A seemingly ‘unfair’ trend is shaping up in Odisha as single women population in rural parts here has left behind the most urbanised and literate States like Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. On an average, three in ten women in State live single compared to four in ten among men. Among the BIMARU States, Odisha is fourth after UP, Bihar and Jharkhand.
The worrying fact is not limited to this; even the proportion of fair sex widowed, divorced or separated (W/D/S) living in the villages in Odisha is highest among the BIMARU States, whereas in the urban areas the proportion is a shade lower than Chhattisgarh only. The W/D/S population in urban Odisha is a notch up over States like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi.
Such a disquiet trend about the composition of fair sex in Odisha has come to fore in the recently released Sample Registration System (SRS) by the Census office here. The vital statistics of the census data reveal that the proportion of never married or single women in the State is at par with the national average in both rural and urban centres. A high of over 22.2 per cent fair sex in the age group of 15-plus in the urban Odisha are living single compared to around 20 per cent in the rural Odisha. Similarly, a high of around 12 per cent live as Widowed or Divorced or Separated in urban Odisha compared to a high of 13 per cent in rural Odisha.
What is ‘unfair’ about the composition of fair sex in the State is the trend of single women in rural parts is not fuelled by feministic independence but by the economic servility. Dowry is the single fear factor behind the ‘single’ status. Interestingly, dowry cases registered in Odisha stood highest in the country for the last five years. Moreover, the rate of the dowry crime is also highest, notes the National Crime Records Bureau.
Experts observed that this economic servility in rural Odisha could create havoc for the fair sex population in their twilight years pushing them to destituteness. Incidentally, the Planning Commission of India also in its latest poverty estimates has ranked rural Odisha high in destitute poverty nationally. In a span of around half-a-decade, the W/D/S proportion of fair sex has not shown any appreciable rise. The 2010 data had put the State average at 11.2 per cent against the current average of 11.5 per cent.
Regarding the male proportion too, the figure now and in 2010 are almost equal at around 3.1 per cent. But the catch is the yawning gap of nearly four times between men and women exists then and now. According to State Commission for Women (SCW) data, proportion of divorcee women in rural Odisha is not significant. Among the proportion of 13 per cent W/D/S in rural areas, almost 90 per cent are widowed population, suggests an estimate by the SCW.
The high fair sex widowed proportion compared to men is due to a combination of several factors that ranged from higher life expectancy of females to prevalent teen or child marriages in Odisha, observed a study by the the National Commission for Women and the Planning Commission. Even, the latest Census data shows that nearly 3 per cent fair sex in rural Odisha get married at below the legal age of 18 years compared to a nominal one per cent in urban Odisha.