TABLE 4.1
AGE OF THE RESPONDENTS
146
data is that very young respondents are shouldering the responsibility of the
household.
Graph 1
140 126
120
100
80 72 18-28
66
29-45
60 47.5
46-75
40 27.5 25
20
0
Freqauency Percentages
Gender
147
TABLE 4.2
Distribution of Respondents
Female 54 20.5
It is quite clear that out of the total respondents investigated for this study,
overwhelming majority (79.5 per cent) of them were males whereas about 20 per
cent were found to be females. In a Indian social conditions the households are
normally headed by the males and head of the household was the unit for data
collection, from the given sample very few households are headed by the females
and that too, due to various unavoidable and unique conditions and not because of
any attitudinal change per se hence large number of respondents are males by
gender in this study.
Graph 2
54
Male
Female
210
148
Marital Status
The details of the marital status of the respondents is presented in Table 4.3
TABLE 4.3
MARITAL STATUS OF RESPONDENTS
Unmarried 33 12.5
Widow 8 3.0
Others 4 1.5
Table 4.3 shows that overwhelming number of the respondents (83 per
cent) were married and remaining (12.5per cent) were unmarried, where as three
per cent of the respondents were found to be widows. The respondents under the
category separated or widower were extremely negligible. Since the average
respondents were from late adolescent age group, this is the age at which,
normally, a person gets marry and shoulders the responsibility of a household.
149
Graph 3
84
33
Married
Unmarried
Widow
Others
219
Education
Education is one of the most important characteristics that might affect the
person’s attitudes and the way of looking and understanding any particular social
phenomena. In a way, the response of an individual is likely to be determined by
his educational status and therefore it becomes imperative to know the educational
background of the respondents. Hence the variable ‘Educational level’ was
investigated by the researcher and the data pertaining to education is presented in
Table: 4.4
150
TABLE 4.4
LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF THE RESPONDENTS
Table 4.4 shows that about 26 per cent of the respondents were educated up
to high school and relatively lesser number of them, 17 per cent were educated up
to higher secondary level. The number of respondents attaining higher education
were very few. Only four per cent of the respondents were educated up to the post
graduates level. A considerable number of respondents were just functionally
literates and more than 14 per cent of them were illiterates.
It can be concluded from the Table above that by and large the respondents
were progressive in education but they were still far away from the higher
education which is so important today to create a knowledge based society.
151
Graph 4
Post Graduate
70 68
60 Graduates
50 46
Higher Secondary
37 38
40 36
28 High School
30 25.8
17.4
20 13.6 10.6
14 Middle School
11
14.4
10 4.2
Primary
0
Frequency Percentages Illiterate
Occupations
Person’s occupations do have a bearing on his or her personality and so
also the ways of looking at the problem before him. The quality of life is also
determined by an individual’s occupation and the incomes he derives from it.
Occupation of an individual also socialized him or her in a particular fashion
which in turn reflects his or her pattern of behaviors and his/her level of
understanding of particular phenomenon. In other words the person’s response to
a problem is possible determined by the type of occupation he is engaged in and
hence variable occupation was investigated by the researcher and data pertaining
to occupation is presented in Table 4.5
152
TABLE 4.5
OCCUPATION OF THE RESPONDENTS
It is evident from Table 4.5 that near about half of the total respondents
(45.8 per cent) were employed in agriculture as agricultural laborers. Whereas
near about 15 per cent of the respondents were daily wage earners. The number of
respondents engaged in government services as well as in private services were
8.3 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively.
153
Graph 5
9 9 22 Govt. Service
12
17 Private Service
9
Self Employed
26
Agricultural Labors
39
Daily Wage
Unemployment
House Wives
Farmers
121 Retired
Income
Income of a person plays an important role in shaping the economic
conditions of an individual which in turn is likely to have bearing on the responses
about a problem posed to him. The researcher, therefore in this study attempted to
investigate the income as variable and the data related to income of the
respondents is presented in Table. 4.6
154
TABLE 4.6
INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS
Frequency Percentages
It is evident from Table 4.6 that the more than half of the respondents (52.3
per cent) were in the ‘middle’ income group whereas one forth (25 per cent) of
them were in the ‘High’ income group and remaining of them that is little less
than a quarter of the respondents (22.7 per cent) were in the ‘low’ income group.
