x. This formula is formulated in this

way because x values are placed in ascending order (StatsDirect, 2019).

The Gini coefficient (2019) is the measurement of assessing inequality of a

distribution. It is demarcated as a ratio ranging between 0 and 1: the numerator is the

area between the Lorenz curve of the distribution and the uniform distribution line;

the denominator is the area under the uniform distribution line. However, the Gini

coefficient is mostly used to measure income inequality. Here, 0 refers to perfect

income equality (i.e. everyone has the same income) and 1 denotes to perfect income

inequality (i.e. one person has all the income, while other has zero income). A

distribution curve is often used which is derived from Gini coefficient and the curve is

known Lorenz Curve (Zaidi, n.d.). It is generally related to the plot of wealth

concentration which was introduced by Max Lorenz (1905).

The methodology of the present study has been shown through flow chart in

Figure 1.7.

62
 Data Sources

Secondary Data Primary Data

Coefficient Coefficient Urban-Rural Rural-Urban Linear Location

Odd Ratio Gini
of Variation of Equality Differential Differential Regression + Quotient
(OR) Coefficient Coefficient
Growth (CV) (CE) Index Index (LQ)
Rate Correlation
(URDI) (RUDI)

Decadal growth Gender Gender odd Urban-rural Factors for rural- Concentration Income
Rural-urban
rate and overall Variation of sex difference in urban CSR of Muslim inequality
inequality in ratio of difference in
growth rate of ratio Muslim female differential and population in among Muslim
literacy literates and sex ratio
improvement in
sex ratio literacy rate the districts of and Non-
illiterates child health West Bengal Muslim
Households
Decadal growth
Variation of Gender Gender odd Rural-urban Determinant
rate and overall Concentration
literacy inequality in ratio of difference in factors of low
growth rate of of Muslim
Muslim female Income
work workers and child sex ratio population in
child sex ratio inequality
literacy rate the blocks of
participation non-workers among Muslim
Maldah district
and Non-
Muslim females
Variation of
work Reasons of Relationship Factors
participation socio-economic between Muslim affecting work
backwardness concentration participation of
of Muslims and socio-
Muslim
economic
indicators females

Conclusions

Figure 1.7: Flow Chart of the Study

63
1.8 Organisation of the Study

The present study is organized into seven chapters including introduction in the

beginning and conclusions in the end. The remaining five chapters are closely

associated with each other and examine the socio-economic status of Muslim women

in West Bengal.

Chapter I introduces the study with the statement of the problem, review of

recent literature, study area, research questions, objectives, hypotheses, and database

and methodology.

Chapter II deals with sex ratio along with child sex ratio of Muslim and total

population. It discusses variation, growth rate and pattern of sex ratio, while rural-

urban difference has been discussed for sex ratio and child sex ratio in the districts of

West Bengal.

Chapter III analyses literacy of Muslim and total population. The analysis

includes variation of female literacy rate of religious groups, gender inequality of

literacy rate and urban-rural difference of female literacy rate in the districts of West

Bengal. It also examines the determinant factors of low Muslim female literacy rate in

West Bengal.

Chapter IV studies work participation of Muslim and total population. The

analysis includes variation of female WPR of religious groups, gender inequality of

WPR and rural-rural difference of gender inequality in WPR in the districts of West

Bengal. The decadal change in Muslim female WPR in different occupations is also

discussed. Moreover, it examines the factors affecting of work participation of

Muslim females in West Bengal.

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 Chapter V is an effort to examine the relationship between Muslim

concentration and their socio-economic indicators like sex ratio, literacy rate and

WPR. It also investigates the reasons of socio-economic backwardness of Muslims in

West Bengal.

Chapter VI deals with socio-economic status of Muslim women in Maldah district. It

is divided into two sections, i.e., secondary data and primary data and discusses the socio-

economic characteristics of Muslims in Maldah district.

Chapter VII concludes the findings of all five chapters and suggests some

policy measures for the improvement of backwardness among Muslims in general and

Muslims females in particular.

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