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The Backward Villages of WestBengal

An ExploratoryStudy

Strengthening RuralDecentralisation Cell

WBSRDA P&RDDepartment Government

of West Bengal

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The Backward Villages of WestBengal

An ExploratoryStudy

ResearchTeam

DilipGhosh

Prabhat DattaAjay

BhattacharyaDipankar Sinha

DebrajBhattacharya

ResearchAssistants

AnirbanShethPayelSen

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Contents

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………….........01

1 .Situating the Study……………………………………………………………………..06

2. Designing the Research………………………………………………………………..26

3. Locating the Universe…………………………………………………………………..45

4. Respondents Profile………………………………………………………………........78

5. Tracing the Roots of Backwardness………………………………………………...106

6. Exploring Politico – AdministrativeLinkages…………………………………….151

7. Recommendations …………………………………………………………………… 175

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………...187

Annex 1 – Questionnaire (English translation)………………………………………213

Annex 2 – List of selected Blocks and Villages………………………………………232

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ABBREVIATIONS

AAY – Annapurna Anna YojanaADM – Assistant District Magistrate BDO – Block Development Officer BPL – Below Poverty LineBRGF – Backward Region Grant FundCD Block – Community Development blockCEC – Continuing Education CentreCSSSC – Centre for Studies in

Social Sciences, CalcuttaDM – District MagistrateFGD – Focus Group DiscussionGP – Gram PanchayatHDI – Human Development Index HDR – Human Development Rank ICDS – Integrated Child Development

SchemeIGNOU – Indira Gandhi National Open

UniversityNABARD – National Bank for

Agriculture and Rural Development

NFFW- National Food for WorkNGO – Non Governmental OrganisationNOAPS – National Old Age Pension FundNREGA – National Rural Employment

Guarantee ActNREGS – National Rural Employment

Guarantee SchemeNSAP – National Social Assistance

Programme

P&RD – Panchayats and RuralDevelopment DepartmentPDS – Public Distribution SystemPHE – Public Health Engineering PROFLAL – Provident Fund for Agricultural LabourersPS – Panchayat SamityRCH – Reproductive Child Health RSVY – Rashtriya SamVikas Yojana SC – ScheduledCasteSDO – Sub Divisional OfficerSGRY – Sampoorna GrameenRozgar YojanaSGSY – Swarnajayanti GramSwarojgar YojanaSHG – Self Help GroupSRD – Strengthening RuralDecentralisationSSA – Sarva ShikshaYojana SSK – SishuShiksha Kendra ST –Scheduled TribesUN – United NationsUNDP – United NationsDevelopment ProgrammeUNICEF – United Nations ChildrensFundVEC – Village Education CommitteeWBREGS – West Bengal RuralEmployment Guarantee ActZP – Zilla Parishad

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List of Tables and Maps

1.1. HDI Ranking of Districts - 9

3.1. Rank of districts in terms of Percentage of Backward Villages – 45

3.2. Classification of Blocks in each district in terms of the number of Backward

Villagespresent – 48

3.3. Blocks with more than 100 Backward Villages - 49

3.4. Backward Villages in the Study Districts – 50

4.1. District wise break up of respondents - 79

4.2. District wise distribution of respondents in terms of religion. - 81

4.3. Social Composition of the respondents – 82

4.4. Distribution of Respondents in terms of Gender – 84

4.5. Age group of the respondents – 85

4.6. Family Size of the Respondents – 87

4.7. Adult Females in the Family – 88

4.8. Distribution of Children who are less than 18 years of age – 89

4.9. Distribution of Girls below 18 years of age – 90

4.10. Distribution of Male and Female Members above 60 yearsof age – 90

4.11. Occupational pattern of respondents – 91

4. 12. District wise occupational pattern of respondents - 92

4.13. Number of Earning Members in the respondents’ families– 94

4.14. Earning Members of the respondents – 94

4.15. Primary source of Income – 95

4.16. Secondary Source of Income of the Respondents’ Families - 96

4.17. Land holding Size of the Respondents – 97

4.18. Total Monthly income of the Respondent’s families – 98

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4. 19. Total monthly family expenditure – 98

4.20. Percentage of Children going to School, Drop-out and Yet to Enrol – 101

4.21. Number of Adult Females in the household who can

read and sign her name – 1014.22. Material used in constructing the roof of the respondents’ houses – 103

4.23. Fuel used for cooking by the households – 103

4.24. Whether the respondent has heard the name of the following schemes – 105

5.1. Primary Source of Income for the Household – 108

5.2. Landholding Size – 109

5.3. Whether the household is involved in any cottage industry – 111

5.4. Whether there exists any NGO in the village – 112

5.5. Whether the respondent get irrigation facility or not –113

5.6. Whether irrigation is sufficient or not – 113

5.7. Whether the household has to purchase irrigation facility – 114

5.8. Source of credit – 115

5.9. Whether any member of the family is member of a SHG – 116

5.10. Monthly family income and expenditure – 118

5.11. Number of full meals family members get in a day – 119

5.12. Educational Qualification of the respondents – 120

5. 13. Educational Qualification of the Female respondents –122

5. 14. Diseases in the respondent families – 124

5. 15. Preference of Health Service Provider – 125

5. 16. Person responsible for child delivery – 125

5. 17. Distance of Primary Health Centre – 126

5. 18. Whether there is any ICDS centre in the village – 127

5. 18. 1. Whether the Anganwadi worker comes regularly or not – 127

5. 19. Monthly expenditure on Health – 128

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5.20. Number of Backward Villages with more than 50% ST – 129

