DHARMAPURI DISTRICT

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT

DHARMAPURI DISTRICT

Introduction

� Dharmapuri is surrounded by Krishnagiridistrict in the north, Tiruvannamalai andVillupuram districts in the east and Salemdistrict in the south. Kaveri River is situatedin the west and the whole district is boundedby hills and forests.

� The geographical surface of the Dharmapuridistrict largely consists of Mysore Plateau andShevaroy Hills, the Cauvery and Ponnaiyarrivers and their tributaries that course acrossthe district.

� The district has an administrative division asfive taluks, eight blocks and 470 revenuevillages.

� The Hogenakkal Falls is located inDharmapuri, it is popularly known as theNayagara of India.

� Dharmapuri district is well-known for granitesand minerals and high quality black granites,Quartz and Molybdenum are widely found inPennagaram, Harur and Palacode blocks ofthe district.

� This district is worth-mentioning in the Statefor its Horticulture. The district accounts fornearly one-third area under mango cultivation

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and nearly one-half of the mango yield in theState.

Geography

� Dharmapuri district is situated in the north-western corner of Tamil Nadu. It lies inbetween the latitudes N 11 47’ and 12 33’ andlongitudes E 77 02’ and 78 40’.

� The district comprises of 4497.77 squarekilometres of area, which is about 3.46percent of Tamil Nadu State’s geographicalarea.

� The district has a vast area of fertile land.Nearly 163.82 Sq.km is forest area, 219.01Sq.km is net area sown and 17.16 Sq.km isbarren and uncultivable waste land.

Topography

� Dharmapuri district forms part of the uplandplateau region of Tamil Nadu with many hillranges and undulating plains.

� The western part of the district betweenPennagaram and Denkanikottai has hillranges of Mysore Plateau with a chain ofundulating hills.

� The southern boundary of the district isoccupied by the Shevaroy hill ranges.

� The plains occupying the central, eastern andsouthern parts of the district have an averageelevation of 488 m. above Mean Sea Level.

� The Plateau region along the westernboundary and the northwestern part of the

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district has an average elevation of 914 m.above Mean Sea Level.

Soil Condition

� The soils of Dharmapuri district can beclassified into i) Red Soil, ii) Red lateritic soil,Brown soil and iv) Alluvial soil

� The soils are mostly in-situ in nature, lateritic,earthy and pale reddish in colour.

� The type of soil in this district ranges fromblack to mixed loam. Red sandy soils are alsoseen in the Harur taluk. Black and loam soilare there in the Dharmapuri taluk. The soil isgenerally low in Phosphate and Nitrogencontent.

Climate

� The climate of the district on the whole isslightly humid. The driest months areFebruary and March with average relativehumidity of about 30% in the afternoons.

� During the rainy months the average humidityis appreciably below the saturation level.

� The district temperature is a gradual decreaseof both day and night temperatures from Juneonwards till December, when the mean dailymaximum is about 30°C and the mean dailyminimum about 19°C in the plains. The daytemperatures increase gradually fromJanuary onwards.

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STATUS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

� In Dharmapuri district, Dharmapuri (0.813)Morapur (0.619) and Papireddipatti (0.569)occupy the top three ranks. Palacode (0.397)Karimangalam (0.415) and Pennagaram(0.416) are the bottom three blocks. It showsthat there are wide inter – block variations ofHDI in the district. There is need for reducingthe variations across blocks throughappropriate programmes based on groundrealities.

� The GII value closer zero shows lower genderinequality and the value closer to one (1)shows higher gender inequality. Across theblocks, gender inequality is the least amongKarimangalam (0.009). Dharmapuri (0.011)and Pennagaram (0.026) it is higher amongHarur (0.066) Palacode (0.055) andPappireddipatti (0.053).

� The Child Development Index helps us tounderstand the vital aspects of children suchas their health and education. The top threeblocks in Child Development Index areDharmapuri (0.71) Harur (0.68) and Morapur(0.68).The bottom three blocks in CDI arePalacode (0.48) Pennagaram (0.35) andKarimangalam (0.22).

� The U5MR of Children is more in Palacodeand Papireddipatti blocks.