The average income of the respondents was found to be Rupees 3,000/- per month,
with standard deviation of 6942 Rupees.
Graph 6
138
140 Low
120
100 Medium
80 60 66
52.3
60 High
40 22.7 25
20
0
Frequency Percentages
155
Type of Family
The type of family in which a person lives and gets socialized has immense
importance in deciding his values, beliefs and behaviors patterns which are likely
to affects his or her attitudes towards a particular problem, hence the family type
plays its own role in giving the response of an individual and therefore it was
thought important to understand the family type of the respondents.
TABLE 4.7
FAMILY TYPE OF THE RESPONDENTS
It is evident from the Table 4.7 that a large majority of the households (75
per cent) were nuclear households and remaining (25 per cent) of the total
households were joint households. This shows the increasing trends in the
changing families from joint family to the nuclear family and the change in family
system can be attributed to the processes of urbanization, industrialization,
migration and modernization.
Type of Houses
The type of the house in which a person lives and socializes is likely to
have impact on his beliefs system and in molding his own personality. This will
have an immense value in giving a response to a problem faced by him and hence
the variable house type was investigated. The data presented in Table 4.8 shows
be result of investigation.
156
TABLE 4.8
HOUSE TYPE OF THE RESPONDENTS
It is obvious from Table 4.8 that a majority (59.5 per cent) of the
respondents were residing in ‘Kachha’ houses and remaining 40 per cent of them
were residing in ‘Pakka’ houses. The number of respondents living in ‘Kachha’
houses were much more than the respondents residing in ‘Pakka’ houses. It can
therefore be concluded that because of the economic backwardness and lack of
materialistic resources the house type of large number of respondents were of
‘Kachcha’ type.
House Ownership
TABLE 4.9
HOUSE OWNERSHIP OF THE RESPONDENTS
Frequency Percentage
157
Table above shows that a large majority of respondents (92.8 per cent) had
their own houses and very few of them were having either rental houses or they
were living with the relatives. It can therefore be concluded that the housing as a
basic needs of a human beings have been met in case of most of the respondents in
the study area.
Whether Migrants?
An individuals when migrates to some other place becomes a new comer to that
particular place. As new comer he has to face many problems with regards to his
day to day living. This is likely to have effects on his perceptions towards the
particular problem and therefore the variable whether the respondent is a migrant
or not was investigated by the researcher and the same has been presented in a
Table 4.10
TABLE 4.10
WHETHER RESPONDENTS ARE MIGRANTS?
Frequency Percentage
Yes 75 28.4
No 189 71.6
Total 264 100.0
It is evident from Table 4.10 that the majority of the respondents (71.6 per
cent) were found to be non- migrants, where as about 30 per cent of them were
migrants from villages to towns and cities. The phenomenon of reverse migration
is not seen in the present sample. It can be concluded that the rate of migration is
quite slow and it may be because of the least urbanization and industrialization in
the study area.
158
A person migrates to other place due to various reasons and various
situations he is facing at that time. The response of individuals therefore is likely
to be influence by the cause of his or her migrations depending upon the
magnitude of the hardship he has faced. Therefore it becomes imperative for a
researcher to investigate the reasons of a person becoming migrant. The variable
‘Reasons for migration was therefore investigated and the data pertaining to the
same is presented in table 4.11
TABLE 4.11
REASONS FOR MIGRATION
Distribution of Respondents
Reasons for
Migration Frequency Percentage
Employment 63 84.00
Service 4 5. 33
Others 8 10.66
159
BPL Respondents
Socio-economic status of an individual is indicative of his life style and the
pattern of his behavior. The person from a low socio-economic background will
show some peculiar social and psychological characteristics which in turn will be
reflected in his responses towards a particular problem. Considering all this it
was thought necessary to investigate the variable BPL respondents. The data of the
same has been presented in a Table 4.12
TABLE 4.12
NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS IN BPL
Frequency Percentages
Yes 95 36.0
No 169 64.0
It becomes clear from the Table 4.12 that a large majority of respondents
(64 per cent) were above poverty line and relatively lesser number (36 per cent) of
the respondents were observed to be in BPL. It can therefore be concluded that a
majority of respondents had a better economic background.