5. 21. Social Composition of the Respondents – 130

5. 22. Familiarity with AAY – 143

5. 22.1. Familiarity with Eligibility Criteria of AAY – 144

5. 23. Whether heard of NOAPS – the old age pension scheme –144

5. 23. 1. Whether familiar with the eligibility criteria of NOAPS – 145

5. 24. Whether heard of Indira Abas Yojana – 145

5.24.1. Whether familiar with the eligibility criteria of IAY – 146

5. 25. Whether familiar with PROFLAL – 147

5.25. 1. Whether familiar with the eligibility criteria of PROFLAL – 147

5. 26. Whether any member of the family has received job card for WBREGS– 148

5. 26.1. Whether anyone has received job – 148

6.1. Political profile of GPs containing sample Backward Villages (Birbhum) – 152

6.2. Political profile of Sansad containing sample Backward Village -153

6.3. Comparison between Sansad ruling party & GP ruling party - 154

6.4. Political profile of the GP (Murshidabad) – 155

6.5. Political profile of the Sansad containing the backwardvillage – 157

6.6. Comparison between Sansad ruling party and GP ruling party – 158

6.7. Political profile of the GP (Dakshin Dinajpur) – 160

6.8. Comparison between the Sansad ruling party and GP ruling party – 161

6.9. Whether the respondent is aware of the name of the

Pradhan – 163

6.10. Whether the respondent has seen the Pradhan – 163

6.11. Whether the respondent has met the Pradhan – 164

6.12. Whether the respondent is aware of the number of

times Gram Sansad meeting is held in a year – 165

6.13. Whether any member of the family attends Gram Sansad meeting – 165

6.14. Whether the respondent had cast a vote in the previousAssembly

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Election -167

6. 15. Whether the respondent is afraid of political parties– 168

6. 16. Whether the respondent has ever been to a GP office –170

6. 17. Whether the respondent has ever been to a Block Development Office – 171

6.18. Whether any officer from the Block Development

Office has visited your village in the last one year

– 172

6. 19. Whom does the Gram Panchayat rely more on – GP or Block? - 173

Map 1. Blocks with at least 10 Backward Villages - 131

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Executive Summary

1. In 2004 Government of West Bengal identified and officially designated

4612 villages in the state as ‘backward villages’

based on the data from Census 2001 as part of its

initiative to pin-point poverty in the state. The

villages were selected on the basis of the following

criteria – (a) female literacy rate - less than thirty

per cent and (b) more than sixty per cent population

are marginal workers and non-workers. Several

initiatives were henceforth launched to understand

poverty and backwardness in these villages by the

state and district administration.2. After the initiation of the

Strengthening Rural Decentralisation

programme in 2005-06 a study was initiated to

arrive at a systematic understanding of poverty and

backwardness in these villages.

3. The objectives of this study were – (a) to analyse

the factors behind the backwardness of the villages,

(b) to identify the development initiatives in the

villages since identification, (c) to examine the

problems related to the implementation of development

initiatives, (d) to document the best practices of

taking poverty eradication measures, and (e) to

suggest steps to be taken by the Government.

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4. The study was conducted on a sample of 92 villages in 7 districts – Uttar

and Dakshin Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Paschim

Medinipur, Purulia and Bankura. In all 3815

respondents were consulted in the survey. 22 of

these villages were visited by the study team for the

purpose of collecting qualitative information. Apart

from this, several Focus Group Discussions were

carried out in Gram Panchayats,

Panchayat

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Samity/Blocks and Districts. Analysis was also carried

out of documents available at the Panchayats and Rural

Development Department of Government of West Bengal at

Kolkata.

5. Field visits have shown that a backward village can

be located near a town or centre of the Block or

district just as they can be located far away from

Block or district headquarters.

6. There is a disproportionately high percentage of

Scheduled Tribes in the population of these villages.

30% of the respondents, chosen through random

sampling, belong to the Scheduled Tribes although the

state wide average for Scheduled Tribes in the state

is 5.50 %. In other words, the Scheduled Tribes can be

identified as the most disadvantaged section of the

population of these villages.7. Percentage of Muslims among the respondents is roughly the same as that

of the over all state average. Hence the

Muslim Community is not specially disadvantaged in

the backward villages.8. Illiteracy is much higher in the backward villages than the over all state

average. 55.01 % of the respondents cannot read and is

not able to sign. Among women the rate is much higher

– 75.49 %.

9. Overwhelming majority of the respondents work in

the agrarian sector (77.40%). Out of this 41.81 % are

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agricultural labourers. 31.97 % of the respondents do

not have land. Landholding size of those who have land

is usually quite small - less than 6 bighas.10. The households are not usually part of any cottage industry. Only 23.98%

of the respondents have said that they are associated

with any cottage industry.

11. The villages have very little NGO presence. Only 6 %

of the respondents have said that there is any NGO in

their village.

