Revision summary
ST sex ratios have often been less skewed against women than SC ratios. Women’s farm and forest work and bride-price traditions raise women’s visible worth in many tribes. SC life is more tightly bound to caste patriarchy, dowry, and son-need. SC numbers cluster in regions already known for missing women. Migration undercount and later arrival of sex-selection clinics are secondary explanations, and the ST lead is not guaranteed forever.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD T[ST work bride-price] --> F[Higher female share] S[SC in caste dowry son] --> M[More masculine ratio] G[Plains missing women belt] --> S U[Sanskritisation clinics] --> T U --> R[Gap may close]
Conclusion
- Explain with kinship and women’s work first, then regional concentration of SC in high son-preference zones.
- Do not romanticise tribes: witchcraft accusations, land loss, and falling child sex ratios in some ST pockets show the lead can close.
Tribal sex ratios look more favourable to women because many ST economies still give women field and forest roles and weaker dowry-son regimes, while SC groups more often share the caste-Hindu penalty on daughters. The statistic is a social map, not a moral ranking of two poor communities, and it can change as tribes enter the same marriage market.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades.
Next question in the 2015 paper (Q11). View answer →
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Does a better ST sex ratio mean tribal women are equal?
No. It means fewer missing women on average. Violence, land rights, and schooling gaps can still be severe.
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Will the ST–SC gap last?
It may shrink where tribes adopt dowry, ultrasound, and plains marriage patterns. Policy should watch child sex ratios, not only total ratios.
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