144

Chapter IV

Overall Profile of NGOs in Socio-economic and

Demographic Perspectives of Meerut Region

In view of the symbiotic relationship between men & environment, it would be

worthwhile to present the overall profile of the NGOs working in the Meerut region – the

region selected for the study - in the perspectives of its topography , socio-economic

environment, ethnography & strategic location Accordingly , this chapter is divided in two

main sections, viz. the first section will present a sketch of the geographic position , socio-

Economic and demographic perspectives of the Meerut Region while the second section will

focus on the overall profile of the NGOs working in the region and their symbiotic relations

with topography , socio-economic empowerment, ethnography & strategic location of the

region. In conclusion , the Chapter will make an attempt to establish how the geographic ,

demographic and socio-economic features of the region influences the objectives , location

and functional areas, ownership and management pattern , target groups and the fashion of

discharging their role and responsibilities of the NGOs working in the region.

I. Socio-economic and Demographic Perspectives of Meerut Region

Meerut Division is named after the headquarters city, the name of which is divided

from its ancient time name, Mayarashtra . Its origin is ascribed , by one tradition, to Maya, the

father-in-law of Ravana (the Rakshas king of Lanka) and by another to Maya-asura, the

superb architect who lived in the times of the Pandava king Yudhishthira . Another

traditional name of the city is Mai-dant-ka Khera (the city of Maya the Rakashasa) .1 The

beginning of the history of civilization in the region covered by the present district of

Meerut , which lies in the upper Ganga- Yamuna Doab & Lies between latitude 28032 &

29018’ north & longitude 770 7 & 780 14 east, goes back to times considerably anterior to

the advent of the Aryans and the risk of Vedic Culture . Archaeological excavations (

145

undertaken in 1950- 52 ) of the mound ( locally know as Ulta Khera - or upturned

habitation - and also as Vidura - ka tila or the mound of Vidura ) at Hastinapur (about five

miles west of the Ganga, in tahsil of Mawana of this district )2 revealed various antiquities

which are taken as evidence of a succession of culture periods which this site enjoyed

during the past four thousand years or so. The Ganga and Yamuna ( which respectively

from the eastern and the western boundaries of the region) are among the rivers mentioned

in the Rigveda3 and the region lying between then is covered by expanse of country

reflected in its hymns. 4

According to the Jain tradition Hastinapur ( or Gajapura ) was one of the earliest

Indian cities , it being founded in the time of Rishabhadev ( the first tirthankara ) whose

grandson, Somaprabhats was its first rural , that the kings, kuru and Hastina , were his

decendants and Shantinatha , Kunthunatha and Arahantha ( his sixteen , seventeenth,

and eighteenth, thithakara respectively ) were born in and ruled from his city . According

to the Buddhistist it was the capital of kuru-rattam , so named because in the day of

manadhata, the emperor of Jambu-dvipa, the inhabitants of Uttara Kuru had come and

settled here .5 The early history of this region , as gleaned from the Mahabharat and the

Puranas, covers the period from Dushyanta and Bharata to the destruction of Hastinapur

a few generation after the Mahabhrata war. 6 It appears that the Bharatas , one of the most

important of the Regvedic tribes, were the earlist Aryan people to be associated with this

region.7

In 1844 W.H Sleeman visited the district and he has observed in his memories,”

The Country between Delhi and Meerut is well cultivated and rich in the latent power of its

soil : but there is here , as everywhere else in the upper Provinces, a lamentable want of

gradations in society from the eternal sub-division of property in land , and want

Of….. Concentration of capital in commerce and manufactures ”8 This phrase aptly

described the culture of the region prevailing even today.

146

In shape it’s roughly rectangular , its length from north to south between 48 & 36

miles. On the north it is bounded by the south west by the National capital of the country-

called NCT of Delhi . The Gang forms its natural boundary on the east & separates it from

the district of Bijnor Moradabad . Most of its western boundary is marked by the Yamuna

which separates the region from the Rohtak & Karnal districts of present day Haryana.

The total area of the district, at present, is 2,323 square miles.The district is almost a

level alluvial plain with a slight slope from north to south or south to east. The average

gradient is about two in the mile & is almost uniform throughout. The whole of the

region is a well cultured plain, & there is no uneven ground except in the area of the

ravines near the river valleys and the scattered bhur ridges in the upland tract. On the

whole, the region is a tract of extraordinarily fertile soil. In the north –west and middle (

including the districts of Bagpat, Meerut and Ghaziabad ) and lying to the west of kali

Nadi, the soil is more fertile than in the east ) , where the bhur soil from small ridges

extends irregularly across the plain.

The Meerut region at present comprises of five districts , indicated and named as

below in Figure 4.1 with their sub-divisions.

147

Figure 4.1

Meerut

It is a Part of the National Capital Region of India. It is the 16th largest

metropolitan area in India and the 25th largest city in India. 9 It ranked 292 in 2006 and 242

in 2020 in the list of largest cities and urban areas in the world. Meerut is the 63rd fastest

growing urban area in the world. 10 It is also the fastest developing city of Uttar Pradesh after

Noida and Ghaziabad. It has one of the biggest army garrison/cantonments in this part of

the country.

The city is famous for its scissors, Handloom Cloths, Gold Jewellery, sports goods

(especially cricket goods). Gazak and Rewri ; and is sometimes called the city of scissor or the

sports capital of India. Most of all, the city is famous for the Indian Mutiny of 1857,

which began here. With the cheap availability of a land as compared to Delhi, and being in

Meerut Division

Meerut Bagpat

Ghaziabad Bulandshahar

Meerut

Sardhana

Bagpat

Baraut

Modinagar

Ghaziabad

Bulandshahr

Sikandrabad

Gautam Budh Nagar

Mawana

Khekra

Hapur

GharMukateshwar

Anupshahr

Khurja

Dadri

Jewar

Sadar

148

the proximity of Delhi, the city is fast developing as an industrial and education hub in

Western Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh State Industries Development Corporation (UPSIDC)

already has two industrial estates in Meerut, namely Partapur and Udyog Puram.

Mohakampur indusrrial area is a private initiative. Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd

already have unrestricted power at Partapur , Udyogpuram and Mokhampur industrial areas.