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12. Overwhelming majority of the respondents (81.55%) hassaid that they do

not get any irrigation facility. Of those who get it,

58.33 % have said that they do not get it in

sufficient quantity. 78.26% of the respondents have

said that they have to purchase water for irrigation.13. The reach of institutional credit is weak. Only 18.77% of the respondents

get credit from either Bank or Credit Cooperative

Society or SHG. On the other hand the presence of the

moneylender is still very strong – 43.64 % have said

that the moneylender is their source of credit. Money

lenders charge anything between 60 to 120 % interest.14. SHG coverage is inadequate. Only 28.49 % of the respondents have said

that they are part ofany SHG.

15. Majority of the respondents (47.39%) live in houses

made of straw while only 4.35% of the respondents live

in houses with concrete roofs.

16. The usual fuel for cooking is cow dung (24.63%) or dry leaves (42.85%).

17. 18.29% of the respondents have said that they get only one meal per day.

A meal usually consists of rice and water and does not

provide adequate nutrition.

18. The majority of the respondents (50.01%) earn between Rs 500 – 1000.

88.24 % of the respondents earn Rs 2000 or less.

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Expenditure and income are more or less the same.

72.42% have said that they have no money to save.19. Fever (usually influenza/ ‘jwar’) and Diorrhoea are the most important

diseases. Only 12.23% of the respondents have said

that when somebody falls ill they take him/her to the

nearby sub-centre. Expenditure on health is high –

24.63% have said that they spend between Rs 100 to

200 per

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month on healthcare while 19. 97 % have said theyspend more than Rs

200.

20. Institutional delivery of children is still rare.

49.49 % of the respondents have said that they rely on

untrained midwifes for delivery of children.21. The reach of ICDS centres is inadequate. In case of

21 out of 92 villages

more than 80% of the respondents have said that there

is no ICDS centre in their village.

22. The respondents have shown a low level of awareness

regarding various poverty alleviation schemes

implemented by the Panchayat and their eligibility

criteria. Awareness is lowest in case of PROFLAL.

Interest in WBREGS (100 days work) is high but almost

no one understands that it is a right.23. Based on limited data we have not found any

direct evidence of

discrimination against the opposition party by the

ruling party in the GP as a cause of the backwardness

of the villages since in most cases the same party is

in power in the GP as well as the Sansad where the

backward village is located.24. The respondents have shown strong political

awareness and interest in

participation in the democratic process. However they

rely more on the Gram Panchayat than the CD Block and

65. 22 % of the respondents have said that no official

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from the Block has visited their village in the last

one year. 62.18 % have said that they rely more on the

GP than on the block while a significant 19.99 % have

said they rely on neither.25. Majority of the respondents either do not believe or

are not sure (29.70 %

and 23.67% respectively) that that the police shall

provide them security if they are attacked by robbers.

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26. The study team has noticed several local factors

such as flood or sudden change of course by the river

as causes of backwardness apart from more structural

macro-economic factors.

27. In some cases the study team has noticed that a part

of the village is more backward than the rest of the

village, a phenomenon that cannot be understood from

the Census data.

28. The study team has not found any significant

attempt by the district administration to reduce

poverty in the villages since identification although

some measures have been taken. ‘Backward villages’ is

not in the priority list of the district

administration. There is a definite lack of focus in

this respect. Nor is there any significant civil

society intervention.

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1 Situating the

Study

The global development discourse today is to anextent influenced by the

Millennium Development Goals as set forth by the UN at the

turn of the century in the year 2000. The discourse accords

topmost priority to the eradication of extreme poverty and

hunger all over the world. In this context, the twin issues

of “poverty” and “backwardness” have attracted particular

attention by the policymakers, the media, the academicians

and the social researchers in both the developed and the

developing world. It is now widely recognized that poverty

and backwardness are in a way the symptoms of a deeper

cause. This is mainly because of the fact that one of the

inevitable aspects of the mainstream capitalist development

process is the uneven growth among regions, localities and

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habitations. In this process, notwithstanding the promise

and publicity of the benefits of “trickle-down” effect,

some segments tend to develop and prosper while other

segments lag far behind--- marked by perpetuation, if not

intensification, of poverty and backwardness. India, and

for that matter one of its constituent unit, West Bengal

--- which have long been under the oppressive colonial rule

and treading the capitalist path of development in the

post-colonial era --- is in no way an exception.

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I. West BengalScenario

In the face of the existing poverty and backwardness and

occasional instances of starvation deaths, that too even

after six decades since independence, both the Government

of India (GoI) and the Government of West Bengal (GoWB)

have been trying hard to identify the root-causes

behind theincidence of backwardness and search for

suitable remedial measures. A detailed account of the

initiatives of the GoWB would be provided in the section on

“Background Story” but we can here briefly mention that

since the initiation of the Strengthening Rural Development

(SRD) Programme in November 2005 by the Department of

Panchayats and Rural Development, GoWB, it was decided that

the SRD Cell would carry out an in-depth exploratory study

of these ‘backward villages’ to identify and understand

their problems and reasons for socio- economic

backwardness. The present report is the outcome of a long

and intense study of ninety two backward villages

(explanation of the sample would follow subsequently) in

West Bengal out of 4612 backward villages initially

identified by the GoWB.

