Households In West Bengal Research Articles

Household Livelihood Strategies and Forest Resource Use in Rural West Bengal, India

The economic contributions of forest resources to the well-being of rural households are enormous. However, the level of forest benefits and degree of forest reliance vary across households. Drawing on a sustainable livelihood framework, this article explores how these forest resource uses correlate to the choice of livelihood strategies of rural forest-dependent households with a specific focus on the increased income of households, filling income shortfall, coping with shocks and livelihood diversification. Data were collected from 407 rural forest-dependent households in West Bengal, India. Based on the share of forest income in total household income, households were classified into different livelihood strategy groups. One-way ANOVA was run to test the income differences among these groups. The forest extractive strategy was found least income-generating of all livelihood strategies. Multinomial logit regression was carried out to identify the asset-based explanatory variables that influence livelihood strategy choices and forest dependency of the studied households. Analyses show that households’ differential access to or endowment of livelihood assets determines the choice of a rural household’s livelihood strategy and that forest resource uses of the households are livelihood strategy driven. Asset-poor households should be given opportunities to pursue livelihood activities with higher economic returns. JEL Classifications: Q23, Q56, Q57

Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dairy farm households in West Bengal state

India is one of the leading economies that have been stuck hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringent measures were put in place to combat it. Among several sectors, dairy sector is the most affected as dairy products are highly perishable and rely on time-sensitive supply chains. Though studies are available on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dairy sector, there are no studies on COVID-infected dairy farm households. The present study was an attempt to assess the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on infected and uninfected dairy farm households in West Bengal. The study covered pre-lockdown, lockdown (both 1st and 2nd wave) and post-lockdown phases of COVID-19 pandemic. The primary data was collected from 150 dairy farm households (COVID-19 infected-75 and uninfected-75) in Murshidabad and Nadia districts of West Bengal. Dairy Economic Performance Index consisting of number of milch animals, milk yield, marketed milk, milk procurement price, concentrate price and veterinary cost was developed using principal component analysis. In order to make infected and uninfected groups statistically comparable, propensity score matching technique was employed. The index values were compared between matched infected and uninfected groups over different phases of COVID-19 pandemic. Dairy households incurred significant economic losses during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods due to increase in cost of concentrates, decline in the number of milch animals and drop in milk procurement prices. Dairy households faced constraints in procuring dry fodder, concentrate feed and in accessing veterinary care. COVID-19 infected dairy farm households had a greater socio-economic hurdle than that of uninfected households.

Energy-related financial literacy and energy consumption: a study of residential households in West Bengal, India

PurposeEnergy-related financial literacy (ERFL) which consists of energy literacy, financial literacy and lifecycle cost literacy, can play an instrumental role in addressing climate change by ensuring efficient energy consumption (macro level benefit) and promoting financial well-being (micro level benefit) of households. This study aims to highlight the ERFL level and its effect on the energy consumption of the sample households in the state of West Bengal, India.Design/methodology/approachThe study used primary data on 155 sample households from the two districts, i.e. Hooghly and North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, India, surveyed from September 2022 to November 2022 using a structured questionnaire. The study used the conceptual framework suggested by Blasch et al. (2018) to measure the ERFL. Pertinent statistical techniques and the ordinary least square regression method were used to attain the objectives of the study.FindingsThe outcome of the study showed that the average ERFL score was found to be moderate (63%). The findings of the study also indicated that the ERFL exerts a positive influence on reducing energy consumption among the sample households in India.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of research studies on the topic of ERFL around the globe. The very few studies so far conducted are mostly in the context of European economies and Nepal. Perhaps, to the best of the our knowledge, this is the first study on the issue of ERFL in the Indian context. Therefore, the present study will make an original contribution to the small but growing scholarship on ERFL.