Bhur Baral, Gagol and Shatabti Nagar have been identified by UPSIDC as the

upcoming industrial areas of the region. According to the Income Tax department, Meerut

contributed a handsome Rs.10,089 crore to the National Exchequer in 2007-08,

outperforming Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhopal Kochi and Bhubaneshwar. The Branded

Companies like Aircel, The Mobile Store, Hotspots, Spencer, Pantloons (Big Bazaar)

started operations in Meerut. It is becoming an important media centre, as journalists from

all over Uttar Pradesh and other Indian states are working in Meerut.Recently a lot of news

channels have also been commenced in the region...

According to the 2001 census , the city ranks in terms of population and 6th in

terms of population density in Uttar Pradesh. The city also ranks 2nd in terms of population

in NCR . Males constitute 53.43% of the population and female 46.56%. The city has an

average literacy rate of 83.96% , higher than the national average of 59.8% (Table 4.1).

Male literacy rate is 86.31% , and female literacy is 82.12% .16.66% of the population in under

6 years of age. Meerut has one of the largest Muslim populations among the cities of India

(close to 32.5%)

Table 4.1 : District Population (2001 Census)11

District Male Female Total

Urban 77,670 677,313 1,451,983

Rural 826,908 718,313 1,545,378

Total 1,601,578 1,395,783 2997,361

Literacy 76.31% 54.12% 65.6%

Bulandshahr

The District of Bulandshar located between Ganga and Yamuna rivers. This is situated

between 28.40 and 28.00 north latitude and between 77.00 and 78.00 East longitudes .12 The

history of Bulandshahr begins even before BC 1200. This region is close to the capital of the

149

pandavas- Indraprastha and Hastinapur . After the decline of Hastinapur , Ahar which is

situated in the north-east of Bulanshahr District, became an important place for, the the

Pandavas. King Ahivarn or Ahibaran was a Kshatriya and a Suryavanshi. He was the 21st

decendant of Samrat (Emperor) Mandhata the rural of Ayodhya . As per Mahalakshmi Varat

Katha, it was in Emperor Mandhatas lineage that at one stage son of king Vallabh Agrasen

was born and at another stage son of king Parmaal Ahivarn was born; both of whom

further started their own clans: Agrawal (or Aarwal) and Varnwal (or Barnwal). In 1192 AD

when Muhammad Ghauri conquered parts of India, his Senapati, Qutubbudin surrounded

Fort Barn and, with the help of traitors, was able to kill King Chandrasen Dor and in the

process take control of the Barn kingdom. After the fall of Barb-sahar, the Baranwal

community lost leadership and direction and in the process scattered to different part of

India, mostly to the Gangetic plains of India, and started living under the various family

names of Verma, Lala, Modi, Goyal, Bakshi, pawaria (bilsuri} Choudhary, Patwari, Gupta’s,

Parsariya, Simriya, Nagar, Arya, Shah.

According to Gazetteer District Bulandshahr (1980) has 4 sub-division and six

town13 are depicted below in Figure 4.2 and 4.3 . All religion and castes of people live with

their traditions, rituals etc. Unlike Meerut, this is a city wherein people of all regions coexist

with peace and harmony, may be due to fact that people of different religions are

scattered away from the city in rural areas. Banking and other financial institutions

especially agricultural cooperative societies are widely spread in the district. The area is

known for its dominant agricultural based economy.

150

Sub-Division of Bulandshahr

Figure:4.2

Towns of Bulandshahr

Figure: 4.3

Ghazaibad

The town of Ghaziabad is the administrative headquarters of the District. It lies around 1.5 km

away from river Hindon. The main rivers that flow through the Ghaziabad district are

Hindon, Ganga and Yamuna.15 Besides these main rivers, there are several other small

rivers, the most remarkable among them is the river Kali. It is basically a rain-fed river.

Added to this, the district uses water from the Ganga Canal for the Purpose of irrigation.

Khurja

Sikandarab-ad

Dibai

Anupshahr

Jahagirabad

Bulandshahr

Bulandshahr

Bulands-hahr

(tahsil)

Anupshahr (tahsil)

Sikandar-abad

(tahsil)

Khurja (tahsil)

Bulands-hahr

(tahsil)

151

The geographical dimensions of the district are 72 X 37 km with total district area of

approximately 2590.0sqkms16 . The district has four sub-divisions17 depicted along with

their blocks below in Figure 4.4 :

Figure: 4.4

District has five town areas which is – Patla , Niwari , Faridnagar , Dasana ,

Babugarh. District has six Municipal Crops , 74 Nyay Panchayts , 405 Gram Sabha , 22

Police Station , 567 Villages. According to the census 2001 the population of the sistrict

was 33,14,070, the social composition of which is given below18

Ghaziabad

Modinagar Ghaziabad Hapur Garh Mukteshwar

Bhojpur

Murad Nagar

Rajapur

Loni

Dhaulana

Loni

Simbhawali

Garh Mukteshwar

152

S.N DESCRIPTION VALUES

1 Male Population 17,81,674

2. Female Population 15,32,396

3 Rural Population 14,97,665

4 Urban Population 18,16,415

5 SC Population 5,99,539

6 ST Population 207

7 Male Literates 11,67,067

8 Female Literates 7,35,036

The district with the boundary with National Capital has its special significance that it

served as one the satellite town to Delhi providing residential units to those working in

Delhi and has both forward and backward economic and demographic linkages with the

Delhi region. As a result, the residents of the district headquarters enjoys almost similar

amenities as in Delhi and therefore it has become a one of the major sources of meeting

demand of both skilled and unskilled labor in Delhi region.

Gautam Budha Nagar

Gautam Budha Nagar district has been newly formed district, created in 1997 , withdrawing

certain adjoining areas from the districts Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr.The district at present

comprises of three sub-division and four blocks, as depicted in figurre 4.5 and 4.6 below,

spreading over the area of 1456 sq.km19

Sub-division of Gautm Buddha Nagar

153

Figure 4.5

Blocks of Gautam Buddha Nagar

Figure 4.6

The Gautam Buddha Nagar is one of the most popular industrial town off the Uttar Pradesh

contributing highest share in total tax and non-tax revenue of the State amongst the

districts. Like Ghaziabad, this is also one of the satellite town of National Capital of Delhi.

