DEMOGRAPHIC-IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIOECONOMIC TRANSITION AMONG THE TRIBALPOPULATIONS OF MANIPUR, INDIA

The demographic implications of socioeconomic transition are studied a mong the three subsistence categories of the Gangte, a little known tr ibe from northeast India. Reproductive histories of 444 ever-married w omen and other data on the 343 households from which these women were drawn were collected from 11 villages representing the 3 transitional groups. A trend of increasing household income and literacy of couples was observed from shifting cultivators to settled agriculturists to t he town-dwelling Gangte. The effect of socioeconomic transition is als o seen in the constriction at the base of the age-sex pyramid of the t own dwellers compared with the other subsistence categories, suggestin g a relatively lower proportion of children in the 0-5-year-old age gr oup. Although exogamy is practiced among all the subsistence categorie s, a considerably higher percentage of admixture with non-Gangte is ob served among the town dwellers compared with the others. Overall infan t and child mortality among the Gangte is low. However, variation exis ts among the three subsistence groups in the sense that a considerable reduction is seen from the traditional shifting cultivators to the ur banized town dwellers, reflecting better socioeconomic conditions and greater awareness and accessibility of the town dwellers to public hea lth amenities. No consistent or perceptible trend is evident in mean n umber of live births. The genetic implications of this demographic tra nsition are reflected in Crow's indexes of selection.