SOCIO-POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT OF BHUMIJ TRIBAL COMMUNITY IN WEST BENGAL: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

Empowerment of the stigmatized and the tribal society has ever been the most important concern of Indian society. However, basically no universal measure exists to tap it. The aim of the study is to know the socio-political empowerment of Bhumij tribal community to understand the present status and changes among the Bhumij tribal community. This study is purely qualitative in nature and Ethnographic method has been followed. The study has been conducted by surveying 255 Bhumij households in West Bengal. Checklist cum household survey and interview schedule are used for collections of data. Participatory observation method also plays and important role for the collections of data. Occupational status, transaction with other communities, inter -caste marriage, position in local panchayat and awareness of their Democratic rights with some notable changes in Bhumij community has been analysed by the researcher. The social and political empowerment remains a burning issue across the tribal communities in Indian. The Present study tries to found out the socio -political empowerment of Bhumij community in West Bengal. KEY WORDS: Bhumij in the tribe, Socio-political status of Bhumij, Socio-political empowerment of Bhumij, West Bengal in India.

Status of drinking water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene in West Bengal: evidence from the National Family Health Survey of India (NFHS), 2019–2021

Abstract Access to safe drinking water and sanitation are essential fundamental rights for every citizen of a country. It is an important indicator of quality of life. Inadequate access to WASH services harms children under five and adolescent girls. This study examines the status of WASH services in West Bengal. A comprehensive assessment of WASH services was conducted using data from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey. Data were statistically analyzed using Stata V. 14.1 software. A multivariate ordinal logistic regression model was applied to examine the association between experimental and explanatory variables. Furthermore, adjusted odds ratios, significance levels, and confidence intervals were provided for each dummy variable. The study found that only 33.69% of households in West Bengal have access to improved sources of drinking water. Moreover, only 74.35% of households have access to hygienic sanitation facilities within their premises, while 14.60% still practice open defecation. However, urban, Pucca, and non-nuclear households have better access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. The study also reported that drainage facilities are lacking in the state. Finally, the study recommends some policy measures to improve the access of WASH services in the state.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Households in West Bengal: A Study in Hooghly District

COVID-19 has caused economic shock across the world for taking lockdown. Currently, India has facing a negative GDP growth rate. The economy of West Bengal has been affected a lot because of the strict implantation of lockdowns and also faces natural disasters. Unemployment went up to nearly 24 percent and 18 percent in India and West Bengal respectively in April 2020. The paper aims to investigate the impact of covid-19 pandemic on households’ income, consumption and savings. We have conducted a primary survey on 100 households in a small village in the Hooghly district in West Bengal, India, during the month of October 2020. The study reveals that both income and consumption of households has decreased but income decreased more than the consumption expenditure. The study also found overall consumption expenditure decreased but food expenditure increased, that’s why people have broken their savings for maintaining food expenditure during this situation.

Determinants of temporary migration of rural small, marginal and landless households in West Bengal, India

Determinants of temporary migration of rural small, marginal and landless households in West Bengal, India

Availability of basic amenities to urban households in West Bengal: an analysis of the level and determinants

Urban transition in West Bengal in this decade experienced an unprecedented growth of Census Towns (CTs), contrary to stagnating growth of the Statutory Towns (STs). As, an additional 6.3 million people are added in urban areas of the state for the last decade, it obviously will increase the demand of basic amenities. Therefore, this study tries to find out the difference in basic amenities among towns in West Bengal according to their administrative status, size of the towns, wealth possession of the households and spatial location of the towns. Independent t-test, stepwise regression and principal component analysis are used as a research technique to execute the objective of the study. It is evident from the study that, administratively having a statutory body in town, a large population size of the town, location of the town within or close to the urban agglomerations and wealth possession of the urban households, have an immense role in determining the availability of basic amenities. Among all these factors, the wealth possession of households is the most dominant factor. As a sharp difference in the availability of basic amenities is evident between CTs and STs, there needs a government intervention to regulate the unplanned growth to the CTs. Without further ado, these CTs need to be recognized as urban and to be assigned statutory status for better provision of basic amenities. The second option lies in the implementation of the idea of co-production in the planning mechanism. Here the state and citizens both should address the task of urban service delivery as the state cannot regulate or deliver of its own and low-income citizens does not have its resource capacity.