160
Graph 7
95
169
BPL
Non-
BPL
Land Owned
Land is a status symbol in a village setting. The ownership of land also
affects the social relationships of any individual. The person’s views about the
problem is likely to be influenced by the material resources posses by him and
therefore it was thought that the variable ‘land possessed’ by the respondents was
important in understanding his response and hence the data in that regards was
collected and presented in Table 4.13
TABLE 4.13
LAND OWNED BY THE RESPONDENTS
Frequencies Percentages
Yes 87 33.0
No 177 67.0
161
From the Table given above it is clear that a majority of the respondents do
not owned any land that means 67 per cent of the respondents are mostly landless
laborers and are totally dependent upon the upper caste people who owned most of
the land in a village. Merely 33 per cent of the respondents do possess some land.
The most striking feature of this data is that those who posses land, majority of
them do not posses more than 2 ackares of land. They are the marginalized
farmers and despite of having their own land, they do not cultivate it because
farming is a costly business and hence they prefer to work on other’s fields for
their survival hence one can say that the socio-eco conditions of these
marginalized farmers is no way better than the respondents having no lands at all.
Graph 8
87
Yes No
177
162
the Hiindu religious rituals and this will have a significant value in responding to
the changes in their lifestyles. Hence, the variable visit to Buddha Vihar was
investigated by the researcher and the data is presented in Table 4.14
TABLE 4.14
VISIT TO BUDDHA VIHAR
Celebrations of Festivals
Festivals could play an important role in setting our values and shaping the
behavior. Festivals can also be an agency of our socialization. The social values
of a person more or less are decided by the festivals observed and valued by the
people. The Attitudes of the persons are indirectly molded by celebrating such
festivals. The responses and reactions of individual are likely to be affected by the
festivals observed by him and therefore the variable, ‘celebration of festivals’ was
investigated and the data is presented in Table 4.15.
163
TABLE 4.15
CELEBRATIONS OF FESTIVALS
Buddhists are shaped by the Neo-Buddhism and their behavior pattern showed
Ambedkar Jayanti
164
TABLE 4.16
AMBEDKAR JAYANTI CELEBRATION
165
TABLE 4.17
OPINION ABOUT INTER CASTE MARRIAGES
It is evident from the Table 4.17 that a large majority of respondents (53.3
per cent) had expressed favorable opinion about inter caste marriages, whereas
more than quarter of them (34.8 per cent) did not approve of inter caste
marriages. It can, therefore, be concluded that the attitudes of the respondents,
(Neo-Buddhists), towards the traditional institution like ‘marriage’ has also
changed to a greater extent and it is also an indication of their progressive thinking
and modernization.
Social Participation
166
TABLE 4.18
SOCIAL PARTICIPATION OF RESPONDENTS
The Table above clearly shows that more than half of the respondents (59.1
per cent) never participated in any social function organized by the upper castes
people. A very few respondents (seven per cent) said that they were participating
regularly in the social functions organized by caste Hindus.
The non-participations of the respondent in social functions reveal the
predicament of respondents and also their exclusions from social life. Their non
participation can be attributed to various reasons including the self imposed
isolation from upper caste due to the sense of inferiority complex.
Graph 9
19
Regularly
Occasionally
89
Never
156
167
Practice of Untouchability
TABLE 4.19
PRACTICE OF UNTOUCHABILITY
From the above Table it is evident that the majority of the respondents that
is 202 (76.5 per cent) of them never felt the ‘untonchability’ being practice with
them by the upper caste people. Whereas 52 (20 per cent) of respondents felt that
‘untouchability’ was practiced against them by the upper castes. Very few
respondents near about four percent of them said they were always experiencing
the practice of untouchability.
The most surprising feature of this data is that the prevalence of
untouchability in urban and rural areas is seems to be disappearing. It also
indicates that the caste based stratified Hindu society is on its way of shading out
the age old dogmas and prejudices.