The moot question is how far the interventions for the

removal of poverty and backwardness are backed up by the

realization of the development potential of the concerned

institutions. At the turn of the millennium, Neil Webster

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argued that although donor agencies and government reforms

aim at poverty reduction “stress the need for

institutionalised participation of the poor as part of

the overall development strategy” they ignore the link

between the complexity and diversity of poverty on the one

hand and the development potentials of the institutions

present (Webster:2000). It is linked to the broader

thesis that

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democracy not only goes hand-in-hand with development, but

also it is intrinsic to development. The other

protagonists of the thesis argue in the broader vein that

the transition to democracy can create the space for

individuals and groups to organize along the social and

economic lines to pursue their interests.

In the course of time, however, the attempts to

decentralize were not found to be sufficient. Although

several poverty alleviation programmes have been targeted

in the state for many decades for the upliftment of the

poorest families, yet in most cases the fruits of

developmental activities have failed to reach the desired

target groups. It has also been found that those belonging

to the lowest stratum of society have been the worst

victims of social and economic exclusion. It may be

mentioned here that in 2002 a BPL Survey was conducted

covering all the districts in West Bengal. The

findings indicate that about 42.52 lakhs rural

families in the state live below the poverty line. A few

years later, the first West Bengal Human Development Report, 2004

was published. The report observed that although on the

whole the incidence of poverty in West Bengal has

decreased over the years, yet there exists sharp

inter - district disparities leading to alarming

rates of rural poverty in some of the very

backward districts like Purulia and Bankura. Other

districts with high rates of rural poverty include

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Murshidabad and Jalpaiguri. Chapter 10 of the report

unravels the fact that that the levels of human development

tend to be the highest in the Greater Kolkata region and

deteriorate in concentric circles according to the distance

from this region. The chapter also draws the readers’

attention to the more specific instances of regional

imbalances and problems some regions like Paschimanchal,

North Bengal and Sundarbans which require particular

attention. Even within a district the picture was not a

uniform one. There existed grave inter - village

disparities due to which the residents of some of

the villages were largely

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deprived, measured by their low levels of economic

progress and human development.

Table 1. 1. HDI ranking of districtsSl.No

District Name HDI Rank

1 Kolkata 12 North Twenty Four

Parganas3

3 Purba Medinipur4 Haora 25 Hoogly 66 Bardhaman 57 South Twenty Four

Parganas8

8 Nadia 99 Paschim Medinipur10 Birbhum 1411 Jalpaiguri 1012 Murshidabad 1513 Dakshin Dinajpur14 Darjiling 415 Bankura 1116 Cooch Behar 1117 Maldah 1718 Puruliya 1619 Uttar Dinajpur 13

All these findings, however, brought forth certain common features that helped

characterize the existing “vulnerable” zones within the state.

All of them are usually located inremote areas.

The villages are generally small in size (and thereby

having little voice as a whole).

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They usually have a poor resource base like poor quality

of soil or very little irrigation coverage.

They are not easily accessible.

They are predominantly inhabited by socially and

economically weaker sections of the community especially

by the SCs/STs or minority communities etc.

Infrastructural facilities in these areas are awfully inadequate.

Some of the villages have for long suffered very badly

due to natural calamities like floods (as is the case of

many villages in Murshidabad and Birbhum), shifting course

of rivers (as in Malda and Murshidabad), droughts (as in

Purulia) etc which took away the livelihood of the people.

In order to seriously address these inadequacies

there began a quest for examining and understanding the

notion of ‘vulnerability’ or ‘backwardness’ especially in the context

of a village within the state. This called for setting up

of certain parameters on the basis of which ‘village

vulnerability’ may be defined. Therefore, in keeping with

the twin objectives of development administration, i.e.

improving the income generation potential of the rural

population together with improving the quality of life of

the people, the vulnerability of a village was sought to be

defined mainly in terms of: i) the extent of its susceptibility to

hunger, and ii) the extent of its ability to access public facilities for improving

the quality of life.

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To address the problem of regional disparities the

Government of India launched a special development

programme called the Rashtriya Sama Vikas Yojana

(RSVY) in the year 2002. It aimed at targeting additional

untied funds at the rate of Rs. 15 crore per district for

the most backward districts in the country. As a part of

the said programme the Government of India

identified 150 most

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backward districts in the country on the basis of three

criteria- ST population, agricultural productivity and

agricultural income. Eight districts in West Bengal were

included as part of the programme in two subsequent phases.

Thus, we find that over the decades there has been a

steady attempt on the part of the government to channelise

scarce developmental resources to population groups most in

need of them. But this could not make much headway, as the

actual roots of the problem lay at the sub- district level

where the discrepancies seemed more pronounced. There

remained disparities in progress made not only in different

parts of the state but also within different parts of the

same district.

Towards the end of 2003 an attempt was made for the first

time to rank all the blocks going by their existing human

and financial resources. The idea was to improve the

resource base and staff strength of those Block

machineries. But the difficulties in monitoring the

implementation of various programmes coupled with the lack

of collecting information on such a large scale led to a

re-thinking on the issue. To ensure a certain degree of

efforts, the block seemed too large a unit to achieve the

desired levels of equity and balance in the development of

the rural areas.