However, unlike any other satellite towns, it has become a very prized location for both

manufacturing and servicing national and multinational corporations. Most of the popular

companies now prefer to have their offices in NOIDA town of the district as result of

which it has become a hub of servicing and manufacturing centre of the country. The

development of district as a hub of business activity has a very strong centripetal force of

attracting the both skilled and unskilled labor as well as the capital from other parts of the

country. The pattern of development of the area has provided very strong both forward and

backward linkages for development the basic education and health facilities resulting

upcoming of many big universities, educational institutions and hospitals in the region.

Well developed road, rail, and telecom connectivity with NCT of Delhi has made it a

Gautam Buddha Nagar

Dadri Jewar Sadar

Gautam Buddha Nagar

Bisrakh Dadri

Dankaur

Jewar

154

destination for middle and upper middle class of the northern region of the country. The

strong forces of wide spread urbanization in the district has significant influenced the

type and nature of NGOs upcoming in the district in diverse areas.

Baghpat

Bagpat which was a erstwhile sub division of Meerut district has now become one

of the 71 independent districts of the state. It was originally know as ‘Vyagprastha’-

Land of Tigers ( because of the population of tigers prevailing almost a century ago.) Later

on it was renamed as Bagpat.20 Baghpat town is located on the banks of river Yamuna at

28O57’ North latitude and 77O13’ East Longitude. It is 52 KM from Meerut City and is on

the main Delhi – Daharanpur Highway around 40 KM from Delhi. In the north of the

district Bagpat is another district Muzaffarnagar , in the south district it has adjoining

Ghaziabad, in the west it has river Yamuna separating it from district Rohtak of Harayana.

The shape of the district Bagpat is recutangular which area is more in the north to south than

east to west. It is very closely located to (around 40 KM) the national capital New Delhi.

This district covers an area of 1321 km.The district has a population of 1,163,991.21

The district has three sub-divisions which are, along with their blocks, are depicted

in figure 4.7 as below22 :

Bagpat

Bagpat

Barut

Khekra

155

Figure 4.7: Sub Division and Blocks of Bagpat

District has three tahsil and six blocks 237 Gram Sabha, 46 number of Nyay

Panchyat, 112 post office, and 10 police stations

Unlike G B Nagar, it is largely domination by the rural areas.. All the three Sub-

division of the district- Bagpat, Khekra and Baraut – are largely dominated by rural areas.

Even the district headquarter itself may be characterized as town, the activity of which is

influenced by the surrounding rural areas. With a very alluvial and fertile soil, proximity

with NCT Delhi, Meerut and Ghaziabad, the district has become a major supplier with

needs of agricultural and diary products in the region. Being dominated by the rural areas,

even small towns which came up in the district over the period, largely cater the need of the

rural people. Therefore, the pattern of development of the district has also influenced the

nature and functions of the NGOs which came up in the district during the period of the study.

IA. Socio-economic Indicators of the State and the Region depicting the

State of Women

General Trends in Major Indicators

According to 2001 Census in Uttar Pradesh 36.5 million women are still illiterate

and has highest maternal mortality rate at 70.7 per thousand . Offical statistics reveal that

Uttar Pradesh recorded 2059 dowry deaths during 2000 which is the highest and 30 percent

of reported cases across the country. On the positive side, in the last decade Uttar Pradesh

recorded a healthy growth in female literacy and recent encouraging tend in female to

male ratio in the population. Women, have benefited from the expansion of higher

education and made their mark in cultural, education and administrative fields. A

significant development has been the networking of women’s groups. Issues of domestic

violence , livelihood, caste oppression, and communal division have been raised in

Bagpat

Pilani

Binauli

Chhaprauli

Baraut

Khekra

156

women activeness . Increased participation of women in Panchayats has also rasied hope in

them.

Poverty Ration

Uttar Pradesh however continues to belong to the category of high poverty States.

In 1993-94 the State ranked 11th out the 14 major States of India in poverty levels with

41 Per Cent of persons below the poverty line. The relative position has not significantly

change even as per the estimates of poverty ration available for 2004-05 as although the

poverty rati had declined to about 26% but it remained amongst top 10 states having the

poverty ratio above 20 per cent during the year. One striking feature of poverty in the State

has been that urban poverty ration have remained above the rural poverty ratio expect in

1993-94, though the majority of the poor live in the rural areas. During the period, poverty

levels remained high in UP both in the rural and the urban areas, though year –to- year

fluctuations were observed . Subsequently , poverty levels have slowly declined, although at

a slightly lower rate compared to that at the All India level (Table 4.2)

Table 4.2: Poverty in UP’s Regions

1993-94 in 1999-2000

Region/Sector Poverty

Ratio

Depth of

poverty

(Poverty gap

ratio)

Intensity of

poverty

squared

poverty gap

Share of

poor (%)

Contribution

to total

poverty

Rural-Western 29.6 20.4 1.8 22.3 16.7

Urban-Western 31.0 24.7 2.7 39.9 39.1

Source: Dutta and Sharma , 2000

As a result, there is now a greater concentration of the country’s poor in Uttar

Pradesh. In general, the Western regions show much lower levels of poverty ( Table 4.3) .

Poverty of Uttar Pradesh in western region of rural areas is lower than urban areas.

Table 4.3 Incidence of poverty in Region of Uttar Pradesh in 1999-2000

Region Urban Rural Overall

Official Corrected Official Corrected

Western 30.0 30.5 21.7 22.5 23.9

157

Source : World Bank 2002, p-35

Gender Disparities ; the GDI and the GEM

The Human Development Reports of UNDP have evolved since 1995 two

indicators i.e. Gender Related Development Index (GDI ) and Gender Empowerment

Measure (GEM ) to quantify gender disparities . The GDI focuses on the inequalities in

basic capabilities , that is health, education and access to resources. The HDI is discounted

downwards or adjusted for gender inequality , so that a high GDI value indicates lesser

inequality while a low GDI value would mean lower achievement levels for women in the

three basic sectors mentioned above. The Gender Empowerment Measure seeks to measure the

degree to which women and men command economic, professional and political power. This

is measured by three indicators: per capita incomes, share in professional , technical,

managerical and administrative jobs and share in parliamentary seats. However , caste ,

community, access to fuel and fodder , control over land other assets, inheritance rights,

and violence and the threat of violence also have a direct bearing on women’s status, but do

not get reflected in the GEM.

