VI. Demography:

A. Number of Speakers of Dogri language:

The total number of Dogri Speakers in India according to 2001 census is 2,282,589.

The Table below shows Mother tongues grouped under Dogri Language

1. Main habitat:

The main places of habitat of the Dogri speakers are middle and lower belts of Jammu region. Some segmental pockets of the upper belt of the region is also inhabitated by this speech community. In addition, sixteen villages of the Jaffarwal Tehsil (now in Pakistan) and some villages in Gurdaspur District of Punjab (Indian side) are inhabitated by the Dogri speakers.

Besides, the Dogri speech community is found in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kanpur, Pune, Bhopal, Indore, Agra, Kolkata, Varanasi, Haridwar, DehraDun, Meerut, Chandigarh, Ambala Cantt, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Chamba, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Ahmadabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Lahore & Sialkot (Pakistan).

a. Male/Female

The following table shows the Male-Female distribution of Dogri Speakers in the States and Union Territories of India, as per 2001 census.

b. Rural/Urban

The following table shows the Rural-Urban distribution of Dogri Speakers in the States and Union Territories of India, as per 2001 census

2. Decennial Growth

The following table shows the Decennial growth of Dogri Speakers in 4 consecutive census.

* indicates that full figure of dogri was not available as census was not conducted in Jammu and Kashmir in 1991

B. Settlement Pattern

The following table shows Male-Female/Rural-Urban distribution of Dogri speakers in 2001 (as per 2001 census).

C. Literacy and Education:

1. Literacy

a. Rate:

b. Agencies Involved

In Jammu region of J&K, both Government as well as non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are working in the field of education and literacy. In addition to that, Christian Missionaries are also involved to play their role in this respect whose number is increasing though slowly, yet satisfactorily.

In the field of promotion of literacy in the region some of the notable Government Departments and NGOs are mentioned as under: -

1. The Director of Education of the State Government as well as the Education Department of the State of J&K, Jammu/Srinagar.
2. Dharmarth Trust of Dr. Karan Singh (sole trustee) which runs Sanskrit Maha Vidyalaya at Virpur (Jammu) and a Middle School, Jammu (NGO).
3. Christian Missionary’s Organization, which is running eight Schools (including two Higher Secondary Schools) (NGO).
4. Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, New Delhi (The Ministry of Human Resources and Development, New Delhi) is running more than fifty Schools.
5. The Ministry of Human Resources and Development is running six Jawahar Navodaya Residential Schools in all the six districts of the region. They are being run in the rural areas so that the children of the village people can get benefit.
6. The Defence Ministry is running several army schools wherever they have their big establishments. The said ministry is also running a Sainik School (Higher Secondary level and also residential) at Nagrota near Jammu.
7. The Regional Research Laboratory is running a Primary School in its Campus, Jammu.

Several NGOs are organizing several Schools in the region. Some more prominent NGOs are as under: -

1. Maharaja Hari Singh Memorial Trust- Two Schools (1) at Nagbani (2) at Jammu
2. Delhi Public School Organisation- One School
3. Diwan Badri Nath Trust- Two Schools (H.S.S. level)-1 Jammu City, 2 Jammu City (vicinity)
4. Jagriti Mission- Two Schools in Jammu
5. Vasudeva Kutumbakam- One School
6. Bal Niketan School Management Committee- One School for orphans (residential)
7. One Residential School for blind children

Apart from the above mentioned there are several other non-Governmental Organisations which are running many Schools, up to Secondary and Higher Secondary level and there by working for the promotion of literacy in the region.

2. Education:

a. Formal

At present there are twenty Govt. Degree Colleges and three private Degree Colleges functioning in the region and also 56 Colleges of Education (Private), one Government College of Education, three Law Colleges (private), two Medical Colleges including Dental College, two Colleges of Engineering (private) and one Govt. College of Engineering, and one Ayurvedic College (private), one College of Physio-therapy (private) etc. One Polytechnic is also functioning and State Board of Technical Education has been revamped and given a new shape as an independent body.

There are four Universities including one Agriculture University in the region. In addition to that Indira Gandhi National Open University, Annamalai University and Bundelkhand University also have opened their centers in the region. In order to raise the educational standard Jammu University has completely rooted out open choice system.

b.Non-formal Education:

Non-formal education scheme has been revised and education guarantee scheme and alternative innovative education has been introduced in the region. This scheme provides for a Primary School for every habitation having more than 15 School going children.

Thus it is obvious that the formal education in Jammu region of Jammu&Kashmir is being imparted through Schools (both Private and Government), Colleges (both Private and Government), Dharmarth Trust, Gujjar Desh Charitable Trust, various other vocational institutions, Agencies, Christian Missionaries, Government Sponsored Agencies, Computer Training Centers , Universities etc. On Government level the computer education is being made compulsory in higher secondary schools.

Non-formal education in the region includes several coaching centers for adult literacy programme, literacy improvement programme, political and economic education, health education, leisure education, jail schools, jhuggi jhoumpadi schools (in slum areas), training colleges for training of adult education for teachers and social workers, training colleges and institutions for imparting training in agriculture, crafts, poultry, nursing school, cooperative system, health (physio-therapy and the paramedical branches), sports etc.

c.Impact: General, On woman, Adult

As far as women education is concerned, the State Government and some voluntary agencies are very serious about it. Though there are also separate schools and colleges for girls, majority of schools and colleges are functioning as co-educational institutions. In rural areas 1/3 of the girls at the secondary level and 1/2 of the girls at the collegiate level are studying in co-educational system on equal terms. It is expected that women education will pick more momentum in near future as the several women welfare organizations are working day and night to propagate women literacy programme.

Moreover, a separate women polytechnic has also been opened by the State Government near Jammu City.

Vocational Training Programme:

Project Report for the modernization and improvement of vocational training at ITIs is prepared through National Technical Training Foundation (NTTF), Bangalore for central assistance.

State Council for vocational training formed first time in the State, was a useful guide in vocational training.