296
GODAVARI DISTRICT
Owing to the transfer of part of the District to Kistna, the land
revenue demand is now about Rs. 43,20,000.
Outside the three municipalities of Cocanada, Râjahmundry, and
Ellore, local affairs are managed by the District board and the five
tdtuh boards,. the areas under which correspond respectively with those
of the five administrative subdivisions mentioned above: The expendi
ture of these boards in 1903-4 was about 1o lakhs. More than half
of this was laid out on the maintenance and construction of roads and
buildings. The chief source of income is the land cess. Twenty-five
of the smaller towns are managed by Union panchiyats, constituted
under Madras Act V of 1884.
The District Superintendent of police has his head-quarters at Râjah-
mundry. He has an Assistant Superintendent to help him. There are
84 police stations in the District; and the regular force, inclusive of
a reserve of one inspector and 103 men, numbers 1,075, working under
19 inspectors, besides 835 rural police.
In addition to the Central jail at Râjahmundry there are 20 subsi-
diary jails, which can collectively accommodate 186 male and 121
female prisoners.
In the matter of elementary education Godavari was the pioneer in
the Madras Presidency, several villages having submitted to a voluntary
cess for this purpose as early as 1855. Yet it now stands only sixteenth
among the Districts as regards the literacy of its people. The per-
centage of those able to read and write is little more than 4 (8 males
and o-7 females) ; and the Agency tract, where the percentage is
less than 2, is naturally far more backward than the rest. But pro
gress in recent years has been considerable. In 1880-1 the total
number of pupils under instruction was 21,787 ; in 1890-1, 32,255 ; in
1900-1, 52,258; and in 1903-4, 61,510. On March 3r, 1904, there
were 1,740 educational institutions in the District, of which 1,518 were
classed as public and 222 as private. Of the former, 1,442 were primary,
70 secondary, and 3 training schools ; and Arts colleges are maintained
at Râjahmundry and Cocanâda, and a training college at the former
of these places. These institutions contained altogether 13,939 girls.
Of the total, 37 were managed by the Educational department, 445 by
local boards, and 22 by the municipalities; while 586 were aided from
public funds, and 428 were unaided but conformed to the rules of the
department. As usual, the great majority of the pupils were in primary
classes. This is specially marked in the case of female education. Of
the male population of school-going age, 22.6 per cent. were in the
primary stage, and of the female 7.8 per cent. Among Muhammadans
the corresponding percentages were 1055 and 34-7, far exceeding those
in any other District. There were 308 schools for Panchamas, with
4,661 pupils. These are maintained principally by the missionary bodies.
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