168
Graph 10
250
202
200
Always
150
Some time
100 76.5
52
Never
50 19.7
10 3.8
0
Frequency Percentages
169
TABLE 4.20
RELATIONS WITH THE UPPER CASTES
It is evident from the Table above that more than half of the respondents
had ‘good’ relations with the upper castes people. In all 161 (61per cent) of them
had stated to have cordial relations with the upper castes people whereas more
than a quarter (28.8 per cent) of them had rated their relationships with the upper
castes people as ‘average.’ The most outstanding feature of this data a handful of
respondents had good relations with the other people specially the upper castes
people in the caste ladder, indicating that the social fabric of traditional Hindu
society is seems to be changing
Graph 11
14 13
Very Good
76
Good
Average
170
Member of Social Organization
The association of a person with the social organization shows the degree
of his investment with societal issues and problems. The social organization can
also mould the personality of a person. The personal characteristics of an
individual are closely associated with the his membership and activeness with
social organization keeping this in mind, the variable member of social
organization was investigated and the data is presented in Table 4.21
TABLE 4.21
MEMBER OF A SOCIAL ORGANIS ATION
Response
Distribution of Respondents
Frequency Percentage
Yes 128 48.5
No 136 51.5
Total 264 100.0
171
Improvement in Social Status
TABLE 4.22
THE RESPONSE TOWORDS IMPROVEMENT IN SOCIAL STATUS
It is evident from the above Table, that above 41 per cent of the total
respondents disagreed with the statement that there is a improvement in their
‘social status’ and approximately one third of the respondents could not decide
whether their status has improved or not. Where as more than 37 per cent of the
respondents agreeably said that their ‘social status’ has improved during past few
years.
More than (40 per cent) of the respondent’s refusal to admit any positive
change in their ‘social status’ indicates that the social spheres of the respondents
did not change much.
172
Graph 12
98
109
Agreed
Undecided
Disagree
57
School Enrollment
TABLE 4.23
SCHOOL ENROLLNMENT OF THE CHILDREN OF RESPNDENTS
173
The data presented above shows that near about (38 per cent) of children in
school going ages have not been enrolled in the school whereas a little more than
(60 per cent) of the children in the school going age of the respondents have been
enrolled in the near by school. The sizeable number of children being out of
school without enrollment shows that the respondents who are poverty stricken
will first try to satisfy his hunger. Poverty and lack of regular employment has
forced the parents not to send their children to schools. The attitudes of parents
that education is useless thing today because it failed to provides employment after
the education, is also equally responsible for low enrollment of the children in
schools.
It can therefore be concluded that globalization have created the new
educational disparities for the third generation learners of Neo-Buddhist
community.
Type of School
174
TABLE 4.24
TYPE OF SCHOOL ENROLEMENT
175
TABLE 4.25
RESPONSE TOWARDS DETORIATION IN EDUCATIONAL STATUS
Agree
66
Undecided
Disagree
97
176
Occupational Changes
It is evident from the Table shown above that more man two third (76.1 per
cent) of the respondents did not perceive any change in their occupations during
the last few years where as little less than one fourth (24 per cent) of the
respondents said that there is a changed in their occupations during the last few
years.
The overwhelming majority of the respondents did not experience any
occupational changes it can be concluded that there is occupational stagnations
and the respondents were not been able to achieve any occupational mobility.
Nature of Employment
The employment status of a person is reflected in his level of confidence
and his ability to handle the problems at his hand Individuals over all outlook and
perceptions about a particular social phenomenon is likely to be influenced by his
177
employment status. Hence the variable nature of employment was investigated
and the data is presented in Table 4.27
TABLE 4.27
NATURE OF EMPLOYMENT
The data presented above demonstrated that the more than two third (76 per
cent) of the respondents were employed temporarily. Where as only nine per cent
of the total respondent were permanently employed.
The temporary employment always creates uncertainties and the
psychological tensions and pressures which affects efficiency and functionality of
any persons. The majority of the respondents being unsecured indicate that we are
living in the world which is much unsecured and uncertain.
178
TABLE 4.28
SATISFACTION ABOUT PRESENT OCCUPATION
The data present above clearly shows that near about two third (73.1) of the
respondents were not satisfied about their present occupation where as less than
one fourth of them any were satisfied about their present occupations. The low
wages, hardships, without any incentives and undignified treatment could be some
of the factors which might led to the dissatisfaction of the respondents about their
present occupations.
