Area Characteristics

The operational area of BJSA includes some of the most backward blocks (Badlapur and Khuthan) of Jaunpur district. This region is culturally rich in terms of its traditions and heritage. However in terms of health, nutrition, and education and in other areas it is largely neglected. About 80 per cent of the population lives in the rural areas. The sex ratio is 994. Scheduled castes comprise a population of about 80 per cent in both of these blocks. As per 2001 census, male literacy rate for Jaunpur district is about 77.16 per cent and for females it is 43.33 per cent. An overall literacy rate of the district is about 59 per cent. The rural literacy rate is about 53 per cent.

If medical facilities are looked into, there are about 22 PHCs, but still the people suffer from lots of preventable diseases like cholera, gastroenteritis, encephalitis and malaria. Large number of deaths occurred due to gastroenteritis in the year 1997. Prevalence rate for goitre endemic was found to be the highest in the district with 65/1000, which reveals that the government health system has remained ineffective most of the time during the past few years. ANMs do not visit the villages regularly.

The backward castes are the last section of the community to receive any benefit from the government schemes. The big farmers and merchants also exploit them. The different castes that exist in the area are Brahmin, Chamar, Pasi, Dhobi, Teli, Lohar, Kumhar and other minorities. The upper caste dominance is there for decades.

The status of women is also very low. The girls are married at an age of 14-15 years. The adolescent girls are the most neglected as they do not have the support of their parents in education or their health. This results in serious gender discrimination and social imbalance; this is due to the socio economic condition of the community. The women work as labourers in the agricultural lands. On the other hand, men from the district migrate to Punjab, Haryana and Delhi in search of work. The large scale migration affects the district’s economy, agriculture and small-scale industry in a drastic manner.