In the light of such constraints, a need for narrowing

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down of targeted and focused interventions down to the

village level was increasingly being felt. As a result, a

number of methods were tried out to identify such villages

based on the objective parameters of development for which

data are available. After several rounds of trial and

errors it was found that the best approximation to capture

the nature and extent of poverty (in its complex and

multiple dimensions) is to depend on female literacy

and availability of employment opportunity. The

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latter has been assessed by taking the population who are

non - workers and marginal workers as the proxy. Female

literacy rate has been widely accepted in the recent

development literature as an important proxy indicator of

social development as it seeks to capture the degree of

gender discrimination in rural societies. Similarly, there

is an absence of a state- level rural employment data.

Therefore, to locate the areas where people in the lowest

ranks of Human Development Index reside in West Bengal,

various queries were run on the Census 2001 demographic

data. The reliance on the 2001 Census data as the sole

source of village- level information was mainly

because of the fact that any attempt to measure

poverty from field observation would have proved to be

value - laden and subjective driven by narrow

information base of the local people and distorted by

various biases. Added to it were the twin constraints of

time and cost involved in undertaking an extensive field

survey.

Based on these two broad parameters and certain criteria

determined by the demographic and amenities data available

from the digitized GIS (Geographical Information System)

version of the 2001 census report, a total number of 4,612

revenue villages have been identified by the Panchayats and

Rural Development Department, West Bengal in 2004 as being

the most backward in the state. These identified backward

villages are spread over 1140 Gram Panchayats (out of a

22

total of 3354 GPs), and in 245 Blocks (out of a total of 341

Blocks) in the state.

All of these villages, as noted above, meet the followingtwo criteria/ conditions:

I. Over 60% of the population belonging to the working age

group are either with no work or are marginal workers.

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II. Over 70% of the femalesare illiterate.

However, the idea of limiting the numeric value of the

indicators to 60% and 70% was not strictly done by

following a scientific logic. It was rather the product of

a well-considered strategy based on long yearsof

sound administrative experience. To ensure a

certain degree of uniformity in the process of selection,

the inclusion of at least one village from each of

the 19 districts (excepting Kolkata) within the purview

of ‘backwardness’ was consciously done by the government as

small pockets of poverty happen to exist all over the state

including the advanced districts .

On careful observation the analysis further revealed that

there were 45, 67,903 persons (approximately 8% of the

State’s rural population) in 2001 in those villages. As

expected, the concentration of such villages was found to

be more in the districts with low Human Development Ranking

(HDR) within the state. However, in all the districts,

including those with relatively high HDR there are such

villages. Past experiences tend to show that focused

interventions in selected districts or even selected

blocks always result in hiding the small pockets of

backwardness that happen to exist in the relatively more

affluent district or block. The state government,

therefore, decided to address the problems taking

24

village as the unit of analysis to bring the families

living in those villages at par with the rest of the state.

With the same logic, the districts with lesser

concentration of such villages have been asked to

identify around ten percent of their villages to be

selected by similar criteria for more focused interventions

in those villages. This exercise also brought to focus the

fact that apart from intra- village disparities there is

strong incidence of inter- village disparities, which

should also be addressed.

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II. Refining of the Conditions

Later on, to further refine the conditions, the

earlier exercise had been revalidated in the light of

certain additional parameters which are stated as under:

A. Percentage of SC&ST population-(>50% is valid)

B. Agricultural labour ratio in the agricultural

workforce- (>50% is valid) C. Non-agricultural worker

ratio in the total workforce- (<30% is valid) D.

Approach Road- (foot/mud is valid & paved is invalid)E. Communication- (nil is valid & bus/rail/navigable waterways is invalid)

F. Health- (health center/primary health

center/primary health sub- Center/maternity

home/nursing home is invalid & nil/other is valid)

G. School- (nil/primary is valid &

middle/secondary is invalid)

H. Nearest Town- (>3 k.m is valid)

I. Bank/Credit Society- (nil is valid)

On the basis of the surveys conducted by the districts

concerned, it was found that the error percentage in most

cases was seen less than 1%, the only exceptions being the

districts of Malda (2.66%) and Murshidabad (7.85%) as there

is a significant minority (Muslim) population in these

districts. Emphasis was thus laid on the speedy

26

development of the identified vulnerable areas in these

respects by taking all necessary steps.

27

It is worth - mentioning in this regard that although the

state government had initially decided to universalize two

criteria namely, female illiteracy and lack of employment

for the selection of backward villages throughout the

state. But later on, each district was given the liberty to

prepare, if required, separate indicators of development on

the basis of suitable objective criteria for capturing

various aspects of poverty and identify the most backward

villages of the district if the original identification was

found incorrect as per field verification.

III. Post- IdentificationInitiatives by Panchayats andRural

Development Department: A BriefReview

The periodic interventions made by the P & RD Department in

the Backward Villages may be divided into the following

three phases for promoting their greater understanding.

III.I PHASE I(2004-05):

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Immediately after the identification of the

Backward Villages in 2004, government orders

were issued and letters were sent to the concerned District

Magistrates at regular intervals from the state -

level in which they were encouraged to make focused

and direct interventions in those identified villages.

