District Development Plan

About the district

Ramanathapuram District is an administrative district of Tamil Nadu State in southern India.The city of Ramanathapuram is the districtheadquarters.The geographical position of the district liesbetween Northern Latitude 9.050 and 9.500;Eastern Longitude between 78.100 and79.270.The District has an area of 4123 sq km,occupies 3.16 percent of area in the State. It is bounded on the north by SivagangaiDistrict, on the northeast by PudukkottaiDistrict, on the east by the Palk Strait, on thesouth by the Gulf of Mannar, on the west by Thoothukkudi District, and on the northwest by Virudhunagar District.

Industrial growth in the district

Agriculture and allied activities, Forestry and logging, fishing, mining and quarrying services boost up the primary sector. Among these four services, agriculture and fishing contribute much to the primary sector growth of the district. The drought and pressure on sea influences the growth rate. Mounting fashion of drought moreover pressure on sea leads slighter growth. The share of primary sector in GDDP of the district is 17.46 percent which is less than the share of secondary and tertiary sectors of 19.91 percent and 62.63 percent respectively in 2011 – 12 but higher than the State’s primary sector contribution of 8.94 percent, which indicates the dependency on agriculture and fishery sector. The primary sector contribution is coming down from 2004-05 to 2011-12 in district and State. As of census 2011, 54.34 percent of the total workforce of the district mainly depends on agriculture and allied activities, but production is very less due to unskilled nature of labour plus inadequate technology adaptation. The same pattern is replicated with cultivators. Out of 32 districts in Tamil Nadu, Ramanathapuram district occupies the 22nd rank in the primary sector. Agriculturual labours are of 54.34 percent indicating high dependence on agriculture and low output of primary sector and lower per capita income underlis the status of the population depending on agriculture.

higher income from the tertiary sector forced the primary and secondary sector labour to move towards this sector. The share of tertiary sector has improved from 55.63 percent in 2004-05 to 62.63 percent in 2011-12.Out of nine variables, trade, hotels and restaurants, transport by other means, communication, banking and insurance services, real estate, business services, public administration and other services contributes much in the district tertiary sector growth. It is a natural phenomenon in the growth of trade, hotel and restaurants in the Ramanathapuram where the district has the richest potential for tourism and pilgrim centre. Four fold growth observed in communication services of the district because of cellular phone entry. Pudhu Vaazhvu project and growth of self help group movements have boosted up the banking and insurance services of the district.

Ramanathapuram accounts for maximum fish catch in the State. The share of fisheries to primary sector is on par with agricultural production of the district. The district coast is well known for pearl fishing. The regional centre for the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute has developed proven technology for the culture of Pearls, edible oyster calm mussel and seaweed. Commercial Pearl Farming has come up near Kurusadai Island and the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation Limited maintains it. The District has distinct Chank fishery, Jadhi Chanks are abundant in Palk Bay strait and Gulf of Mannar. More than 2000 fishermen are engaged in active Chank diving and sacred Chank collected by divers are marketed to West Bengal for making ornaments. About 160 Prawn farms are operating in the district, which follows an intensive type of prawn culture. Prawns harvested from these farms are exported to Japan, USA and European countries, which earns sizable foreign exchange for the country. Seven fish processing factories are functioning in Thondi and Mandapam. Prawn, squids, cuttlefish, crabs and fish are processed by angling and exported to foreign countries.Many small entrepreneurs are involved in fish drying. Dried fish is used in poultry and cattle feed manufacturing.

Literacy

The average literacy rate of Ramanathapuram increased to 80.72 percent in 2011 from 72.96 percent in 2001. If things are looked at gender wise, male and female literacy were 87.81 percent and 73.52 percent respectively in 2011, for 2001 census the same figures stood at 83.01 percent and 63.36 percent. Total literates in the district were 978946 of which male and female were 536487 and 442459 respectively.The level of literacy rate in Ramanathapuram was well above the national average of 74.04percent and above the State average of 80.09 percent.