Demographic insights into the Jat population of Haryana

Abstract

Demography is the science of populations that seeks to understand population dynamics in light of the population structure and its socio-economic makeup. The present study was conducted to understand the demographic profile of Jat community of Haryana. The data were collected from 15 Jat dominated villages in different months of the year 2011-2013 from 1158 households comprising 7162 individuals using pretested interview schedules. The research included various parameters like sex ratio, literacy rate, occupational status, marital status, socio-economic status of the studied population. The results revealed that the Jat population has experienced decline in fertility rate in the past few years. Median age of present population comes out to be 25 years which is lesser than national population, showing that population of Haryana is a young population. The sex ratio of the presently studied population was found to be low as compared to the state and country’s estimate. Almost one fourth of the population was found to be illiterate (23.87%) with a higher percentage of females (35.58%) as compared to the males (11.1%). Majority of the women participate in agriculture (31.4%) or home makers (40.82%) and almost half of the males (43.87 %) are practicing agriculture.