Certain guidelines were also issued for successful

intervention in the already

29

identified most backward villages all of which lag far

behind than the rest in terms of socio- economic

development. It was then decided to address the issue from

both political and administrative angles. A letter was,

therefore, sent by Dr. Surya Kanta Mishra, Minister-in-

Charge, Department of Health & Family Welfare and

Panchayats & Rural Development, Government of West Bengal

to all the Sabhadhipatis of the Zilla Parishads emphasizing

the need for social and economic upliftment of the

backward villages on an urgent basis. The

letters directed the key district t- level officials to

undertake baseline surveys for ascertaining ground level reality

and thereby prepare a concrete plan of action for those villages

for capturing the various aspects of poverty. The letters

also outlined certain crucial areas which require to be

addressed during the conduct of the baseline surveys which

are mentioned as follows:

1. Access to those villages i.e. whether there are all -

weather connectivity to reach those villages.2. Status of primary education and the location ofprimary School and SSKs.

3. Coverage of food security programmes like AAY and

Annapurna Yojana in those villages and social security

programmes like NSAP.

4. Implementation of ICDS programme in those villages

particularly access, coverage and quality of

implementation.

30

5. Access to public health facilities and extent of

immunization and other services available from the Health

Sub- centre.

6. Access to drinking water supply and thequality of water.

7. Implementation of various poverty alleviation

programmes particularly, SGRY, SGSY, formation of SHGs,

etc.

31

8. Land use in those villages, cropping intensity,

extent of irrigation and productivity and other

opportunities for employment generation/economic

development.

To indicate that the matter needs to be given serious

administrative attention, the then Chief Secretary wrote

letters to all the District Magistrates, in which the

details of the baseline survey mechanism was clearly spelt

out. It was also stated that the survey should be conducted

by the block - level officials with additional support as

may be required from the sub - divisional and district

headquarters. Regarding the preparation of the action

plans it was mentioned that following the baseline survey

specific community level schemes with locational details

will have to be drawn up for the identified targets and

monitoring indicators also need to be developed for the

purpose. Moreover, to facilitate multi - level co-

ordination it was considered necessary to share the

findings of the baseline surveys with the Gram Panchayats

(GPs), the Panchayat Samitis, the Sub- Divisional Officers

(SDOs) and the line departments concerned and to consult

them for preparing the action plans. Emphasis was also laid

on the formation of more number of SHGs together with

organization of training for their members to improve their

general awareness about various government interventions

for the poor families. Finally, the DMs of the districts

and other senior district - level officials were asked to

32

personally visit those identified backward villages for

better targeting of the benefits and identification of the

obstacles which stood in the way in delivering the same.

Each of them were also asked to submit a field report

highlighting their perceptions about the

backwardness of those villages and the interventions

required to bridge the already existing gaps in basic

infrastructure and delivery of services.

33

III.I.I Actions at DistrictLevel: Phase I

Following the guidelines as provided for in these letters,

almost all those villages had been visited by senior

officers like the DMs, ADMs, SDOs and the Panchayat

functionaries from the Block and District level. Even the

GP functionaries had been sensitized about the need for

paying more attention to those backward villages. The

officials of the line departments were also motivated to

visit the villages to improve services - delivery in those

areas. For that purpose the list containing the names of

the identified backward villages have already been

circulated to all the departments.

For effective and focused interventions delivery

of public services and implementation of poverty

alleviation programmes in those villages as is mentioned

below are now being more closely watched from the GP as

well as higher tiers of Panchayat and District

administration. Those services are:

v Food Security schemes like Annapurna Yojana, Antodaya

Anna Yojana and PDS for the BPL families.

v Social security schemes like the various pensionschemes including the

Old AgePension.

v Primary Education particularly enrolment of girl child

34

and their retention till at least class IV.

v Mid - day meal programme in thosevillages.

v Functioning of ICDS centres and coverage of childrenin those villages.

v Coverage of SGRY and other employment generation

programmes in terms of availability of work per family and

schemes for benefiting the SC/ST families.

35

v Coverage underIAY.

v Coverage under micro - finance schemes such asSGSY, SCP and TSP

along with formation of SHGs inthose villages.

v Functioning of health sub- centres and

effectiveness of the preventive health care programmes

(RCH programme, immunization programme, diarrhea control,

etc.).

v Availability and quality ofdrinking water.

As per the directives issued by the P & RD Department from

time to time in 2004 in the form of letters, all the

districts had conducted the baseline surveys and prepared

their action plans. The district of Paschim Medinipur had

fared very well on this count. The district had

developed a well- designed format to facilitate the

conduct of baseline survey in the identified villages and

take up implementation of various rural development

schemes in those villages with focused attention, an

innovative exercise which the other districts were also

requested to follow. In Uttar Dinajpur after the field

survey had been completed and a detailed analysis of the

survey data was made, a marking pattern was also developed

for ranking of the various villages on a total weightage of

80 marks. Villages with less than 20 marks was sought to be

kept in the category of highest priority for developmental

36

works. Village- level plans including the micro- credit

plans had also been prepared in consultation with the

banks.

Since 2004 several developmental interventions are expected

to have led to the upgrading of the socio - economic

conditions of the people living in those villages.