� The child sex ratio is less than 900 inKarimangalam and Pennagaram blocks. No

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block in the district has sex ratio closer to950.

� Child marriages are prevalent in the districteven though, the government machinerymakes all efforts to prevent them in allpossible ways.Multidimensional PovertyIndex (MPI)

� Multidimensional Poverty Index reveals thatin the case multidimensional poverty, it islower in Dharmapuri (0.29). Morapur (0.467)and Harur (0.50) blocks, the multidimensionalpoverty is higher in Pennagaram (0.73).Palacode (0.68) and Karimangalam (0.557)The two blocks Papireddipatti (0.43) andNallampalli (0.51) are in between the top andbottom MPI blocks

Employment, Income and poverty

� According to 2011 census, Dharmapuridistrict had a population of 12,72,758. Outof that, workers constituted 56.76% of thepopulation of the district.

� During 2001 and 2011, there was onlymarginal variation in work participation ratein the district. It increased from 49.50 in 2001to 49.86 in 2011.

� The MGNREGS was launched on 1-4-2008in Dharmapuri district.In Dharmapuri district,more than two lakh job cards have beendistributed to the beneficiaries till now.

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� Workers are broadly classified into cultivators,agricultural workers and other workers.During 2001 and 2011, an increasing trendis noticed among household industrialworkers and others worker. There is adecrease in the number of cultivators andagricultural labourers during 2001 and 2011in all the blocks of the district. Failure ofmonsoon, lower wages in agriculture and out– migration are the major causes of thisphenomenon.

� Employment provided through employmentExchange in Dharmapuri presents a dismalpicture. More than 2 lakh persons registeredwith employment exchange. Only about 3600got placement.

� The contribution of the primary sector toGDDP declined from 18.08% in 2010 -11 to15.55 in 2011-12. The share of secondarysector in GDDP marginally declined from20.22% to 20.17% during the same period.The share of tertiary sector in GDDP declinedfrom 64.28% in 2010 – 11 to 60.19% in 2011– 12. We find that the tertiary sector plays adominant role in GDDP.

� The per capita income of the district in 2011– 12 (at constant prices (2004 -05) at Rs.56,202 was lower than that of the State’s percapita income which was Rs.63,996 duringthe same year. But it is encouraging to notethat the per capita income of the district, morethan doubled, from Rs. 27,265 in 2004 – 05to Rs. 56, 262 in 2011–12.

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� People engaged in jobs in rural areasnormally earn low income. So the peopleshould explore the possibilities to earn moreincome from industrial centres. That means,they should have industrial exposure relatedtraining, update their technical skills and thereshould be improvement in literacy andeducation.

� During 2013-14, nearly half of the householdsin the district (44.50%) come under the BPLcategory. The difficulty in getting remunerativejobs, seasonal nature of employment inagriculture, drought prone nature of someblocks result in chronic poverty.

� Almost all the families have been coveredunder the public distribution system. Nearly3.91 lakh families were in possession offamily cards in 2014.

Demography, Health and Nutrition

� In 2011, Dharmapuri district had a populationof about 15 lakhs. Its sex ratio was 946 andthis was lower than the sex ratio of the State(996). Among the 0- 6 population, 52.27%were boys and 47.73%, girls. S.C and S.T.population accounted for 16.29% and 4.18%of the population respectively.

� The density of population of the districtincreased from 319 in 2001 to 333.5 in 2011.Among the blocks, Nallampalli (505)Karimangalam (423) Dharmapuri (115 andPalacode (396) had higher population density

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in 2011. The lowest population density wasseen in Pennagaram (181) and Harur (187).

� The Crude Birth Rate of Dharmapuri districtdeclined from 17.7 in 2013 to 16.7 in 2014.Papireddipatti is the only block in the districtwhere the CBR increased from 13.2 in 2013to 14.9 in 2014.

� There was marginal increase in CDR in thedistrict from 4.9 in 2013 to 5.0 in 2014. Amongthe eight blocks, Palacode, Karimangalamand Papireddipatti experienced more CDR in2014 than that in 2013. In Papireddipattiblock, the CDR increased from 4.5 in 2013to 5.8 in 2014. There is need for focusing onthis block to reduce the CDR throughappropriate healthcare measures.