The Relation between Parents’ Child-Rearing Behavior and Their Socioeconomic Status in a Developing Country Context: A Case from West Bengal, India

This study examines variation in parents’ child-rearing behavior based on their socioeconomic status (SES) in the context of a developing country. The impact of different aspects of SES on the probability of practicing several child-rearing behaviors was examined individually based on a data of 1373 households in West Bengal, India. The study found that components of SES explain great shares of the variance in parents’ child-rearing behaviors and the variation was bi-dimensional. There was variation between parental practices due to a change in SES, and also each practice was affected differently for each component of SES. Mother’s level of education was found to play a consistent and most significant role in improving parent-child regular interaction.

Dearth in access to nutrition across socio-economic strata among rural households in West Bengal, India

Using a cross-sectional survey, the study aims to understand scarcity of nutrition consumption among rural households in West Bengal. Most of the research related to nutrition and health measured under-nutrition at household using anthropometric outcomes of household members, hence, ignored nutrients based deprivations. This study has taken an advantage to analyses household’s nutrition deprivation by comparing between nutrients requirement and consumption, calculated using RDA norms as given by Indian Council of Medical Research and nutrients coefficients of Indian foods as given by National Institute of Nutrition, respectively. In addition to estimating of calorie, protein and fat deprivation, the study examines multiple nutrients deprivations in the households. Bi-variate analysis was carried out to examine socio-economic variations of nutritional deprivation whereas multi-variates regression analysis, such as binary logistic model and multinomial regression model, were used to determine significant risk factors of nutritional deficiency as well as multi-nutrients deficiency in the households. The findings reveal that more than half (55%) of households were deficient in multiple nutrients. Furthermore, multi-variate analyses show that size of households, working as agricultural labor and living in an extent family were positively associated with the nutrition deficiency. On other hand, household’s income, education of head of the households were negatively associated nutritional deficiency at households.

Accumulation of essential and non-essential trace elements in rice grain: Possible health impacts on rice consumers in West Bengal, India

Rice is the major staple food to the population in rural West Bengal, India and Bangladesh. Depletion and excess accumulation of different trace elements, which are essential and non-essential to the human body, in rice can have a detrimental impact on the rice consumer. Therefore, this study has investigated the accumulation of different trace elements in rice consumed in rural households in West Bengal. The mean concentration (mg kg−1) of essential elements in rice follows the order of Fe (39.4) > Zn (9.79) > Mn (4.40) > Cu (3.26) > Se (0.28) > Co (0.03), while this order for non-essential elements is Pb (1.70) > As (0.34) > Ni (0.22) > Cd (0.04). In general, accumulation in rice is higher for elements that show higher mobility under reducing conditions (e.g. Fe, Mn, As, etc.) compared to elements with lower mobility under such conditions (e.g. Se, Cd, etc.). These orders of accumulation can be attributed to the irrigation practice of continuous flooding of the soil during rice cultivation and the abundance of these elements in the paddy soil itself. By combining these analytical results to the data obtained from questionnaire survey it is estimated that rice consumption can be either enough or a major source to fulfill the daily requirement of Fe, Cu, Se, Mn, and Zn necessary for different physiological functions in the human body for the population in rural Bengal. At the same time, it can be a potential route of As, Cd, Ni, and Pb exposure to develop their non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health effects among the population. This study highlights that attempts should be made to reduce the accumulation of other non-essential elements together with As in rice grain to ensure the health safety of the people who rarely get a balanced diet and relay on rice consumption to meet the daily calorific intake in rural Bengal.

Access to basic amenities and services to urban households in West Bengal: Does its location and size of settlements matter?

