India - Participation in Education: 52nd Round, Schedule 25.2, July 1995 - July 1996

a block of variables on education related to the population aged 5 to 24 year

With a view to controlling the work load mainly at the stage of listing of households, hamlet-groups/sub-block selection will be resorted to in FSU's having 'large' population. A village/block having present population 1200 or more ( 600 or more for rural areas of H.P., Sikkim and Punch. Rajouri, Udhampur and Doda districts of J & K) will be divided into a certain number(D) of sub-divisions called 'hamlet-groups' (rural) /'sub-blocks' (urban). In the rural sector, two hamlet-groups will be selected circular systematically and the survey will be confined only to the selected hamlet-groups considering them as one unit. It the urban sector, however, only one sub-block will be selected for the purpose.
The investigator will first ascertain the approximate present population of the sample village/block at the time of survey. This has to be ascertained mainly from the knowledgeable individuals by putting certain probing questions. The starting point can be the 1991 census population. In the case of large difference with the 1991 census population, it may be asked : whether there has been any abnormal influx into or exodus from the FSU after 1991 census and if so, what is the approximate increase or decrease of population ascribable to such events; whether any new settlements have come up after 1991 census and if so what is the approximate population of the same, and so on. If it is not possible to know the present population or the 1991 census population, 1981 census population may be used for the purpose. The number of hamlet-groups/sub-blocks to be formed (D) will be decided as follows :





Table : Number of hamlet-groups (h.g)/sub-blocks (s.b) to be formed (D).

rural samples urban samples
app. present popu value* of D app. present popu value of D
(1) (2) (3) (4)
less than 1200 1 (i.e.no h.g. formation) less than 1200 1 (i.e.no s.b. formation)
1200 - 1799 4 1200 - 1999 2
1800 - 2199 5 2000 - 2799 3
2200 - 2599 6 2800 - 3599 4
2600 - 2999 7 3600 - 4399 5
(and so on) (and so on)

* Note : For rural areas of Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Punch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Doda districts of Jammu & Kashmir, the values of D will be D=1 for population less than 600; D=4 for population 600 to 1199; D=5 for population 1200 to 1499; D=6 for population 1500 to 1799 and so on.

Formation of hamlet-groups : In a large village there exists usually a few localities or pickets where to houses of the village tend to cluster together. These are called 'hamlets'. In case there are no such recognised hamlets in the village, the census sub-divisions of the village (e.g. enumeration blocks or groups of census house numbers or geographically distinct blocks of houses) may be treated as 'hamlets'. Large hamlets may be divided artificially to achieve equality of population content for the purpose of hamlet-group formation

The procedure for formation of hamlet-groups is best described, perhaps, by listing sequentially the steps involved. These are as follows :

(i) Identify the hamlets as described above.

(ii) Ascertain approximate present population of each of the hamlets.

(iii) Draw a notional map in block 2 showing the approximate location of the hamlets and number them in a serpentine order starting from the north-west corner and proceeding southwards. While drawing this map, uninhabited area (non-abadi area) of the village will be included as part of the nearby hamlet, so that no area of the village is left out. The boundaries of the hamlets may be defined with the help of some landmarks like canals, footpaths, railway lines, roads, cadastral survey plot numbers etc., so that it would be possible to identify and locate the geographical boundaries of the hamlet-groups to be formed in the village.

(iv) List the hamlets in order of their numbering and indicate the present population content in terms of percentages.

(v) Grouping the hamlets into 'D' hamlet-groups is then to be done. The criteria to be adopted for hamlet-group formation are equality of population content and geographical contiguity. (Numbering of hamlets is not to be adopted as a guideline for grouping). In case there is a conflict between the two aspects, 'geographical contiguity' is to be given priority. Indicate the grouping in the map.