Society, Tribes & Social Issues of Rajasthan — RPSC RAS Paper I, Unit III, Part A
Weightage: Part A of Paper I Unit III (sociology), plus the tribes and demography items in Paper II Unit III. The syllabus states the concepts nationally (caste, class, modernisation, weaker sections) and then asks for the Rajasthan focus, which this chapter supplies. The general sociology sits in the aliased Indian society chapter.
1. Demographic profile (Census 2011)
The 2011 Census, the latest complete count, gives Rajasthan a population of about 6.85 crore. Key markers are:
| Indicator | Figure | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sex ratio | 928 | Below the national 943 |
| Child sex ratio | 888 | Among the lowest in the country |
| Literacy | 66.1 per cent | Male 79.2, female 52.1 |
| Scheduled Castes | 17.8 per cent | About 1.22 crore |
| Scheduled Tribes | 13.5 per cent | About 92 lakh |
| Urban share | About 25 per cent | Mostly rural |
The gender gap in literacy and the child sex ratio are the standard analytic pairing for questions on women's status.
2. The Scheduled Tribes
Rajasthan has twelve notified Scheduled Tribes. The Meena and the Bhil are the two largest, and their order depends on how sub-groups such as Bhil Mina are counted. Others include the Garasia, Damor, Dhanka, Kathodi and Sahariya.
| Tribe | Main region | Marker |
|---|---|---|
| Bhil | Southern belt: Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh | Archery tradition; Gavri and Gair; Baneshwar fair |
| Meena | Eastern and central districts (Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, Karauli) | Largest ST by some counts; historically rulers of Dhundhar |
| Garasia | Sirohi, Udaipur, Pali hills | Hill tribe; the "dapa" bride-price custom |
| Sahariya | Baran (Shahbad, Kishanganj) | The only PVTG in the state; lowest literacy; forest produce |
Banswara and Dungarpur are tribal-majority districts, and the southern tribal belt comes under the Fifth Schedule and the Tribal Area Sub-Plan. Seasonal labour migration and forest-access issues are common problems in the belt.
3. Caste and community
Caste and clan identities structure rural society, with major groups including Rajputs, Jats, Gujjars, Meenas, Bishnois and the trading Marwari communities, alongside Scheduled Castes such as the Meghwal, Bairwa, Jatav and Regar. Two contemporary features are examined:
- Reservation politics: Gujjar agitations in 2006-08 and later for a separate quota show how caste mobilisation meets the constitutional ceiling and court review.
- Denotified and nomadic groups: the Gadia Lohars, Kalbelias, Banjaras and Kanjars face poverty, poor documentation and social stigma.
4. Marriage, family and customs
Rural Rajasthan has patriarchal, often joint, households, and customs that affect women:
- Child marriage: mass weddings on Akha Teej are the classic setting. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 applies, and NFHS-5 (2019-21) reported about a quarter of women aged 20-24 married before 18.
- Nata pratha: a custom in some communities under which a married woman may live with another man on a payment, and its abuses.
- Dapa: bride price in some tribal groups.
- Dowry: prohibited by the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
- Purdah or ghunghat: seclusion that limits mobility.
- Sati: the 1987 Deorala case led to the Rajasthan Sati Prevention Act and the central Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987.
- Death feasts: banned by the Rajasthan Death Feast Prohibition Act, 1960.
- Witch-hunting: the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act, 2015 targets the dayan practice.
5. Women's status and the Bhanwari Devi case
In 1992 Bhanwari Devi, a village-level worker (saathin) of the state's Women's Development Programme who had tried to stop a child marriage, was gang-raped. The case led to Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997), in which the Supreme Court laid down guidelines against sexual harassment at the workplace, later codified in the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013.
The State Commission for Women was set up in 1999. Female literacy, the child sex ratio and child marriage remain the main indicators of concern.
6. Weaker sections and other issues
- Scheduled Castes: protected by the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Manual scavenging is banned by the 2013 Act.
- Elderly and disabled: the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, alongside state pensions.
- Poverty: NITI Aayog's 2023 multidimensional poverty index put Rajasthan at about 15 per cent, so state deprivation is real but uneven.
- Corruption: the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Rajasthan Lokayukta, set up under a 1973 Act, are the main bodies.
- Trafficking: the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 applies, and certain communities have been vulnerable to exploitation.
Worked example 6.1 (a 10-mark answer, ~150 words). "Discuss the status of women in Rajasthan and the measures taken to improve it."
Model answer. Women in Rajasthan face inequalities visible in the 2011 Census: a sex ratio of 928, a child sex ratio of 888 and female literacy of 52 per cent, well below male literacy.
Causes include patriarchal norms, early marriage (Akha Teej weddings), purdah, son preference and limited access to school and health services in remote areas. Customs such as nata and dapa reduce women's agency.
Responses combine law and programmes. Beyond the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and the Dowry Prohibition Act, the Bhanwari Devi case produced the Vishaka guidelines and the 2013 workplace Act. The State Commission for Women, schemes such as Rajshri and self-help groups seek to raise education, income and voice.
Progress requires effective enforcement, community mobilisation and investment in girls' education, since law alone has not shifted attitudes.
Common traps RPSC sets here
- Naming the wrong PVTG. Sahariya is the state's PVTG.
- Placing Meena and Bhil in the wrong regions. Meena in the east, Bhil in the south.
- Attributing the Vishaka guidelines to Delhi or Uttar Pradesh. The case arose in Rajasthan.
- Ignoring the date of the figures. The demographic numbers are 2011 data, and the next census is pending.
Memory aids
- "Sahariya alone is the PVTG": one PVTG for the state.
- "928 and 888": sex ratio and child sex ratio.
- "Bhanwari 1992, Vishaka 1997, POSH 2013": the workplace-harassment chain.
Summary
Rajasthan's 2011 profile shows a large rural population with a weak sex ratio and female literacy. Twelve Scheduled Tribes, led by Meena and Bhil, live in distinct regions, with Sahariya as the only PVTG.
Customs such as child marriage, nata, dapa and purdah, and laws against sati, death feasts and witch-hunting, frame the social-reform agenda. The Bhanwari Devi case gave India the Vishaka guidelines, and weaker-section policy rests on the SC/ST, senior citizen and disability statutes.
Exam protocol
- Quote figures with the 2011 Census and say it is the latest complete count.
- Pair each social evil with the law that addresses it.
- End social-issue answers with an enforcement gap and a community-level remedy.
