Many demographic characteristics of the 199 households in the study area were not unique to Lachok and Riban, but instead closely resembled the national average, in family size and age-sex composition. The family size in the study area in 1989-90 was 6.3 (Table 3.1), whereas the national average figure was 6.6 in 1981 (NPC, 1986) and 5.6 in 1991 (CBS, 1993). It can be seen from Fig. 3.3 that the size of the family did not vary much across ethnic groups, except that the Occupational Caste households had a slightly smaller family size than other ethnic groups (see Fig. 3.3).
'College education begins after 10 years of schooling. Of these 16 college educated persons only one of them spent 4 years in college; all others had only 2 years of education in college.
2
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2 'S Oefif
r~L rTht r J L‘: X n <8 X ~ CQ Lp' L - .4£
I
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---- ^ COFig. 3.3: Age and sex composition of the population (different ethnic groups) in the Lachok-Riban study area, in 1988-89. Dotted-lines in Figures b, c, d and e represented the age and sex composition of the population of the study area as a whole (i.e., Fig. a). Source: household survey data, 1988-89.
As is evident from the pyramids showing age-sex composition (Fig. 3.3), a significant proportion (36.6 per cent) of the total population was found to be below 15 years of age (see also Table 3.1). This held true across different ethnic groups. Such a demographic feature will further accelerate population growth. For Nepal, the proportion of people below 15 years of age in the total population was 41.3 per cent in 1981 (CBS, 1989) and 44.6 in 1991 (computed from Table 1.3, CBS, 1993). Such an age composition was of course typical for the population of a developing country.
The age composition of the population of the study area (Table 3.1) also clearly indicated the lesser extent of availability of an economically active (15-45 years age group) labour force. For example, the proportion of the economically active population, including those who were temporarily absent from the village, in the total population was estimated at approx. 43 per cent. A slight variation was also observed across ethnic groups in the proportion of economically active population within the total population. The Occupational Caste households, on average, had a smaller population in the economically active age group in comparison to that of other ethnic groups. About 38 per cent of the family members in Occupational Caste households were found to belong to the
economically active age group. The comparable figures for other ethnic groups were estimated at 44 per cent for Brahmin, 42 per cent for Gurung and 45 per cent for Chettri (Table 3.1). These data are remarkably consistent from one ethnic group to another. Further relevant information, such as age-specific fertility rates, birth rates and death rates were not available. Effects of war, especially the effects of World War II on the age-sex structure of the Gurung population, were earlier discussed by some authors (Pignede,
1966), but in the study area these effects had almost disappeared, even though there were still a few men living who had participated in World War II.
The comparison (Table 3.1) of age structure of population of the study area in 1988-89 with that of Kaski District in 1991 (census survey), clearly indicate an increase in the proportion (also in number, see Table 1.1) of young people in the total population. There had been an increase in the proportion of people below 15 years of age from 1988-89 to
1991 by 4.1 per cent; there had been a corresponding reduction in the proportion of population in the ‘above 45 years’ category (Table 3.1).
Table 3.1: Lachok-Riban study area: Percentages of population in different age categories (1988/89).
Caste < 15 Yrs. 15-45 Yrs. >45 Yrs.
Brahmin 37.6 43.9 18.5
Gurung 35.7 41.5 22.8
Chettri 36.3 45.0 18.7
Occup. Caste 37.0 38.3 24.7
Kaski District 40.7 42.1 17.2
Source: Household survey data, 1989-90. * based on 1991 census data.