� The sex ratio of the district increased from932 in 2001 to 946 in 2011. There isimprovement in sex ratio in 2011 in all theblocks except in Dharmpuri where it declinedfrom 927 in 2001 to 924 in 2011 and inPennagaram where the sex ratio declinedfrom 904 in 2001 to 898 in 2011.

� The Child Sex Ratio is defined as the numberof females per thousand males in the agegroup 0-6 years in the population. Child SexRatio of Dharmapuri district increased from863 in 2001 to 913 in 2011. That speaks ofthe good performance of the district inprotecting the girl child through a series ofawareness programs which have played acrucial role in improving the child sex ratio.

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Efforts taken by the government to protectthe girl child through a series of awarenessprograms was instrumental in improving thechild sex ratio.

� The life expectancy at birth in 2013 – 2014 inDharmapuri district was 71 and that is lowerthan that of the state (73.4). Similarly, the lifeexpectancy of the males (69.8) in the districtwas lower than that of the state (71.8). Thelife expectancy of females (72.6) was lowerthan that of the state (75.2) Infant MortalityRate (IMR).

� The average IMR of Dharmapuri Districtduring 2013-14 was 19 and a majoity ofblocks in the district had IMR of more than19. Nallampalli had the highest IMR with 21.Only two blocks had low IMR. Karimangalamwith 12 was followed by Dharmapuri with 16.5Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).

� The MMR during 2014 in Dharmapuri districtwas 65. Pennagaram had the highest MMRwith 140. It is heartening to note thatDharmapuri and Karimangalam reported nilMMR.

� The place of delivery is an important factor inpreventing maternal and infant mortality. Mostof the deliveries, in Dharmapuri are takingplace in Primary Health centres, Governmenthospitals and private hospitals.

� Still Birth Rate is rather low, in general in thedistrict as well as in the blocks. In Dharmapuri

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district as a whole, it decreased from 1.20 in2013 to 1.12 in 2014. By imparting periodicalawareness to pregnant women and to thosewho belonged to the reproductive age group,still birth rate can be reduced further.

� Immunization programme is one of the mostcost – effective health investments. Almostall the children in the district are immunized.Dharmapuri district has wide coverage ofimmunization through Primary Health centresand Health sub-centres.

� Nearly 20% of the children in Dharmapuridistrict suffer from malnutrition.Pappireddipatti block had more number ofmalnourished children (33%) in the districtfollowed by Harur block (29%) Pennagaramhad the lowest percentage (9%) ofmalnourished children.

� In Dharmapuri district 61% of women,children and adolescent girls availed of IFAtablets during 2014. The percentage of thosewho availed of the IFA tablets are the highestin Pennagaram block (74) followed byDharmapuri block (71%). Only half of thetarget population availed of the IFA tablets inthe Harur block.

� Almost all the blocks in the district get goodsupply of drinking water. The percentage ofhouseholds having access to drinking waterin 2014 ranged from 98.2 percent in Palacodeto 99.9 percent in Nallampalli.

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� During 2014, in Dharmapuri district, only41.50 percent of households had toiletfacilities. While 74 percent of households inPennagaram had toilet facilities, only 27percent of households had toilet facilities inPalacode, followed by Harur (28 percent) andPappireddipatti (30 per cent).

� Cultural factors are predominant in rural areaspreventing people from having toilet facilitiesin the house.

� The number of HIV positive persons declinedfrom 535 in 2013 to 479 in 2014 due to theefforts of the Health Department. Still thereis need for spreading great awareness aboutAIDS, especially among the youth.

� TB and Leprosy prevalence declined in thedistrict when 2013 and 2014 data arecompared.

� The number of positive TB persons declinedfrom 1549 in 2013 to 1376 in 2016 due tothe consistent efforts of the HealthDepartment of the district. For example, inDharmapuri the number 625 in 2013 declinedto 187. In Nallampalli block, the figuredeclined from 337 to 269 during the sameperiod. Pappireddipatti block too the numberof T.B. persons declined from 395 in 2013 to129 in 2014. But in Pennagaram, Palacode,Karimangalam, Morappur and Harur blocks,there is a high jump in the number of positiveTB persons.

