THIRUVALLUR DISTRICT

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT

THIRUVALLUR DISTRICT

Introduction

� Tiruvallur district has a combination oftraditional temples and handlooms on the onehand, and rapid industrial development on theother hand. Agriculture and family basedtrades are fast diminishing with the all-encompassing industrial economy andservice sector which are major contributorsto the faster economic growth in the districtas compared to the State of Tamil Nadu.

� Tiruvallur, a newly formed district on the eastcoast has just 5.8 % forest cover and 35 %net sown area which are fast receding.

� Socio economic position, it has a mix of bothtraditional and modern cultural and livelihoodpractices, with the equation between the twochanging over time.

Geography

� Tiruvallur district is located in north-east TamilNadu and lies between 12°15' and 13°15'north latitude and 79°15' and 80°20' eastlongitude. The district is surrounded byKancheepuram district in the south, Velloredistrict in the west, Bay of Bengal in the eastand Andhra Pradesh in the north.

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� The total geographical area of the district is342,243 hectares or about 3,422 squarekilometers.

Topography

� The coastal region is mostly flat while certainareas in Tiruttani and Pallipet taluks areundulated and even hilly. However, there arenot many hills of any considerable height inthis district.

� There are a few conical hills or ridges of smallelevation, like the St. Thomas Mount. Mostof the hills and hillocks are rocky and noverdant vegetation is seen in the slopes ofthese hills.

� The area under forests, all of 19,736 sq. km.,is only 5.8 % of the total geographical area ofthe district.

Soil Condition

� Rocks found in and near the surface are indetached masses. Hence, the soil can’t betermed as very fertile.

� The soil types predominantly found are rednon-calcareous and coastal alluvial. Sandysoil mixed with soda or other alkalis is alsofound in the district.

� The soil found nearer to the seacoast is ofthe inferior erinaceous type, which is mostsuited for raising casuarina plants. No mineralof any importance is available in the district.

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Climate

� Like other parts of Tamil Nadu, hot climateprevails during the months of April and Mayand humid climate during the rest of the yearexcept in December, January and Februarywhen it is slightly cold.

� The average normal rainfall of the district is1104 mm. Out of this about 50 % is receivedduring north east monsoon period and about40 % is received during south west monsoonperiod.

� The average temperature of the district is amaximum of 37.9°C and a minimum of18.5°C.

STATUS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

� Poonamallee and Tiruvallur blocks had highranks with regard to all the four indiceswhereas Villivakkam block was close behindand could be called one of the developedblocks.

� Gummidipoondi and Tiruvalangadu blocks onthe other hand had consistently lower ranks.Poondi and R K Pet too had lower ranks withregard to three of the four indices.

� Overall HDI and CDI in the district were higherwith majority of the blocks clocking an HDIvalue about 0.500.

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� Wider inter-block variations were observedin indices for HDI because of low access tohealth facilities and services in some of thevery backward blocks impacting indicatorspertaining to IMR, MMR and under-five-mortality.

� The overall HDI index revealed a widevariation with Poonamallee (0.911) at thehighest and Tiruvalangadu (0.295) at thelowest rank with the inter-block variationbetween HDI of the first and last rankedblocks.

� Inter-block GII values ranged from 0.117 inTiruttani with the worst level of inequality to0.016 in Tiruvallur with a mild level of genderinequality.

� Villivakkam, Pallipet, Poonamalee havebetter CDI and R.K.pet, Sholavaram, Puzhalhave low CDI value.

� The blocks of Puzhal, Poonamallee, andVillivakkam indicated lower presence ofmultiple deprivations in education, health andliving standards unlike the blocks of R. K. Pet,Gummidipoondi and Tiruvalangadu whichhad highest MPI ranking among the blocks.

Employment, Income and Poverty

� District’s PCI was higher in comparison withthe State PCI and the district’s GDDP had

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grown faster than the state’s GDP. Respectiveshare of primary, secondary and tertiarysectors in the district and the state, however,remains comparable with the service andindustry sectors contributing the lion’s sharesto the respective GDP.

� Total population in this district had increasedfrom 2,754,761 in 2001 to 3,728,104registering an increase by 35.33%; there wasalso an upward change in the workersparticipation rate. However, only about 40 %of the population was employed. There washowever no significant change in theproportion of main, marginal and non-workersto overall worker population over the pastdecade.

� A lower proportion of marginal workersindicates that majority of the employedpopulation had employment for more than180 days in a year except for Villivakkamblock where the increase in marginal workerswas phenomenal at 157.9%.

