A study on socio-economic status of tribes involved in fisheries in purulia district, west bengal

Abstract

Tribes are the original inhabitants of India. They have their own traditional culture, customs, language and life style. In terms of tribal population, West Bengal takes 9th position among the different Indian states. Total tribal population of West Bengal is 5,296,953 which is 5.79 per cent of the total population of the state. In West Bengal, Purulia is reported to be the most backward and deprived tribal populated district in West Bengal. In this district, a total of 5,40,652 people belong to tribal community which consists of 18.46 per cent of the total population of the district (2nd highest percentage of tribal population after that of Jalpaiguri district consists of 18.89 per cent in West Bengal) as well as the 10.52 per cent of the total ST population of West Bengal. Tribes of Purulia have no fixed and permanent income. This district has ample resource of water but fish production is not much encouraging. Purposive sampling method has been used for the present study. There are total 20 blocks in Purulia district which can be divided into 3 zones according to tribal population- High, medium and low. Then three blocks (Hura, Arsha and Para) were selected purposively from each zone. Altogether 100 tribal households were taken as sample. For the purpose of the study, an interview schedule was prepared with the help of review of literature, field work and discussion with experts of social science to achieve the objective of the study. To achieve proper inference appropriate statistical tools like correlation, percentage analysis and RBQ were used with suitable graphs, charts and diagrams. Following the modified Kuppuswamy scale it is observed that majority of the respondents (77%) fall under upper-lower socioeconomic class, some of them (17%) fall under lower-middle socioeconomic class and rest of them (6%) fall under lower socioeconomic class. Among core constraints of the tribal fish farmers’, water scarcity has been more highlighted as Purulia is drought prone area. Suitable recommendations have been discussed after analysing the social, economic, personal, core and extension constraints faced by the tribes involved in fisheries in Purulia district, WB.