Sameera Maiti’s research while affiliated with University of Lucknow and other places

The present study has been undertaken with an objective to analyze the demographic behaviour of the Karen of Andaman islands in India. The Karen is Burmese immigrant brought to Andaman in 1925 to work for the Forest Department. Gradually after settling down, they diversified into other activities. The Karen forms a small but important community in Andaman Fieldwork was undertaken in November – December 2003 with the aim of studying demographic structure, particularly pattern of fertility and mortality among the community. The Karen (in the Andaman) is concentrated in seven villages of Mayabunder tehsil and two villages of Dighipur tehsil, both in North Andaman. Although an attempt was made to cover all the villages of Mayabunder, due to paucity of time, one village could not be covered. There are 297 Karen families in the six villages under study, with a population of 1,666. Thus, the average family size is 5.6. Sex ratio stands adverse against female at 924, although the Karen is traditionally a matrilineal community. Traditionally, community endogamy is the prescribed form of marriage, but cases of exogamous marriages with locals are on the rise. Literacy rate is good enough. However, several people have knowledge only of the Karen language. Vital statistics suggests that crude birth rate in these villages is on the higher side as it varies between 12.9 to 29.0 in the preceding year, while crude death rate is on the lower side. Moreover, it was noted that it is the Karen women who use various methods of birth spacing or tubectomy while male participation is very low. On the whole, it appears that the Karen are economically well off and do not have a very conservative social outlook. If proper attention is paid, their demographic structure can be improved further to a desirable level with only little effort.