� The female work participation out of totalfemale population was 23.46 % in the districtin 2011. The female participation rate variesamong the blocks ranging from 15.51 % inPuzhal to 44.70 % in Tiruvalangadu.

� There is also a striking urban rural disparityin work opportunities for women, with just

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18% of urban women economically active ascompared to the 33.6% rural women.

� In primary sector the proportion of workersemployed had declined from 22.4 % in 2001to 21.4% in 2011 the overall worker populationhad increased by 55.8 %; yet the number ofcultivators reduced by 5.5% and net sownarea reduced by 10.46%.

� The district has witnessed enormous interdistrict and intra district labour movement,driven by diminishing and unprofitableagriculture, marginalization of smallbusinesses such as handlooms, andindustrial activities concentrated in easternparts of the district with exception of theSIPCOT and TANSDICO in Gummidipoondi.

� There has been a decrease in the workerpopulation in the household industry sector(by 4.9%) and tremendous increase in theworker population in the ‘other’ sector (by63.39%), indicating both positive andnegative aspects of labour movement.

� On a positive note, there was a movement ofworkers from unorganized sectors toorganized, industrial or service sectors.Decrease in household industry sector,however, suggests that traditional familybased or small enterprises such ashandlooms had reached a stagnation pointprompting the families to explore otheravenues.

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� The placement has been consistently low

ranging from 1.82 to 3.11 during the reference

period between 2007 and 2011.

� The proportion of sector-wise contribution in

the GDDP from 2009-10 to 2011-12

suggested that a major share of the income

of the district, accounting 62.9% of total

income, was contributed by tertiary sector

followed by secondary sector with 34.1% with

just 3.04% contributed by the primary sector.

� The per capita income of district is Rs. 83594

higher than State.

� In rural areas, the proportion of BPL families

was slightly lower (36.76%) than the State

average for rural areas whereas in the urban

areas it was slightly more (21.98 %) than the

State average for urban areas. Percentage

of BPL households in the district (30.86%)

was comparatively higher than that in the

State (21.12%).

� Tiruvallur, Puzhal and Villivakkam blocks had

the least percentage of BPL households

whereas; Pallipet (63.09%), R K Pet

(42.16%), Tiruvalangadu (37.15%), were the

blocks with high percentage of BPL families.

Demography, Health and Nutrition

� Population of Tiruvallur district was 37,28,104in 2011 registering a growth of 35.33% over

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2001. Intra district growth transition revealedvarying degrees of growth percentagesamong the blocks ranging from 62.60% inVillivakkam and 12.75% in Tiruvalangadublock.

� Density for Tamil Nadu was 555 in 2011, itwas higher at 1098 for the district. During2001 and 2011, this ratio increased from 776to 1098 indicating a steady increase inpressure on land for occupation. Populationdensity in the blocks ranged from 325 inPoondi to 5104 in Puzhal.

� CBR for the district in 2013 was lowercompared to the State (15.6) and nationalaverage (21.4) for the same year. CDR forthe district too was lower than the State (7.3)and national average (7.0) for the same year.

� Sex ratio in the district had increased from971 in 2001 to 987 in 2011 which was, still,lower than the State’s sex ratio of 996 womenper 1000 men (census 2011). Six blocks viz.,Minjur, Poondi, Tiruvallur, Ellapuram, Tiruttaniand Tiruvalangadu, had sex ratio more than1,000.

� The CSR for Tiruvallur district has reducedfrom 957 girls per 1000 boys in 2001 to 946girls in 2011.

� The inter-block disparities in IMR ranges fromlowest in Poonamallee (5.1 deaths per 1000

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live births) to highest in Tiruvalangadu (20.2deaths per 1000 live births) indicate highvariation in preparedness for ensuring childsurvival.

� Innovative interventions like ComprehensiveEmergency Obstetric and Newborn Care(CEmONC), had lowered the MMR in TamilNadu (68) and in Tiruvallur district (79.5).

� In MMR, Kadambathur, Pallipet, Thruvallurhave shown impressive improvements in theirperformance in the year 2013-14.

� Percentage of institutional deliveries in thedistrict had gone up to be 99.9 % with just0.1 % domiciliary deliveries.

� The district SBR had marginally declined from13.26 in 2012-13 to 12.96 deaths per 1000live births in 2013-14.

� Among the blocks, the proportion of childrengraded as moderately or severelymalnourished is in the range of 4 % to 21 %with Gummidipoondi registering the highestand Pallipet and Puzhal recording the lowestproportions.

� Provision of IFA tablets to pregnant womenhas been universal at 102 % in 2013-14, whilecoverage among adolescent girls (63%) andchildren (49%) got IFA supplements needsfurther improvements.