A comparison of HDI and GDI reveal that in Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, West

Bengal and Rajsthan development has been iniquitous and women did not get equal share

in the development…For Uttar Pradesh, which has the lowest HDI rank as well as the lowest

CDI rank, the challenge is to see how from men and women can move from being equal partners

in slow development to partners in dynamic growth.

In UP, Kanpur (Nagar), Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Meerut and Jhasi have the highest

GDI values. In these districts women have better facilities in health and education

However, in terms of the third component of gender development , namely , the estimated

earned income of women, these districts feature rather low. Lucknow, the State capital , for

instance, has the third highest GDI rank, is placed second on the education index and

score high in health attainments, but ranks eighteenth on the estimates of women’s earned

income. The districts lowest on the GDI ranking order are distributed almost equally in all

158

the regions of the State, and are Siddharthnagar, Hardoi, Bahraich, Shahjahanpur, and

Budaun. These districts fare very poorly in all component dimensions of the GDI (

Table 4.4 )

Table 4.4: The HDI, Per Capita Net District Domestic Product, and GDI of districts*

HDI PC NDDP GDI

Districts Rank Value Rank Value Rank Value

Agra 14 0.58 14 1863 16 0.493

Aligarh 30 0.53 20 1669 18 0.488

Bareilly 43 0.49 15 1802 48 0.390

Bijinor 25 0.54 8 1802 48 0.390

Badaun 63 0.40 38 1276 54 0.315

Bulandshahr 18 0.57 10 2078 12 0.509

Etah 50 0.48 27 1467 38 0.423

Etawah 29 0.54 36 1303 44 0.410

Farukhabad 32 0.52 39 1275 35 0.440

Firozabad 34 0.52 27 1293 47 0.400

Ghaziabad 4 0.65 1 3734 2 0.616

Manipuri 27 0.54 34 1350 39 0.420

Mathura 16 0.57 11 2006 13 0.504

Meerut 11 0.60 3 2521 4 0.562

Moradabad 46 0.49 18 1700 41 0.413

Muzaffarnagar 21 0.56 5 2243 10 0.517

Pilibhit 48 0.49 13 1940 40 0.417

Rampur 55 0.47 19 1683 46 0.485

Saharanpur 20 0.56 7 2221 20 0.485

Shajahanpur 57 0.46 17 1721 53 0.324

Barabanki 49 0.48 30 1427 33 0.447

Fatehpur 35 0.51 32 1422 17 0.492

Hardoi 60 0.44 43 1135 51 0.366

Kanpur(Dehat) 22 0.55 26 1497 19 0.487

Kanpur (Nagar) 2 0.69 4 2288 1 0.626

Kheri 42 0.49 22 1616 42 0.1410

Lucknow 6 0.63 6 2236 3 0.595

Rai Bareli 52 0.47 40 1245 34 0.441

Sitapur 56 0.47 33 1352 49 0.389

Unnao 47 0.49 42 1215 29 0.453

159

Banda 40 0.50 31 1425 24 0.469

Hamirpur 36 0.51 16 1726 21 0.484

Jalaun 26 0.54 23 1538 11 0.510

Jhansi 15 0.57 9 2097 5 0.550

Lalitpur 53 0.47 21 1661 32 0.448

Allahabad 38 0.050 29 1431 22 0.474

Azamghar 44 0.49 46 1066 28 0.458

Bahairch 62 0.40 49 991 52 0.364

Ballia 17 0.57 51 944 7 0.53

Basti 54 0.47 52 934 37 0.431

Deoria 45 0.49 48 1034 30 0.452

Faziabad 33 0.52 45 1072 26 0.467

Ghaziapur 28 0.54 47 1044 14 0.499

Goanda 58 0.45 25 1501 45 0.405

Gorakhopur 31 0.53 44 1090 15 0.493

Janupur 39 0.50 53 922 27 0.458

Maharajpur 59 0.45 41 1228 43 0.410

Mau 23 0.55 35 1315 9 0.527

Mirzapur 37 0.50 28 1446 23 0.474

Pratapgarh 51 0.48 50 946 36 0.438

Siddharthnagar 61 0.42 54 758 50 0.386

Sonbhadra 24 0.55 2 3445 8 0.529

Sultanpur 41 0.50 24 1534 31 0.452

Varansai 19 0.56 12 1983 6 0.533

*Excluding the hill district that are now in Uttaranchal

Source : UPHDR

Performance on HDI and GDI

The HDI of a district indicates the level of well-being but this well-being may not

be the same for men and women of the district. There may be large gender disparities.

These gender disparities in human development exist in every district. The higher HDI

values compared to the GDI values of each district. Districts with a high HDI rank but low

GDI rank would show that although the relative level of well being is high, there are large

disparities on the basis of gender. On the other hand, a low HDI rank, but high GDI rank

would indicate that although there is little differential on the basis of gender , achievements

in development of human capabilities are low. The GDI rank is lower than the HDI rank in

160

17 districts of UP. The districts with highest disparity in ranks, Etawah, Firozabad,

Manipuri, Bareilly , and Farukhabad lie in the economically better developed Western

region of the State. This suggests that whatever achievements have been made in human

development have not been equally distributed between men and women.

In 37 districts the GDI rank is either the same as, or higher than the HDI rank,

indicating a relatively equitable development of human capabilities. Eighteen of the 37

districts are in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. This number in the Eastern region, indicate that

greater gender equality in human development does not depend on income level or the

stage of development.

Income levels and GDI

Per Capita Net Districts Domestic Product (PC NDDP ) and GDI do not appear to

move together at all. 29 districts did not fare well with GDI, compared to their rank on the

income scale. 18 of these districts are in the prosperous Western region. The greatest

disvergence is in Shahjahanpur , Bareilly , Pilibhit , Rampur, and Moradabad . These districts

have to ensure that the higher income levels also get translated into socio economic

betterment of women.

In Meerut region , three districts ranking high in terms of per capita income have

also reflected low values of GDI are shown in Figure 4.8 below reflect the fact that high

incomes are not equitable shared by males and females in the region.

Figure 4.8

10 912

1 2 2

7 6 6

0

5

10

15

PC NDDP HDI Rank GDI Rank

Ghaziabad

Bulandshah

r

Ghaziabad Ranked by PC NDDP, HDI and GDI :Districts with higest ranked PC NDDP

161

Female-Male Ratio (FMR)

One of the most discouraging findings of the 1991 Census had been that the proportion of

female in India’s population has declined. In Uttar Pradesh, the Female Male Ratio has been

consistently below the national average and the latest Census shows that this trend

continues. Even throug , there has been a fairly marked improvement with the FMR rising

to 898 from 879 in the 1991 census . Provisional results of the Census for 2001 show

deterioration in the number of girls per 1000 boys in the 0-6 year’s age group This trend

was observed in the nineties in many States i.e. Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, West

Bengal, Orissa , Maharashrta, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

Uttar Pradesh with one of the lowest FMRs in the world and third lowest among

the major States in India need to address several issues of concern as follows:

Infant mortality rates and death rates are much higher in Uttar Pradesh than at the

national level , showing poorer health status ( Figure 4.9)

Figure:4.9

63 64

81 83

0

20

40

60

80

100

Male Female

India

Uttar Pradesh

Infant Mortality Rates , UP and

India , 2000

162

Uttar Pradesh has the highest female death rate in the country . It has the highest

urban female death rate and the third highest rural female death rate (after MP and

Chhattisgarh).

Nationally, male death rates exceed female death rates. Only in Bihar, Uttar

Pradesh and Rajasthan is the opposite true , i.e.., female death rates surpassing male

death trates.

The female infant mortality rate in Uttar Pradesh is third highest in the country with

MP and Orissa surpassing it.

The male female gap in IMR’s and death rates is wider in Uttar Pradesh showing

Greater discriminatory practices.

Infant mortality rates are lower in urban areas compared to rural areas . It is

surprising that the gender gap is higher ( a gap of 19.6 points ) in urden areas

compared to rural areas (gap of 13.4 points) .

Inter-district comparison of FMRs

The figure 4.10 and 4.11 depicts the inter-districts comparison on the basis of

FMR’s in all age groups.

Figure 4.10

1025 1021 1003 984 983 980 978 977 974 961852 851 848 847 847 843 842 841 841 838

0200400600800

10001200

Azamgarh Deoria PratapgarhSant Kabir NagarGhazaipur Hamirpur Bagpat JalaunGautam Buddha NagarMathura

Districts with the highest & lowest female male ratio ( All ages -2001)

163

Figure 4.11

Figure 4.10 and 4.11 reveals that in five district of the Meerut region , FMR is amongst

the lowest varying from 847 in Baghpat to 868 in Bulandshahar ,while in the eastern districts

of the state it is much favorable indicating the fact that gender discrimination especially at

the birth stage is highest in the western UP as compared to its eastern part.

Women and Work Participation rates

According to Census , 2001 , only 16.3 Percent of women , as opposed to 47.3

Percent of men in UP in 2001 were reported as workers. This is because work is one of the

most elusive and complex concepts to grapple .How work is measured depends on how it is

defined, and in the system of National Accounts it is defined and consequently measured

are valued in a way that is patently disadvantageous to women . In the Census ‘work’ has

been defined as ‘participation in any economically productive activity’, this largely , through

not exclusively , includes production for the market. Thus , women’s participation rates are

low because of the definition used to measure work and because of enumeration biases.

Unlike male work participation rates which show only a small spread across districts,

female work participation rates vary dramatically; a miniscule 1.6 Percent in Shahjanhanpur

in Western UP to 16 Percent in CHitrakoot in Bulandshahr (Figure 4.12 ). It is interesting

that the ten districts showing lowest female work participation rates are in the developed

Western region and eight of the ten districts exhibiting high rates lie in the less developed

Eastern and Bundelkhand regions . This is because with prosperity women are withdrawn

977 968 964 963 962 961 960 958 953 952

872 868 866 865 857 855 854 851 849 847

750

800

850

900

950

1000

Districts with the highest & lowest female male ratio (All ages), 2001)

164

from the labour force as a mark of increased status . However, despite district level

differences , female work participation rates are lower than male participation rates . In

UP they are lower than the national average.

Figure 4.12

Even within the agriculture where percentage of female workers is high (84%) as

compared to male workers (72%), according to NSSO data , a larger proportion of women

as compared to men work as agricultural laborers rather than as cultivators . Not only are

earning meager but also with threshers, harvesters and crushers substituting human labour.

Availability of work is declining. This means loss of livelihoods and increased poverty.

Men have the option , albeit a very difficult one , of migrating to find work . Moreover ,

women agriculture workers have to bear the brunt of sexual exploitation at the hands of

feudal , generally upper caste , employers .

In urban Uttar Pradesh , the proportion of women workers in the secondary and

tertiary sectors is roughly the same as men, but within these sectors , the majority ,work in

household industry and the informal sector ,which is characterized by endless work hours,

no holidays , no social interaction, little or no payment, and no recognition . Only 9 percent

of all employees in the organized sector in 1998 were women compared to 91 Percent men .

41.346.3

36.9

43.6 42.3 40.2

46.542.3

3337.9

16.212.7 12 11.8 11.7 10.8 10.5 9.9 9.8 9.7

05

101520253035404550

Male WPR

Female WPR

Districts with highest work participation rates , 2001 (main worker)

165

Conversely , the majority of men engaged in the secondary sector are in non-household

industry.

Informal Sector

Women are in large numbers in the informal sector in UP. Particularly in the

development urban pockets in cities such as Ghaziabad, Lucknow , Kanpur, and Agra. Women are

engaged in all kinds of jobs; construction workers, petty shopkeepers, domestic helpers, beedi

workers and other low-paid workers. The labour market is fiercely competitive, work hours

are long, wages barely allow for subsistence and there is no job security.

Nothwithstanding the emergence of some women in new , non-traditional occupations , the

vast majority of women are still trapped in very traditional stereotypical jobs. There is no

reason , for instance , why women cannot be tempo drivers or bus conductors in UP. In the

industrial category of Trade and Commerce, there were just about 0.7 lakh women workers

in the State compared to about 25 lakh male workers. Similarly in the Transport, Storage

and Communication category there were just 0.07 lakh women, while men were more than

108 times that number.

Female work participation rates for SC/STs are higher than female work

participation rates for other caste groups. The gap between male and female work

participation, is smaller among SC/ST group than in other non-scheduled groups, showing

that more women in these categories go to work. The gap between SC/ST work

Participation rates and those for ‘other’ persists across rural and urban areas, indicating

that the situation in urban areas is not much better. In UP female work participation rates

are lower than the female work participation rate at the national level across all social

groups (except ST urban areas ) and across rural and urban areas.

Organized sector

In the formal sector, women find themselves marginalized, as they comprise only a

small fraction of total employees. The results of the 1991 Census show that the percentage

of women in these relatively better off occupations does not differ greatly across districts-

it only varies from low to very low. The recent estimates of women’s employment in the

organized sector are obtained from the Directorate of Employment and training which

166

collects data for employment in all public establishments. In Uttar Pradesh, women

constitute just about 9 Percent of all employees in the organized sector, which is lower than

the national average of about 16 percent. The most industrialized districts of Kanpur,

Lucknow, and Ghaziabad also show the highest number of women in the organized sector,

while the numbers are very low in the industrially backward districts such as Mahoba, Sant

Ravidas Nagar, and Ambedkar Nagar. The districts with larger number of women in

organized sector are given in Table 4.5.

Table 4.5: Districts With the Largest Numbers of Women in the Organized Sector

1998

Women Employees Women as % all employees

Public

Sector

Private

Sector

Organized

Sector

Public

Sector

Private

Sector

Organized

Sector

Uttar Pradesh 156763 49353 20616 8.63 10.08 8.94

Kanpur Nagar 12727 5983 18710 8.87 11.47 9.56

Lucknow 12002 4346 16348 6.6 21.73 8.1

Ghaziabad 3961 8851 12812 9.25 11.35 10.61

Allahabad 8851 3010 11861 6.53 13.33 7.5

Meerut 5308 2555 7863 9.92 11.2 10.3

Varanasi 5341 1873 7214 6.87 8.07 7.15

Agra 4638 2406 7044 8.76 16.52 10.43

Moradabad 4969 1566 6535 7.28 12.96 8.13

Bareilly 5037 1163 6200 8.78 9.96 8.98

Gorakhpur 4616 1290 5906 8.11 10.9 8.59

Sources: Directorate of Employment & Training , Lucknow

Political Participation

In Uttar Pradesh, the first Legislative Assembly had 13 women, this increased to 29

in 1957 and 30 women in 1985. Their numbers reached a low of 10 in 1991 , but rose to 14

in 1993. The Assembly Elections of 1996 saw only 19 women in the State which remain

almost static thereafter. An intriguing feature of women’s participation in polities is that it

does not appear to be correlated with literacy or other indicators of a women’s status. In

the wake of pervasive marginalization of women, the 73rd Amendment giving reservation

to women in Panchyati Raj institutions offers hope. As a result of this legislation, 33

Percent of the seats at all the three levels─ village, block and district─ of local self-

governance have been reserved for women. In Uttar Pradesh in recent months, Panchyats

167

have been vested with enormous financial and administrative powers, strengthening their

control on schools, health care centers, and infrastructure development and so on. If

Panchayats function effectively, that is, if they can improve the functioning of schools so

that attendance of girls rises, improve access to credit, target vulnerable women for grant of

patta (surplus) land, implement minimum wage legislation and enhance employment

opportunities, they can go a long way in empowering rural women . Panchayats can also

reduce crimes against women.

However, a reservation in Panchayats is a device , not a long term solution. Without

fundamental changes in society , a women sarpanch may not be able to guarantee reform.

Panchayats functioning as massive vested interests and for their function efficiently, public

pressure and awareness is must. The Panchayat elections of June 2000 saw unprecedented

violence. The meaningful participation of women will take place only if crimes are checked

and law and order functions work effectively. Additionally, many of the women elected

lack of education and basic skills and are unaware of government schemes. There have

been disconcerting reports where the deputy pradhans made illiterate women pradhans put

their thumb impression on fraudulent documents. A proper education and training

programme should be launched for women.

The Community

In a deeply stratified caste-defined society like Uttar Pradesh women become pawns of

community and caste honor. The State has the largest population of Scheduled Castes in

the country. Under the category Crimes against weaker sections, NCRB, data for 2000

show that 7330 crimes were registered, which was the highest for the weaker section was

registered each month during 2000. Of the 1865 recorded cases of rape in 2000, 379 (or 20

Percent) were of women from SC/ST’s. Uttar Pradesh has also witnessed served communal

clashes since Independence. Women are often the worst sufferers of such clashes and ritos.

These are time of great crimes against women.

The Family

168

Child sexual abuse, mental torture , beating, perverse sex, denial of food, burning and

murder are among the many sordid forms that violence takes in the home. NCRB data for

2000 show that in Uttar Pradesh, among the crimes against women, the maximum number

of cases (6021) was recorded under the category “Cruelty by husbands and relatives”.

Sexual harassment recorded the highest jump of 40 Percent between 1999-00. Within the

State the highest incidence of cases are recorded in the relatively developed Western

region. The largest number of cases of dowry deaths in the country during 2000 were

reported from UP. This constituted 31.8 Percent of all cases at the national level. Statistics

show that the incidence of dowry deaths has increased between 1999-00 and increase in

Uttar Pradesh was sharper compared to the national level. The highest incidence of

violence against women has been recorded in the developed Western region showing that

economic development has fostered class consumerism, viz.

The rate (crimes per lakh population) and incidence of crime (total number of cases

recorded ) varies sharply across districts and regions. The rate of crime is highest in

the Central and Western regions and lowest in the economically poorer Easter and

Bundelkhand regions.

Correlations between per capita Net District Domestic Product and the total of all

crimes against women at the districts level, showed a negative correlation but this

was not significant at any level.

Low incidence of crimes against women appears to be associated with high female

male ratios. This is so whether we take female male rations for all age groups or only

for the age group 0-14 years . It appears that where women’s status is higher, crimes

against them are lower.

169

High crime rate are associated with the high child mortality rates, both male and

female. Children’s health status, which is also a reflection of women’s health

status, will be favorable where women feel secure and the law order situation is under

control.

Further evidence of the courtship between women’s status and women’s security

shows up in the significant negative correlation between female work participation

rates and rates of crime against women.

An interesting result is that each of the separate crimes that constitute crimes

against women are strongly correlated with each other. So in a district where the

incidence of say, dowry deaths is high, the incidence of sexual harassment or rape is

also likely to be high.

In therefore needs to be stressed that while most other indicators of well being seem to

improve with development, security and more particularly, women’s security do not. This

suggests that relying on development may not achieve one of the most basic human

freedoms, the freedom from fear.

II. Profile of NGOs working in Meerut Region

The Planning Commission, Government of India is a Nodal Organization with

regard to the national policy in the voluntary sector. They have created a portal called

“NGO-Partnership System” and invited all the NGOs irrespective of their location and

areas of operation and registration anywhere in the country under Society Registration Act.

1860 or any other such Act to register on this portal. As per the information available

from the website of the Planning Commission (http://www.planningcommission.nic.in),ve

169 NGOs from the Meerut region have registered on this portal. A list of these 169 NGOs

is given in the Appendix of this Chapter . District –wise spread of these 169 NGOs is given

in the Table 4.6 :

Table 4.6 Location-wise Distribution of the NGOs

170

District Table No. of

NGOs

Of the Col (2), Number of

Functional

NGOs

Non-functional

NGOs

Meerut 50 44 06

Bulandshahr 15 15 0

Ghaziabad 74 59 15

Gautam Budh Nagar 28 22 06 Bagpat 02 02 0

Total 169 142 27

Is was observed that quite a large number of NGOs (i.e 16 percent of the total)

were found to be no-functional or the contact addresses posted by them on the portal were

incorrect. The distribution of functional NGOs across the districts reveals a very significant

observation that, NGOs prefer to function or are functioning in the urban areas as the

districts having relatively large city areas and municipal towns and/or having closer

proximity of NCT of Delhi (Ghaziabad and GB Nagar ) have more number of NGOs. This

pattern is probable due to the fact that in these two districts, although the NGOs have the

offices located in these cities but their actual operational areas might be the NCT of Delhi.

This evident from the fact that, as stated above, Baghpat which is dominated primarily by

The rural areas, probably do not have NGO culture as only two NGOs have come to register

themselves on NGO-PS portal.

Functional classification of NGOs

Like anywhere else in India, when a NGOs is registered under the Society

Registration Act, 1960, in its Memorandum of Association, it is attempted to indicate as

many areas as possible as their operational areas irrespective of their capacity to work in so

many areas in term human and financial resources. This tendency could be on account of

the fact that the particular NGO at the time of its formation itself is not clear in its

functional or focus areas and therefore they attempt to indicate all areas related or similar

to their prime objectives. This phenomenon was observed in these 169 NGOs while

analyzing their MOUs to carve out their exclusively focus areas.

171

District-wise distribution of the functional areas of 169 NGOs registered on the

NGO-PS portal of the Planning Commission is given in Table 4.7 and also presented

graphically in Figure 4.13. The functional distribution given in the table reveals the

following observations:

The functional areas of the NGOs across the districts in order of priority are

education (102), Children (89), health (85), Women Education (78), Vocational

training ( 66), Women’s Education (63) and Environment (62). This implies that

46% (545) of the total sum of functional areas of 169 NGOs focus on these 7 areas.

Table 4.7: District-wise Distribution of Functional Areas of the NGOs

172

S.

No

Issues No. of NGOs mentioned in their MOUs as one of the Functional Areas

listed in Col (2)

Meerut Buland-

shahr

Ghaziaba

d

GB

Nagar

Baghpat Total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 Education 33 14 38 16 01 102

2 Children 30 09 34 16 01 89

3 Women’s Education 19 11 19 13 0 63

4 Women’s Empowerment 19 11 36 10 01 78

5 Health 22 09 36 16 02 85

6 Minority Women 04 03 16 0 02 23

7 Dalit Up-Liftment 10 06 16 2 0 34

8 Employment 06 07 8 2 0 23

9 Micro Finance (SHGs) 05 06 18 5 0 34

10 Vocational Training 20 08 27 10 01 66

11 Rural Development 12 12 23 8 01 56

12 Motivation & Awareness 10 01 16 2 01 30

13 Youth Affairs 12 02 12 5 01 32

14 Micro, Small & Medium

Enterprises

02 05 5 1 01 14

15 Natural Disaster 05 05 9 6 0 25

16 Poverty 05 10 21 6 01 43

17 Drinking Water 09 12 15 1 01 38

18 ICTs 19 10 8 14 02 53

19 Human Rights 09 04 13 4 01 31

20 Seminar & Workshops 13 01 13 1 28

21 Special Needs of

Handicapped/deaf & dump

02 0 6 3 0 11

22 HIV/AIDS 16 10 19 8 02 55

23 Environments 17 09 29 6 01 62

24 Religious Activists 03 01 4 3 0 11

25 Aged/elder 11 07 10 6 01 35

26 Population 05 06 5 6 01 23

27 Child Labor 08 03 11 8 01 31

326 182 467 178 22 1175

173

Figure 4.13

The pattern turns out to be almost the same even if one looks at the distribution of

functional areas of NGOs in a district, as indicated in the Table 4.8 below :

Table 4.7: District-wise Distribution of Functional Areas of the NGOs

S.

No

Issues No. of NGOs mentioned in their MOUs as one of the Functional Areas

listed in Col (2)

Meerut Buland-

shahr

Ghaziaba

d

GB

Nagar

Baghpat Total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 Education 33

(20.62%)

14

(19.72%) 38

(17.35%)

16

(20.78%)

01

(10.0%) 102

(18.72%)

2 Children 30

(18.75)

09

(12.68%) 34

(15.52%)

16

(20.78%)

0

(0.0%) 89

(16.33%)

3 Women’s Education 19

(11.89%)

11

(15.49%) 19

(8.67%)

13

(16.88%)

01

(10.0%) 63

(11.56%)

4 Women’s Empowerment 19

(11.89^)

11

(15.49%) 36

(16.44%)

10

(12.99%)

02

(20.0%)

(46.38%)78

5 Health 22

(13.75%)

09

(12.68%) 36

(16.44%)

16

(20.78%)

02

(20.0%) 85

(15.59%)

6 Vocational Training 20

(12.58%)

08

(11.27) 27

(12.33%)

10

(12.99%)

01

(10.0%) 66

(12.11%)

7 Environments 17

(10.62)

09

(12.68%) 29

(13.24%)

6

(7.79%)

01

(10.0%) 62

(11.38%)

Total 160

(49.05)

71

(39.01%)

219

(43.41%)

77

(43.25%)

10

(43.41%)

545

(46.38%)

10187

6478 82

2234

2232

6955

32 2915

27

43 37

56

31 2814

61 62

11

3523

31

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Edu

cati

on

Wo

men

's E

du

cati

on

Hea

lth

Dal

it U

p-l

iftm

en

t

Mic

ro-F

inan

ce

Ru

ral

De

velo

pm

en

t

You

th A

ffai

rs

Nat

ura

l D

isas

ter

Dri

nki

ng

Wat

er

Hu

man

Rig

ht

Spe

cial

Han

dic

app

ed

Emp

ow

erm

ent

Age

d/O

lder

Pe

rso

ns

Ch

ild L

abo

ur

NGOs IN MEERUT REGION

174

The trends in Table- clearly indicates that NGOs in all the five districts have given

relatively more weightage to these five functional areas, viz. Expert in

Bulandshahr, in all other districts, these seven areas are being given more than

40% of the weightage to these areas. In all the districts priority flows down from

education, health, women’s education, women’s empowerment, vocational training and

environmental issues. Only in case of children, no priority seems to be attached

in Baghpat district by two NGOs.

The priority given to these seven areas, particularly to education including women’s

education is that NGOs registered under the Registration of Societies Act, 1860,

instead of providing free and qualitative services to the society are in fact engaged in

flourishing business of public schools in the emerging city areas in these districts.

Getting registered under the said Act make them eligible for seeking expemption

from income tax under the relevant sections of Income Tax Act. This phenomenon

explain MOUs at the time of registration.

Another startling observation is that most deserving areas requiring intervention

by the voluntary sector are help to persons with disabilities, older/aged persons,

drinking water and sanitation, upliftment of marginalized groups like scheduled

castes, violation of human rights, eradication of child labour are not adequately

focused in the regions as majority of the NGOs have not indicated the intervention

in these areas as their functional areas. Even those have included these areas in their

MOU are actually not working in these areas.

It is observed that NGOs indicating ‘rural development’, ‘poverty’, ‘vocational

training’ ‘micro credit’ and ‘employment’ are in fact engaged in the mobilization of

the people especially women for forming the self help group to take the advantage

of the concessional loans under various rural development and poverty alleviation

programmes. During my field work, I did not come across any one NGO who

intends to undertake social audit or evaluation of the poverty alleviation

175

Programmes or in generating the awareness amongst the masses about these

programmes.

The trends in socio-economic indicators especially those reflecting the positing of

women reveals the trends that despite the fact that western region of the State is

economically resourceful in terms of land and labor productivity, per capita income etc but

the indicators reflecting the women status are not only relatively poor as compared to its

eastern part put even lower than the national average. The pattern of functional areas

indicated by the NGOs in their MOU is selected five districts of the Meerut region reflects

the fact they are primarily interested in the area of education in the urban cities where

public schools are in high demand and it turns out to be very profitable venture. The trends

also reveal a clear indication os urban preference by the NGOs while actual need of their

intervention is in rural and small town areas. Moreover , the areas which are most deserving

for the intervention by the NGOs in public-private partnership (PPP) mode remain

unattractive for the NGOs including the issues relating to women empowerment. A detailed

analysis of the functioning of selected NGOs in the next Chapter would further strengthen

the trends emerged from the analysis of overall profile of the NGOs in the selected districts

within the framework of their socio-economic and demographic perspectives.

176

REFERANCE

1. Cf. Atkinson, E.T : Statistical Descriptive and Historical Account of the North

Western Provinces of India, vol.III. Meerut Division, Allahabad, 1897, p.413

Fuhrer, A. – The Monumental Antiquities and inscriptions in the North-Western

Province and Oudh (Allahabad,1891), p.10 …

2. Lal, B.B : “Excavation at Hastinapur and other Explorations in the Upper Ganga

and Sutlej Basins 1950-1952” – Ancient India (Bulletin of Archeological Survey of

India, nos. 10 and 1 1, 1954 and 1955, pp.8-9

3 Lal, B.B, “ The History and Culture of the Indian people, Vol. I ,(Delhi,1955),

p-242

4 Ibid.., p-244

5 Jaw, B.C : Tribes in ancient India, p-23 and Geography of early Buddhism, p-17;

Jain, I.P. , op.cit.., pp.4, 16.

6 Cf. pargiter, F.F : Ancient Indian Historical Tradition ( Lodan 1922) and The

Purana text of the Dynasties of Kali Age, (Oxford, 1913)

7 The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I (Delhi,1955), pp.105, 274;

Tripathi , R.S : History of Ancient India, (Delhi, 1960), p.29; The History and

Culture of the Indian People, Vol. I, p.245

8 Sleeman, W.H, : Rambles and Recollections of an Indian official, edited by Vincent

A. Smith, (Oxford, 1915), p.571

9 http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/urban_az3mr.html

10 Census of India 2001

11 http://www.bulandshahr.nic.in

12 Baghal, Amar Singh : “U.P District Gazetteers, Bulandshahr” ; Pub. By Govt.

of U.P., Lucknow, Aishbag,1980. 13 Ibid, p-61

14 Ibid., p-63

15 http://www.ghaziabad.nic.in

16 encyclopedia of ghaziabad

17 http://www.ghaziabad.nic.in

18 encyclopedia of ghaziabad

19 http://www.gbnagar.nic

20 Ibid

21 Ibid

22 Census 2001

177