The problem of lower availability of an economically active labour force was found to be further aggravated by the out-migration of men. Even though there were more males than females in the total population of the study area, the reverse was the case considering only the resident population, clearly indicating a sex-specific labour migration (Table 3.2). A considerable variation was also observed in this respect across ethnic groups. For
example, the difference in the female-to-male ratio in the total and in the resident population of the Brahmin, Gurung, Chettri and Occupational Caste ethnic groups was estimated at 10, 32, 17 and 15 respectively. The higher level of this difference in the Gurung population clearly indicated that the incidence of male migration was much higher in their case, in comparison with members of other ethnic groups. There was also a slight difference across ethnic groups in the female-to-male ratio in their total population
t e x
(Table 3.2). The ^ of the Occupational Caste - ' quite different from time of other ethnic groups. There were only 82 females per 100 males of „Occupational Caste. But in the case of other ethnic groups there were more than 90 females per 100 males. In a society such as the study area, where female infanticide seemed never to have been practised, it was difficult to explain the smaller number of females than males. One possible reason which the author’s own experience supports, from growing up in a local Brahmin family, may be that girls were not cared for as well as boys, which obviously would lead to a higher female mortality rate. Such discrimination had more impact on girls belonging to the Occupational Caste because of the lower economic position of this ethnic group. This again could not be verified because of lack of data on age and sex- specific death rates.
Fig. 3.4: 'More children than adults' was a demographic feature shared by most of the families in the study area (Lachok, December 1989).
Table 3.2: Lachok-Riban study area: sex ratios (females per 100 males) of different ethnic groups in the total and resident population in 1988/89.
B r a h m i n G u r u n g Chet t r i O c c u p . caste All h o u s e h o l d s in total p o p u l a t i o n 92 95 93 82 92 in resi d e n t p o p u l a t i o n 102 127 110 097 109 d i f f e r e n c e 10 30 17 15 17
Source: Household survey data 1989-90. Population growth:
The main problem in the estimation of population growth for the Lachok-Riban study area was the lack of past population statistics. The difficulty arose partly because data bases in Nepal were prepared for an entire political-administrative unit. Since this study area did not entirely fit into any administrative and political unit, secondary information relating to population were not available.
Anecdotal sources of information, particularly information about additions to the number of households during the past 50-60 years, provided some indication of the
population growth rate. Expansion in the settlement of the Gurung village indicated that in the last 50-60 years the number of houses had almost doubled, which meant an addition of about 35 houses, including 6 additional houses of kami (Occupational Caste). This rough estimate suggested that the population growth rate had been less than two per cent per annum if household size had remained constant. In Lachok the rate of growth might well be similar, but it was more difficult to ascertain the number of houses that were built during a certain period of time. The reason was that additional houses were not simply added in a particular direction, but erected in between earlier-built houses. Consequently, it proved to be more difficult to separate the older from the more recent households.
Since the study area typically represented the Kaski District in terms of ethnic
composition and physical features, population characteristics at the district level might also provide some indication about the situation in the study area. The population growth rate of Kaski District was estimated at 1.80 per cent per year in 1981, whereas the comparable figures for the middle hills and the whole country were estimated at 1.67 and 2.66 per cent respectively (CBS, 1986). The main reason for the lower population growth rate in the middle hills including the Kaski District, in comparison to the national average, was the migration of people of the hilly area to other places, but mainly to the Terai. These permanent movements of people to the Terai region had, as discussed in Chapter 2, declined substantially since the 1970s. In 1991, population growth rate for Kaski District was estimated at 2.85 per cent per year and for the middle hills at 1.6 per cent per year.
An effort has also been made to present population growth rates for the Kaski District in the more distant past. This is presented in Table 3.3. Although the population data for
1820-21 needed to be considered with reservation because of possible changes in the boundaries, there was evidence of a substantial decline in the population growth rate in the period 1961 - 1971 in Kaski District. The main reason for such a decline in population growth rate was the high rate of permanent migration to the Terai. But the rate of population growth increased substantially during 1971 - 1991, especially during 1981-
1991, presumably in response to declining opportunities for permanent settlement in the Terai.
Table 3.3: Kaski District: total population and its growth, 1820-1981.