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� 100 % urban wards had drinking water facility,

3.13 % habitations accounting for 131

habitations in the rural areas do not have

potable water.

� Proportion of households with toilets in

Tiruvallur district (65.97 %) was slightly better

than India and Tamil Nadu. In Gummidipoondi

and Sholavaram barely one third of the

households have toilets.

Literacy and Education

� Overall literacy of the district which was

expected to increase by 10 % had increased

by 7 percent points during the period 2001

and 2011 from 76.9 % to 84 %. However, the

difference between male and female literacy

which was about 17 % points in 2001 had

reduced to about 10 % points in 2011.

� Four blocks: Villivakkam, Poonamallee,

Puzhal and Tiruvallur; had higher literacy

rates than the district average.

� The district has impressive achievements in

enrolling almost all school-going age children.

District enrolment rate for primary section is

consistently high for past three years. The

completion rate had also shown consistently

high performance at the primary level. This

indicates that opportunities for schooling are

available and both girls and boys in rural

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areas of all the blocks in the district universallyaccess education.

� At the upper primary level, completion rateduring year 2012-13 was lower at 94.27 %as compared to that at the primary level98.57%. Completion rate was slightly higheramong girls.

� Transition rate from primary to upper primarywas 99.80% during 2013-14 with minor or nodifference among girls and boys in thisregard.

� In the year 2011 there were 775 girls and 892boys in the age group of 6 to 14 years whowere never enrolled in any school. Thesechildren accounted for 0.36 % of the childrenin the school-going age group. Thispercentage had further reduced to 0.08 % in2013-14.

� In three blocks, Tiruvallur, Sholavaram andR.K .Pet, residential bridge courses wereconducted for 121 students. Such efforts hadcurtailed the dropout rate to 1.28 % in theyear 2013-14. Block-wise data indicates thatPoonamallee and Tiruvallur had the leastnumber of out of school children in 2013-14,whereas Minjur and Gummidipoondi hadcomparatively higher proportion of dropouts.

� Enrollment rate in secondary education ismore than 100% in all the blocks. Dropout

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rate in secondary education is very high bothin comparative and absolute terms at 7.16%which is more or less same among girls andboys.

� Considering the number of primary schools(1,013) and upper primary schools (352),there was a sharp decline in number of highschools (164) and number of highersecondary schools (112). The number of highschools was only about 16 % of the primaryschools and number of higher secondaryschools was only about 11 % of the primaryschools indicating a reduced opportunity forsubsidized schooling up to higher secondaryclasses.

� The disaggregated block level data for 2011and 2013-14 indicates that the studentteacher ratio is in acceptable limits acrossboth primary (24:1) as well as upper primarylevels (21:1) during 2013-14.

� About 2341 students and about 2045students from 62 schools stay in the 40 AdiDravidar Welfare hostels and 36 BackwardClasses Welfare hostels available for them.

� There are seven universities including oneveterinary university for increasing theopportunities for higher education and humanresources development.

� Nearly 2.5 lakh students were seeking highereducation in 23 arts and science colleges

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(2.07 Lakh students), 43 engineering colleges(17452 students), 21 polytechnic colleges(5497) and one medical college (400) andother facilities (25,162 students) to studypharmacy, nursing, physiotherapy dental,polytechnic engineering and hotelmanagement.

GENDER

� Tiruvallur district’s performance towardsgender relevant indicators, such sex ratio,IMR, MMR is better than the nationalaverages and lower than the state averages.

� The sex ratio however was improving at afaster rate than the State’s ratio. Genderequations among social groups such as SCsand ST were not as encouraging.

� Overall female work participation rate in thedistrict was 23.5 %, however, it was better inrural areas (33.6 %) compared to urban areas(18%).

� Higher women participation in the rural areaswas attributed to MGNREGA which does notnecessarily result in higher incomes for thewomen. Blocks with high proportion of BPLfamilies were seen to have high female workparticipation.

� Subsidy linked bank loans, entrepreneurialdevelopment programme and capacitydevelopment programme for women,

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assumed a very important role in addressingthe low level absorption of women inorganized sector. TCDW, Mahalir Thittam,Pudhu Vaazhvu Project and non governmentorganizations are working towards social andfinancial inclusion of the poor women.

� Economic empowerment of poor women bythe means of SHG system and its functioningwas impressive in the district. Formation offederations had allowed the SHGs to accesscredit much more easily resulting in PLFsassuming great powers and influencingdecision-making particularly during electionsand other political processes.

� Local bodies, and Assembly, have 39 %elected women representatives among therepresentatives from Tiruvallur district whichis certainly a welcome situation.