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� The number of leprosy cases in the districtdeclined from 31 in 2013 to 20 in 2014. Allthe blocks witnessed decline in the incidenceof leprosy cases during the period.

Literacy and Education Literacy and Education

� The literacy rate of Dharmapuri district in 2011is 68.54% which is far behind the literacy rateof the State. But there is huge gender gap inthe literacy rate of the males (76.85%) andfemales (59.50%).

� During 2012 – 13 and 2013 -14, Dharmapuridistrict had enrollment of 99.80 percent inprimary and almost all blocks had more orless the same enrolment for both boys andgirls.

� The completion rate during 2012-14 atprimary level is 98% in the district and therate is more or less the same for both boysand girls (98%).

� The dropout rate at primary level is negligibleat 2 percent more or less for boys and girlsduring 2012 – 13 and 2013 – 14.

� The completion rate at upper primary level inthe district increased from 93.55% in 2012-13 to 97.79% in 2013 – 14. It is interesting tofind that the completion rate of girls (96.19%)is slightly higher than that of the boys(95.20%)

� The dropout rate at upper primary leveldecreased from 2.77 in 2012 -13 to 2.37 in

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2013 – 14. It is interesting to note that all theblocks witnessed decline in dropout rate. Notonly that, the dropout rate declined for bothboys and girls in all the blocks.

� While the transition rate from primary to upperprimary level in the district during 2013 -14 is96 percent, it is encouraging to note that thetransition rate from upper primary tosecondary level during 2013 – 14 is 99.36%.

� In 2014, for 2862 habitations in the district,there were 1491 schools in the district. Theyinclude 937 primary schools, 342 upperprimary schools, 114 secondary schools and98 higher secondary schools.

� The district’s average for Pupil –TeacherRatio in primary school is 28:1 Morapur blockhas the ratio of 25:1 whereas for Palacodeblock the ratio is 31:1 For Pappireddi blockthe ratio is 27:1. The district has ideal pupil –Teacher ratio.

� The enrolment rate at secondary level in thedistrict during 2013 – 14 was 90.05%. Andthere is not much difference in the enrolmentrate between boys and girls.

� The dropout rate at secondary level in thedistrict decreased from 3.42% in 2012 – 13to 2.57% in 2013 – 14. While Karimangalamblock had the highest dropout rate (4.18percent). Dharmapuri block had the lowestdropout rate (1.45 percent) in 2012 – 14. It isencouraging to note that the dropout rate for

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girls in 2013 – 14 (1.77%) was lower thanthat of boys (2.57) in the same year.

� Out of the total number of 1361 schools inthe district, 821 schools had 3 class roomseach and 540 schools had more than 3 classrooms in 2014. All the schools are providedwith electricity and toilet facilities. Only 17percent of the schools (2.29) are withoutcompound walls.

� In Dharmapuri district, during 2014, therewere 34 hostels with 3510 students asinmates. Harur block and Pappireddipattiblock with 1371 and 1881 inmatesrespectively had the largest number of hostelstudents.

� Nearly 17,000 Adi-dravidar and Tribalstudents availed scholarship during 2014.

� There are 12 Arts and Science colleges inthe district, of which 3 are governmentcolleges, 2 are aided colleges and 7 areunaided colleges.

� Technical Education: There are 2 Engineeringcolleges and 17 polytechnics in the district.

Gender

� The female population of the district during2011 was 7.30 lakh. It is 48.60% of the totalpopulation. Sex ratio is 946 and that is farbehind the state’s sex ratio (995) and theliteracy rate of women is 59.50% MMR is 65in the district. The percentage of womenworking in agricultural sector is 65.71

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� A number of schemes are implemented bythe government to empower women throughfinancial support. The institutions whichprovide financial support include Self – HelpGroups (SHGs), NABARD, nationalizedbanks, Pudhu Vazhvu and Mahalir Thittam.The NGOS also play an important role informing SHGs.

� During 2013 – 14, there were 3581 SHGs inthe district and they availed of credit of Rs.75.45 crore.

� According to 2011 census, the female literacyrate of the district was 53.11% and this islower than the male literacy rate of 68.18%.The existing programmes of the governmentshould be strengthened by periodicalassessment to increase female literacy in thedistrict.