Graph 14
52
Satisfied
19 Undecided
Not Satisfied
193
179
Discrimination at Work
It is evident from the Table above that majority of the respondents little
above 70 per cent of them did not experience any discrimination at the work place
whereas 29 per cent of the respondents did experience the discrimination at the
work place.
The above responses can be understood in the context of number of
respondents employed in formal and Non formal sectors. The majority of
respondents in this study are working in unorganized sector where the
consciousness about their own rights and the level of sensitivity to the
discrimination being practice is very low. The majority of the workers are not
sensitized about their own rights.
180
Member of Association
The assertiveness of a person and his or her inherent human rights can be
translated into action by way of associations and involvement in unions. The
association and union can also mould the personality of a person in a different
way, influencing his attitudes, values and he beliefs system. Hence the responses
about the respondent’s membership to any association or union were investigated
and the same has been presented in Table 4.30
TABLE 4.30
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATION
Yes 25 9.5
No 239 90.5
Total 264 100.0
It is quite obvious from the above Table that overwhelming majority of the
respondents (90.5 per cent) were not associated with any associations by way of
membership and involvement. It was noted that little less than 10 per cent of the
respondents had responded positively regarding their involvement and
memberships of association/unions.
The trends of not having any association or weaking of the unions in all
spheres of employment is a world wide phenomenon which also reflected in this
study.
181
Savings
The economic conditions and social conditions are closely related to each
other. The surplus money in the hands of any individual gives him/her a sense of
satisfaction and sense of comforts. The person with money in balance will be
more risky and courageous in his approach. The money in accounts will give him
extraordinary confidence and will change his personality all together. Saving
could leads to prosperity and physical and psychological comforts. This is likely to
have an impact on the responses of the respondents. Therefore the variable
saving was investigated. The data presented below shows the responses of the
respondents about whether they have any saving or not.
TABLE 4.31
SAVINGS OF THE RESPONDENT
It is evident from Table 4.31 that an overwhelming majority (81.1 per cent)
of the respondents did not have any saving whereas little more than 18 per cent of
the respondents had some saving.
It can be concluded that the majority of the respondent’s earning is just
sufficient to sustain their livelihoods and they do not have surplus money to save
because majority of the respondents are agricultural laborers and do not have a
regular source of income.
182
Indebt ness
The recent incidents of farmer’s suicides in the study areas and elsewhere
in the country were associated with bankruptcy and inability to repay the debts
taken from relatives, Banks and ‘Savakars’ (money lenders). At one point we are
talking about the India becoming the economic power at the same time there are
people who are suffering from the economic problems. The economic condition is
likely to affect the response and attitude of the respondents towards a particular
problem and hence the variable ‘indebt ness’ was considered for investigations.
The data presented in Table 4.32 shows the response of the respondents with
regards to their indebt ness.
TABLE 4.32
INDEBTNESS OF THE RESPONDENTS
It is evident from the table given above that more than two third (76 per
cent) of the respondents did not have any debt against them whereas little less than
one third ( 24 per cent) of the respondents said that they were indebted.
It can be said that, majority of the respondents had no access to the formal
money lending agencies because of their strict rules, regulations and attitudes
towards the poorer sections of the society and hence, the poor people like Neo-
Buddhists had no access to formal money landing agencies. The non-accessibility
of the crediting formal agencies to the poor sections is a common phenomenon in
183
Indian villages/Rural areas and this could be the reason had not borrowed money
and were shown as not indebted.
Conclusions
By and large the respondents were appeared to be progressive in their
thinking and were vocal about the issues pertaining to the process of globalization
which was reflected in the focused group discussions and the personnel interview
conducted with them. Majority of them were following the new lifestyles after
conversion into Buddhism. Even if their Social Status is better than what it was a
decade ago their economic conditions remained the same. This corroborates the
earlier studies conducted by Sunanda Patwardhan (1977) and Johannes Beltz
(2005). The respondent’s perceptions about the globalization and its relevance to
their socio-economic status differs as per their level of education, level of income
and the other characteristics like occupations. It is noteworthy to mentioned that
the discontents about the globalization and its policies was seen and observed but
their was no organized protest and no mass movement to protest these policies.
*****
184