Social Security

� Tiruvallur district had 314765 elderly,representing 8.44 % of the total districtpopulation in 2011 with 51.5 % of elderlywomen and 48.5 % of elderly men. Populationof aged is on the rise. Number and proportionof aged women is also on the rise.

� The aged population (60+) in the district wasmore than three lakh persons in 2011. In 2014more than 60 % of the aged benefitted underthe various social security measures.

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� 40 % of the persons with disability who hold

disability identity cards have become Welfare

Board Members.

� There were 19 special schools all over the

district that were enrolling a total of 1252 girls

and boys, to help them learn and grow at their

own pace.

� There were 2752 differently-abled children

studying in various regular government

schools under inclusive education.

� Out of 5011 children, assistive devices were

supplied to 874 Children, 999 children study

under home-based care, 280 children

benefited by the day care center and 30

schools were provided with ramp.

� In Tiruvallur district; Ellapuram, Poondi,

Tiruttani, Pallipet and Tiruvalangadu; the five

blocks identified for the project intervention,

6188 persons with disability were identified

by 2013-14. More than 90 % of them were

given identity cards and more than 80 % have

already received economic assistance.

� SSA Tiruvallur opened 101 Centres,

appointed 117 educational volunteers and

Rs.8.2 lakhs was spent for the academic

development of the seasonal migrant children

in the district.

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� Number of crimes against women Tiruvallurdistrict had gradually increased from 38 in2011 to 83 in 2013, a trend which witnesseda reversal during 2014 with the number ofcrimes against women restricted at 40.

� Absence of cases reported was a goodindicator of crimes against women, however,lack of easy access to legal system, lack ofcooperation by the police, fear and socialstigma associated with the crime could be thereason for under reporting or non-reportingof crime against women.

Infrastructure

� All the households in the 14 blocks, 10 townpanchayats and 5 municipalities have beencovered with electricity connection.

� Tiruvallur district had roads of 8389.897kilometers length by year 2013-14. Threefourth of the roads in the district were beingmaintained by 14 Panchayat Unions (block)while the rest were maintained by 10 TownPanchayats, 5 Municipalities and Zones.

� Majority portion of the 6000 kilometer strongroad length in Tiruvallur district, about 70 %of the roads are bituminous and while 12.7% of roads are mud road and remainsunusable during rainy seasons.

� Poonamallee, Villivakkam and Puzhal havethe largest share of roads in the district, about

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13 % each. Gummidipoondi and Villivakkamhave the highest share of mud roads (10.8 %and 16.7 %). More than 90 % of the mudroads were in rural areas, making access toschools, hospitals, government offices,banks, workplaces difficult for the peoplethere.

� Tiruvallur district had public telephonenetwork by BSNL and private services byAirtel, Aircel, Vodafone, idea etc. There wereas many as 44 telephone exchanges with36802 telephone connections.

� Financial services available in the districtwere fairly good. Banks participate in thegovernment’s drive towards financialinclusion to a great extent. Tiruvallur districthad 320 commercial bank branches includingrural and semi urban branches providingvarious financial services to the people.

� Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) with21 branches had issued 289892 polices inthe district during 2011-12 and 283672policies in the year 2013-14.

� Tiruvallur is well connected by road and rail

� Ennore Port, officially renamed KamarajarPort Limited, located on the CoromandelCoast about 24 km north of Chennai Port, isthe 12th major port of India, and the first portin India which is a public company.

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Conclusion:

� The fact that, industry and service sectors

were the key contributors to the district’s GDP,

and that, Tiruvallur district was growing

economically at a fast pace needs to be

capitalized by creating a skill-opportunity

balance for the local youth.

� Improving quality of school education is

critical for their enhanced capacity to absorb

higher educational inputs.

� At the same time, support to traditional

occupations including agriculture and small

enterprises is vital for the families who

currently face the threat of being pushed out

of business with very little bargaining power

in the market dominated by industry giants.

� Economic and political participation of the

women is crucial not just for their own

empowerment, but also for the district

community as a whole, as an empowered

woman has the potential to empower her

family and her neighbourhood.

� Infrastructure facilities such as roads and

public transport and other economic

infrastructure need to reach the last mile, not

just to facilitate the market economy but also

to make the social infrastructure and services

more accessible to people. Ensuring 100 %

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availability and accessibility of schools, toilets,

potable water, and healthcare services is

crucial for quality of life and wellbeing for all

citizens as well as for boosting their

productive participation in the district’s

economy.

� An inclusive and enabling atmosphere for

work participation by the vulnerable

population, particularly the differently abled

and mentally challenged, allows them to

exercise their right to suitable productive

employment and gives them respectability.

�

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