Year Population Mean Growth
Rate/Year (per cent)
1820-21 33,291 (estimate) - 1952-4 150,127 1.15 1961 172,868 1.60 1971 185,703 0.72 1981 221,272 1.80 1991 292,945 2.85
Source: Data for 1820-21 were estimated by Macfarlane (1976) based on the records of Brian Hodgson's manuscripts. Hodgsons (1850) reported only the number of households. These data were converted to a population estimate assuming a household size of 6.3 persons. Data for other years were derived from respective censuses.
Population statistics of two villages [Arva and Armala as reported by Macfarlane (1976)] in the Kaski District which were similar to the study area in many respects, are presented in Table 3.4 with the aim of providing some insights into the problem of population growth. Here again, caution must be exercised in comparing the past population with the present population of these villages, because of possible changes in the village boundaries. Taking this proviso into account, the data in Table 3.4 provide only an approximate indication of the past population growth rate in these villages. What remains striking however, in both Arva and Armala in the long period from 1820-21 to 1952-54, was the low level of population growth, 1.33 per cent per annum and 1.0 per cent per annum respectively. This slow growth of population was no doubt related to poor health facilities and the permanent migration of population to India, which one is tempted to relate to poor economic conditions and the oppressive land policy in Nepal (see Chapter 2).
Population growth from 1952-54 to the 1970s had also remained slightly above 1.0 per cent per annum in hill villages. For example, Macfarlane (1976) had estimated the annual population growth rate in Thak, a Gurung village in the Kaski District, as a little over 1.0 per cent for the period 1950-69. The migration of people, permanently or temporarily, was also found to have added to the complexity of estimating the population growth rate for such small areas. Despite these difficulties and the inadequacies of recorded data, the above discussion leads to the conclusion that the population growth rate in the two-village study area had remained below 2.0 per cent per annum for the past several decades. However, this growth rate was capable of doubling the population every 35 years.
Table 3.4: Population in Arva and Armala, Kaski District, 1820/21 - 1952/54.
Village 1820-1 1952-4 Mean Growth
Rate/year (per cent)
Arva 384 2,248 1.33
Armala 504 1,719 0.92
(Sources - as for Table 3.3)
Factors affecting population growth were of course intimately related to cultural practices. In the past, population growth in Nepal was strongly affected by pronatalist attitudes, in accord with both Hindu and Buddhist world views. Examples of such attitudes were still prevalent in the early 1990s in the study area: it was commonly held that at least one son is required to perform the funeral ceremonies of his parents; a married women should bear children, preferably at least one son in order to get validation from society;
children should look after aged parents; women should be married at an early age, and so on. Moreover, villagers also thought that a larger family size is useful for securing the livelihood of the family. But while these cultural attitudes helped to maintain a high level of fertility, access to medical facilities during recent decades had caused a significant decline in child mortality.
Despite the remnants of the traditional values in the society, population statistics obtained fromjecent census survey (1991) showed some favourable demographic changes. For example, the total fertility rate for Nepal as a whole had remained close to 6.3 in the 1970s and 1980s, but declined to 5.6 in 1991. The infant mortality rate declined from 172 in
1971 to 144 in 1981 (NCP, 1988) and to 102 in 1991 (CBS, 1993). Any changes in the attitude of villagers towards smaller family size in recent years had not yet resulted in a drastic decline in population growth because the improvement in health facilities had helped in reducing the mortality of children. In the early 1990s this reduction in the mortality rate of children had not yet been associated to a significant extent with a decline in the birth rate. In fact the reverse had occurred. The crude birth rate declined from 44.7 per thousand in 1974-75 to 39.7 in 1981 (NPC, 1988), but increased to 41.2 in 1991 (CBS, 1993). What these data suggest is that the ‘health transition’ now taking place (mid-
1970s to mid-1990$ has not yet led to a further change in^emographic transition, to be expected when the birth rate falls significantly.