Basic urban services refer to the important civic services required for the citizens of urban areas and for the functioning of cities viz., water supply, sanitation, waste management, drainage, roads, power and shelter etc. This study focuses on the availability and access to basic services and amenities in class I (having population > 1,00,000) and VI (having population < 5000) towns across West Bengal based on census data. To measure the access to basic urban services and amenities, a composite index is devised which is consisting of 3 (three) domains, namely, assets index, basic amenities index and housing quality index and 14 representative indicators. The principal component analysis is used to reduce the dimensions and assign weight to the component domains. The results show that the access to and availability of basic urban services and amenities is relatively better in those towns located in and around Kolkata megacity. There is a huge disparity in terms of availability of basic services and amenities between the towns of North and South Bengal. Kolkata centric development leads to high levels of disparity between KMA (towns included under Kolkata Metropolitan Area) and non-KMA (towns not included under KMA) towns in West Bengal. The research study may assist the urban planners and policy makers to identify the intra-urban as well as well inter-urban spatial disparity in terms of basic urban services and amenities.

Socio-economic Determinants of Multidimensional Poverty in Rural West Bengal: A Household Level Analysis

The present study tries to estimate the incidence, depth and severity of multidimensional poverty (MDP) along with the contributions of dimensions to MDP among the rural households using multi-stage random sampling method in West Bengal. We decompose the inequality of deprivation scores between and within different socio-economic, religious and ethnic groups. The factors affecting the probability of falling in multidimensional poverty is also explored here using logistic regression, and the regression results suggest that public infrastructure plays an essential role towards explaining the variations of MDP. The present study is expected to be helpful to the development planners for better understanding of the root causes of MDP among the rural households in West Bengal.

Non-economic Indirect Benefits of Road on Rural Households in West Bengal

Non-economic Indirect Benefits of Road on Rural Households in West Bengal

Impact of Roads on Income and Consumption of Rural Households in West Bengal

In several studies it has been observed that public goods like roads indirectly play a key role in the development process through multiplier effects in the long run, it effects positively not only in economic aspects but also in social aspects. This holds true for both urban and rural areas. It has been found in many cases how rural road connectivity acts as a driver of socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. In many studies it has been found that lack of roads constraints the access of rural people to markets leading to a reduction in income and consumption. In view of this, an attempt has been made in this study to consider the impact of rural roads on income and consumption of the households in West Bengal. It has been found that better roads and railway systems lead to access and opportunities leading to diversified livelihood and accordingly diversified income are generated. The study also reveals that there is both quantitative and qualitative divergence in employment of the households between near and away from main road and rail station leading to a diversified income which in turn has a significant effect on the consumption expenditure of the rural households. The Gini coefficient is higher in case of those households near to main roads and rail station as well as a statistically significant higher group means for monthly income as well as consumption expenditure of those households reflecting a diversified rural livelihoods mainly because of better access to public assets like rural roads and implying a variation and heterogeneity in income and consumption.

Attitudes and cooperation: does gender matter in community-based forest management?

AbstractDoes gender matter in people's attitudes and cooperation in community-based natural resource management? If so, how do gender differences in conservation-related attitudes help or hinder sustaining the commons? Since biases ingrained in community norms and expectations often exclude women from decision making in co-management, it is imperative to find plausible answers to these queries in order to understand gender relations and cooperation in co-management. To this end, the authors conducted psychometric surveys and trust experiments on 196 forest-dependent households in West Bengal, India during 2009–2010. The findings suggest that, despite an overall negative perception about women's involvement in co-management, women are more conservation friendly and pro-social than men. It is also noticed that forest biomass and forest incomes as the indicators of sustainability have increased in those forest communities where women's proportional strength as decision makers is greater and people hold an overall positive conservation attitude.