Emphasis has been laid on providing public infrastructure

like roads, irrigation facilities, electricity etc and

expansion of livelihood opportunities through improved

agriculture, animal husbandry, pisciculture and household

37

industries. As a result, ponds, tanks and wells have

been excavated and re- excavated for augmenting livelihood

through improved agriculture. Efforts have also been made

for the improvement of public health and educational

services in those vulnerable villages. In order to improve

the capacities of the people living in those villages and

to empower them, resources and necessary facilitation

supports have been made available for the formation of SHGs

in those villages through different programmes. For

providing food security apart from better delivery of food

- security programmes the women SHGs have been assisted to

start their own grain - golas, where they store paddy

immediately after harvest and take loan on paddy during the

crises months. Some districts like Purulia and Uttar

Dinajpur have performed well as compared to others in

organizing grain- golas. In Uttar Dinajpur, one of the

poorest districts in the state, about 1000 SHGs are

involved in running their own grain-golas. This apart, the

Panchayats were directed to spend a substantial share of

their untied funds to implement schemes in accordance

with the specific local needs of those villages.

Those districts having schemes like RSVY and NFFW also

ensured substantial spending out of those programmes in

those backward villages. A few villages have also been

adopted by banks to ensure better supply of credit.

III.II. Phase II(2006- 07)

38

After a period of about two years since identification a

need was increasingly being felt to list the works

which should be taken up immediately in the backward

villages in the light of the progress achieved so far in

those villages. But the village- wise reports on the

interventions made on the basis of local plans were largely

unstructured and hence could not be compiled. Accordingly,

a letter was sent to all the DMs by the Principal

Secretary, P&RD Department dated

39

23/05/2006 with regard to the collection and documentation

of certain basic information in respect of all the

identified backward villages to be maintained in the form

of a computerized database. A similar letter was also sent

to all the Sabhadhipatis on 5/6/06 by Dr. Surya Kanta Mishra,

Minister in - charge of Panchayats and Rural Development

Department, Government of West Bengal whereby the districts

had been asked to take up a fresh survey in a prescribed

uniform format that was circulated. Thus to make the data

collection and compilation standardized and uniform, a

standard format drafted in the GIS pattern consisting of 79

queries was sent to all the districts. The format was

prepared in the light of the following queries:

1. No. of households in the village, including thepercentage of SC and ST

families.

2. Status of access to the village-Pucca/Semi-

pucca/Kachha/no road. Whether any road has been constructed

after the village has been identified as a backward village

and in that case the nature and length of the road and

distance of the village from the bus- route.3. Percentage of irrigated land and additional irrigationpotential created in the

village and by what means. Number of tanks excavated and

yet to be excavated in those villages.

4. Cropping intensity at present and that before

interventions- also percentage of cultivable lands which

40

are lying fallow, cultivated once, twice or thrice.

5. Number of days of employment available to the

agricultural labourers per year on an average.

6. Number of man days provided per family on an average

in the last one year out of employment generation

programmes.

41

7. Extent of migration out of the village to be

measured by the number of persons who went out in search

of manual work and the positions before the interventions

started.

8. Number of households which could be extended credit for

productive purposes, including agriculture in the last one

year. If the input for agriculture like seeds etc. was

provided from any programme in the last one year and

percentage of families covered.

9. Number of SHGs formed in the village and percentage of

households with at least one member in any SHG. Also,

number of grade-I SHGs and how many are credit linked.

Whether any productive infrastructure has been created

out of SGSY or other sources in those villages.10. Whether any grain bank has been constructed and isoperating in the village.

11. Percentage of boys and girls yet to enrol/ regularly

attend primary school/ SSK and progress made in the last

one year.

12. Percentage of children not attending ICDS centre and

improvement in the last one year.

13. Number of safe and sustainable source of drinking

water available in the village and number of such sources

created in the last one year.

14. Number of beneficiaries under NOAPS, Tribal Pension (in

case the village is an ITDP Mouza), and AAY in the

village and if any new family has been included in

those programmes. Whether delivery of the same are

42

satisfactory as perceived by the villagers.15. Number of households where IAY benefits havebeen extended in the

previousyear.

16. Distance of the health sub - centre, primaryschool/SSK, ICDS centre and MR

shop from the village and vacancies of personnel in thesedelivery institutions.

17. Percentage of children fully immunizedin those villages.

43

18. Whether the village is electrified and number

of houses which were electrified in the last one year.

19. Whether there is telephone facility in the village and

whether the village is within the range of mobile

telephone.20. Percentage of untied fund (total spending by all thetiers as percentage of

total availability of untied fund) spent on thosevillages by the ZP/ PS/ GP.

III.II.I. Actions at DistrictLevel: Phase II

In consonance with the aforesaid instructions, almost all

the districts had conducted the survey and sent soft

copies of the findings in the prescribed format which

provides an overview of the actions taken by the districts.

It is followed by a series of discussions at the state

level with the officials dealing with the issue of

backward villages.

