A socio-economic and cultural study of Satar community of Nepal (A case study of Surunga VDC, Jhapa)

Abstract

Satars are minority ethnic group among the various ethnic groups in Nepal. They contributed to Nepalese society being a member of Nepalese people. The present study focuses on socio-economic condition of Satars in Surunga VDC of Jhapa district. Their rituals and language are totally different near by other groups. The main objectives of this study was "to find out the socio-economic and cultural condition of Satar Community and their causes of backwardness". The study covers only Surunga VDC of Jhapa district. This study was based on primary data collected from the field. Secondary sources of data were also used. The Surunga VDC was the universe and selected household head and key informants were the respondents of this study. Simple random sampling was adopted for selecting households. For the primary data collection structured questionnaire, informal interviews from key informants, observation method and focus group discussion were applied. The study is descriptive and analytical in nature in which descriptive statics is applied for data analysis and is presented in table, bar diagram and charts. It is also presented in percent. The analysis of data is done manually. Sixty households of the universe of Satar community were sampled for the study. The Satar community lives in the entire length of Terai, mainly in Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari district of eastern Nepal. They are educationally very back. The average literacy rate of the Satar is 29.7 percent (CBS: 2001). The study shows that 80 percent of the sampled population is illiterate and 20 percent of the population is literate which indicates lack of educational awareness in Satars. Mostly they are landless people, 66.66 percent of the Satar people are landless and non of them have more than 30 Kattha of land. They depend upon wage labour in farm for their livelihood. Their annual income is very low. They cannot fulfill their demand of their daily life. Their total annual expenditure is greater than their annual income and they are indebted in loan. Their main occupation is agriculture especially animal husbandry. 79.33 percent of people are settled in "Jhupadi" (Hut). The people who are living in huts are absolutely poor. 85 percent of the people have taken loan from money lenders with arbitrary interest rate. They are obligated to take loan from moneylenders because most of them do not have citizenship of Nepal. Nuclear family structure are higher than others and new generation are also practicizing Nuclear family. The present study shows, 83.33 percent of people are Hindus and 16.66 percent of people are Christian. At past, they all were Hindu. Due to the lack of technological knowledge and education, they cannot adopt modern means of facilities which are adopted by other communities landlessness, illiteracy is combination with the lack of technological innovation which brings Satars into the condition of backwardness. Backwardness is both the ends and means of poverty because it creates poverty.