Despite the emphasis given to family planning programs in Nepal in the past two decades, they have met with only limited success in reducing births. It was estimated that only about 4.6 to 6.5 per cent of the reduction in the birth rate in 1981 was due to family planning methods (NCP, 1988). Prevailing socio-cultural practices in the society, the relative indifference to women's education and their low status in the society, have been the main factors impeding more positive demographic changes. The ultimate impact of this continued growth in population is to be seen in the economy, as well as in the use of resources. One of the responses of people at village level has been increased dependence on off-farm work (wage-labour employment outside the village) which has resulted^tVie temporary migration of part of the village labour force.
Labour migration:
Discussions with the residents of the study area revealed that labour migration had taken place since the mid-nineteenth century. As most of these migrants returned to the village, this migration did not result in permanent movements of villagers. But during the 1960s and 1970s, it was said that about 20 poor and landless families (from all ethnic groups) moved to the Terai for permanent settlement. They went there voluntarily with the hope of acquiring land through a government land distribution scheme. Some Gharti households who used to work as slaves before their freedom from enslavement in 1926, also migrated to the Terai.
Better economic opportunities, specifically in subsistence production, were found to be the main motivating force for this migration. But five families had returned to the village, as they were not able to acquire enough land for their sustenance. Permanent migration from the study area had almost stopped because, it was said in 1990, the Terai could no longer absorb large numbers of migrants. And the Terai did not then generate a high level of employment for temporary workers.
Owing to the small number of employment opportunities in many villages in the middle hills, temporary migration had long been necessary in order to obtain access to off-farm employment. It was estimated from village survey data in 1988/89 that about 10 per cent of village people were then living outside Nepal in order to earn incomes. The duration of this migration extended from one year to more than 25 years - and it was punctuated by
return visits to Nepal - but it was circular migration (Bedford, 1981), because all the migrants intended to return to their village at the end of their employment, and normally had done so. In addition to such long-term temporary migration, villagers of the study area also engaged in short-term, or seasonal, off-farm work outside the village during the slack season for farming (January-March).
Despite the growing importance of short-term migration which was difficult to quantify, a large number of members of the village, who were resident in 1989, had undertaken long-term migration. The field study revealed that 126 members of the village had been away for long term employment, of not less than 12 months. A large majority (about 91 per cent) of them were males of the economically active age group (Fig. 3.5 and Fig. 3.6). This held true across different ethnic groups. Of the total ‘long-term’ outmigrants (126), only 11 (9 per cent) were children and women. The proportion of such migrants in the total economically active population of the village was estimated at 25 per cent. Most of these long-term migrants had left their families in the village to look after the house and the farm, while they were away.
Even though there was not much variation in sex composition of out-migrants of different ethnic groups, a distinct variation was observed across ethnic groups in the extent of their migration. Tables 3.5 and 3.6 show the relationship between ethnicity and the migration patterns. This issue is taken further in Figs. 3.5 and 3.6. Fig. 3.5 illustrates the incidence of temporary migration among different age groups and Fig. 3.6 shows the sex composition of the migrants.
Table 3.5 shows that labour migration for long term off-farm employment was closely related to ethnicity. The incidence of such migration was proportionately higher among Gurungs, followed by Chettris and the members of the Occupational Caste. Brahmin households sent proportionately fewer family members for outside work. About 65 per cent of Gurung, 35 per cent of Brahmin, 52 per cent of Chettri and 49 per cent of the Occupational Caste households were found to have sent in 1988-89 at least one member of their families for outside work.
Sending one or more member(s) for outside work was generally a family decision in the study area and most families would prefer not to send more than one member at a time. Despite this, there were a few households in the study area who had more than one family member involved in outside work. It was highest in Gurung households where about 25 per cent were found to have two or more members engaged in outside jobs. Incidence of such migration among Brahmin, Chettri and the Occupational Caste households was
comparatively low (see Table 3.5). The reasons for sending more than one family member for outside work were found to be varied. In most cases, this practice was found to depend