III.III. CURRENT PHASE: 2007 –Present Day

A separate guideline for the implementation of Projects out

of funds provided by the state government for intervention

in identified backward villages was issued on 6/3/07. One

of the important area of focus in the guideline was to find

out the critical gaps in various sectoral interventions in

44

the identified backward villages through creation of

livelihood opportunities and basic infrastructure

facilities in the villages. It was preceded by a letter

from Dr. M.N. Roy, Principal Secretary to the Government of

West Bengal, dated 11.09.2006 whereby all the DMs and

Executive Officers of the Zilla Parishads were asked to

draw up project proposals for the purpose. The

proposals were to contain a preface,

justification, description of projects, location (e.g. plot

no. Mouza, GP etc.), duly vetted/model

45

estimates, period for completion and a statement on the

outcome of the projects based on estimate (No. of projects,

total cost etc.).The entire exercise was to be based on the

study of the critical gap in the various developmental

sectoral interventions in the identified backward villages.

It was mentioned in clear terms that the projects involving

activities to be executed by the Panchayats would be

undertaken by the PRI bodies and the sectoral projects

would be undertaken by the concerned Line Departments.

In the last financial year, during 2006 - 07 the state

government had allocated special funds for taking up

various development projects in the identified backward

villages. The major thrust areas in this respect were

supply of arsenic free drinking water, construction of

SSKs, MSKs and Health Sub - centres, building up of SHG

infrastructure for employment generation and improvement of

sanitation.

Interestingly, the same remained largely left unutilized as

a number of districts failed to present the project

proposals in clear and definite terms. This led to some

revision of the Guidelines for effective implementation of

Projects. Accordingly, in a letter dated 4/5/07 by Dr. M.N.

Roy, Principal Secretary to the government of West Bengal,

all the DMs were instructed to submit the project proposal

in form of an Action Plan for the current financial year

(2007-08) as per an enclosed prescribed format.

46

IV. Take- off Point of Study: Observations onPRDD Initiatives

47

The idea of identifying the Backward Villages in West

Bengal has indeed been a pioneering attempt on the part of

the state to address poverty and inequality through focused

and intensive intervention. The list of developmental

initiatives taken up so far in this direction too speak

strongly in favour of a strong political will and the

continuous attention and efforts on the part of the state

to ensure benefits to the poorest of the poor living in

those villages. The observations on the PRDD initiatives

contributed to the idea of a base- line study of the

Backward Villages, which in turn would act as a guide to

formulate a future plan of action for addressing rural

backwardness. As part of this initiative an intensive

research project was mooted by the SRD Cell under the PRDD

with the funding support of the Department For

International Development, UK (DFID). The following chapter

highlights the core sections of the research design.

48

2 Designing the Research

In any research work in social science, concern with

research methods is an accepted trend. Constructing and

designing the research helps in lending focus, setting the

boundaries and providing a direction. The chapter seeks to

present the operational details of this study, such as,

objectives, methodology, field research support, survey of

literature and chapter plan.

I.Objectives

The study is guided by thefollowing objectives:

1. To analyze the factors behind the‘backwardness’ of the villages.

2. To identify the development

initiatives which have been undertaken

in the villages since identification of these

villages as

‘backwardvillages’.

3. To critically examine the problems related to

49

implementation of the development initiatives and

ascertain the role of the GPs in the process.

4. To document the best practices of taking

poverty eradication measures by GPs in these

villages.

5. To suggest steps to be taken by the government

for addressing the backwardness of the villages under

study and the ‘backward villages’ in general.

50

II.Methodology

In such a complex and multi - dimensional study it is not

feasible to rely exclusively on a particular method. The

whole exercise therefore calls for a set of methods, with

combinations varying according to specificities of the

situation concerned. A pre-designed questionnaire,

consisting of one hundred and eighteen questions, has

been used for collecting primary level data. The survey-

sheet consisted to two parts: (a) the multiple choice

questions, (b) a space for the surveyors to comment on the

‘field’ itself. Thus, the two parts reveal that the

questionnaire itself has both quantitative and qualitative

dimensions. Such combination of the qualitative and

quantitative dimensions is also reflected beyond the

purview of the questionnaire. Being conscious of the fact

that a study of such huge magnitude involves complex

queries which in turn often require subjective responses,

semi-structured interviews were combined with qualitative

methods like Focus Group Discussion and non-participant

observation vis-à-vis the concerned villagers, political

activists, GP functionaries and block-level officers.

Special attention has been provided to the nature of data.

For this purpose, the primary data have been complemented

by secondary data. The latter can be categorized into:

51

1. Reports, action plans and letters by

district functionaries concerning

backward villages.2. Data sent by the districts on the condition ofthe backward villages.

3. Data generated as part of the self-evaluation exerciseby the Gram Panchayats.

52

To add, as the background data, the Census Report of2001, from which the

original list of the ‘backward villages’ wascompiled, was also used.

This study has taken 4612 villages identified as

backward villages as the universe. The number being

quite large it was felt necessary to do a sampling of the

villages. The sampling was as follows:

i) Seven district were purposively chosen keeping in mind

their low HDI ranking, geographical distribution and

concentration of backward villages. The seven districts

were as follows – Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur,

Murshidabad, Birbhum, Purulia, Bankura and Paschim

Medinipur. Initially the design team had chosen Malda

as well but it was not possible to carry out the

survey in Malda in the absence of any unbiased

and efficient agency.

ii) After this, in each of these districts, the Community

Development (CD) