Development Scenario among Man Tai Speaking Group, Living in Plains Districts of Assam

Abstract

The Tai group came under a common name Tai, a branch of the Mongoloid population in Assam.The communities selected for the present study are Tai Aitons, Tai Turungs, Tai Khamyangs and Tai Phakes.The objectives of the study are to assess the socio-economic status of the study group and compare the development levels among communities within the group and to examine the availability different development schemes implemented by the Government. The study is based on secondary and primary sources of data. The sample has been selected following a multi-stage selection procedure. Altogether 238 households were selected randomly for household level survey from 10 selected villages. The findings show that there are some areas in which the development level of the communities in respect of certain parameters are very positive. Demographically, the communities as a whole have a very impressive sex ratio. Workforce participation rate is very impressive, which is indicative of involvement in many economic activities of the working population. Significant improvement of four communities in terms of literacy rate has been noticed. The occupational structure as a whole is diversified. Majority of households live in pucca dwellings and most of the households have sanitary toilet facility. Most of the households were electrified. Majority of the households were using clean fuel i.e. liquefied petroleum gas as a source of cooking energy. Uses of consumer durables like-cars, scooter, motorcycles, laptops are positive changes with time. Most of the households accessed credit from formal financial institutions. There are problems areas as well as inter-tribe differentials in terms of achievement levels in some parameters have been noticed. Adverse sex ratio has been noticed among Tai Phakes. There is a predominance of both marginal and small holdings of land across all communities. Open defecation is still prevalent among significant percentages of households of Tai Aitons and Tai Khamyangs. Access to credit is quite low among Tai Aitons and Tai Khamyangs. The average size of livestock population as a whole is very poor across all communities.