� The work participation rate for women in thedistrict is 42.16%.

� The percentage of women workers in non –agricultural sector is 41.82.

� Dharmapuri block had the highest femalework participation rate in the non – farm sector(63.60%) and the lowest share was found inPappireddipatti (27%) in 2011.

� Agricultural wage rate of female workers inall the blocks ranges from Rs. 110 to Rs. 120.The average wage rate in the district is 116.

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� In the district elected women representativesin the local bodies accounted for 33.33%. Thishas been made possible by the amendmentmade in the constitution with regard toPanchayat Raj institutions giving one third ofthe seats in the local bodies for women.

Social Security

� Social security is provided in the district forthe aged above 60 years, destitute widows,differently-abled, destitute deserted widowsand unmarried women. More than 63thousand people received financialassistance from the Dharmapuri Collectoratethrough the existing schemes.

� All individuals above the age of 60 who livebelow poverty line are eligible to get financialassistance through Indira Gandhi NationalOld Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS). By2014, 38123 aged poor in the district availedof the financial assistance from the scheme.

� Crimes against women are under control inDharmapuri district. In 2014, 117 cases ofcrimes against. The Data available for threeyears 2012 to 2014 reveal gradual decreaseof crimes against women. The stern actionby the police, education, changing attitude ofpeople towards decent life have brought downthe crimes against women. Meticulousplanning, community policing and the conceptof Friends of Police have played an importantrole in bringing down the crimes againstwomen.

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Infrastructure Infrastructure

� The total road length of Dharmapuri districtis 5858 Km. The types of roads are Mud,WBM, BT and CC roads.

� Through TNEB, 470 revenue villages and1809 hamlets and eleven towns have beenelectrified.

� The Telecommunication system inDharmapuri district in 2014 included 65Telephone Exchanges, 2323 PCOs, 36758land lines and 130 Mobile Towers. Thoughall the blocks have telecommunicationfacilities, Palacode, for some reason, doesnot have single landline. And that must berectified.

� Dharmapuri district in 2014 had 134cooperative societies with a membership ofmore than three lakhs, 74 commercial bankswith more than 2.76 lakh account holders.

� Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has fivebranches in the district and it has issued themaximum number of policies (38290).National insurance company Ltd., The NewIndia Assurance Company and the OrientalInsurance Company have each one branchand they have 7235, 14407 and 12300 policyholders respectively.

� State Highways play an important role in thedistrict. There has been a persistent demandto declare the State Highways as National

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Highways to facilitate further improvementand strengthening of these State Highways.

� Hogenakkal Waterfalls is an important touristplace in Dharmapuri district. Besides, thereare many places of religious and culturalinterest.

� Hogenakkal Integrated Drinking WaterProject is a fluorosis mitigation drinking waterproject constructed at Hogenakkal inDharmapuri district. It is executed by TamilNadu Water Supply and Drainage Board(TWAD) with funding from the Japan Bankfor international Cooperation (JBIC) usingTamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water. Theproject aims at supplying safe drinking waterto the drought prone and fluorosis affectedDharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts of TamilNadu. The total cost of the entire fluorosismitigation project is Rs. 1334 crore

Conclusion

� Dharmapuri district’s biggest asset is itslabour force. By identifying suitable industries,across the district, the resource can beutilized.

� By developing proper vocational skills amongthe population, we can check the trendtowards out - migration of unskilled youth,while improving the employability and earningcapacity of the youth.

� The health problems of the district areaggravated by social and cultural factors,

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such as early marriages, Malnutrition ofchildren has a damaging impact on the healthprofile of the district. So, prioritized healthawareness programmes should be topagenda of the districts.

� The agro-processing sector has a greatpotential as Dharamapuri district is anagricultural and horticultural economy.

� A separate district Board for coir industry maybe established.

� The large number of SHGs in the district maybe drawn into economic activities, throughprovision of technical support and microfinance.

� The district has a lot of potential for tourismdevelopment in view of Hogenakkal waterfallsand historical sites.

� The inclusive growth of the district shouldinclude special programmes for tribaldevelopment.

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