Impact of roads on income and employment of rural households in West Bengal

It has been observed in several studies that lots of deprived communities are remote by distance, terrible road conditions, lack of or bust bridges and scarce transport. These conditions make it difficult for rural people to get their sell to market and finding jobs to place of work, to grip health emergencies, to admit children to school, and to obtain public services. In view of this, an attempt has been made in this study to consider the impact of rural roads on income and employment of the households in West Bengal. It has been found that better roads and railway systems lead to access and opportunities leading to diversified livelihood and accordingly diversified income are generated. The study also reveals that there is both quantitative and qualitative divergence in employment of the households between near and away from main road & rail station. The area which has high road and high population density positively influences the educational level too. Better access to education is materialised due to proximity of main road and rail station. The Gini coefficient is higher in case of those households who are near to main roads and rail station as well as a high Simpson index reflecting a diversified rural livelihoods mainly because of better access in income niche and implying a variation and heterogeneity in income.

An economic analysis of crop diversification under inorganic and organic farming in West Bengal

The Indian food basket is diversifying in favour of high value food commodities like fruits, vegetables, dairy products, poultry products and fish products from staple food such as rice, wheat and coarse cereals since the nineties of the 20th century. This raises a challenge to Indian agriculture. On the other hand, dominance of chemical based mono-cropping results soil erosion, water contamination, pesticides poisoning, land degradation through water logging and soil salinity, depletion of bio-diversity, etc. This again raises another challenge to Indian agriculture. Organic farming system may generate such situation to address both the challenges mentioned above. So, attempt has been taken to find out the performance of organic farming, addressing the crop diversification at different level of farm sizes along with different crop growing seasons in West Bengal. To measure the extent and nature of crop diversification, Herfindahl Index (H.I.) and Modified Entropy Index (M.E.I.) have been worked out. The result showed that maximum crop diversification occurred in sub-marginal farms and small farms under inorganic and organic farming system, respectively. On the other hand, rabi season exhibited prominent crop diversification in both inorganic and organic farms due to comparative advantages of residual moisture availability in soil. The estimation highlighted that crop diversification facilitated higher cropping intensity followed by higher net farm income of small and marginal households in West Bengal. The analysis concluded that availability of market and price premium influenced more diversion of area towards vegetables, in organic farms.

Combining sensor monitoring and ethnography to evaluate household latrine usage in rural India

This paper advances research on methods used to evaluate sanitation usage and behavior. The research used quantitative and qualitative methods to contribute to new understanding of sanitation practices and meanings in rural India. We estimated latrine usage behavior through ethnographic interviews and sensor monitoring, specifically the latest generation of infrared toilet sensors, Portland State University Passive Latrine Use Monitors (PLUMs). Two hundred and fifty-eight rural households in West Bengal (WB) and Himachal Pradesh, India, participated in the study by allowing PLUMs to be installed in their houses for a minimum of 6 days. Six hundred interviews were taken in these households, and in others, where sensors had not been installed. Ethnographic and observational methods were used to capture the different defecation habits and their meanings in the two study sites. Those data framed the analysis of the PLUM raw data for each location. PLUMs provided reliable, quantitative verification. Interviews elicited unique information and proved essential to understanding and maximizing the PLUM data set. The combined methodological approach produced key findings that latrines in rural WB were used only for defecation, and that low cost, pit latrines were being used sustainably in both study areas.

Factors Influencing the Buying Behavior of Gemstones and Yantras Among Households in West Bengal

The present research paper investigated the buying behavior of gemstones and yantras among households in West Bengal. Society has turned so competitive that every parent wants to give the best to their children so that they can fit in properly in this competitive world, and thereby achieve success. We are falling into distress due to numerous family-related problems. Pressures and tensions build up in every section of the society and it touches almost every person, whether it is a young or an aged person. Astrologers in India claim that they have a perfect solution to overcome all pressures and problems through gemstones and yantras. The study was based essentially on the primary data captured through a structured questionnaire and was administered to a total of 224 respondents. In order to find out the influencing factors behind the buying behavior of the respondents, factor analysis method was considered appropriate. The present study investigated the socioeconomic status of the households, when, and under whose influence they started using gemstones and yantras. The result of the analysis suggested that Parents' Influence, Trust in Deity, and Impact of Society were the three main factors that convinced the respondents into believing in such gemstones and yantras.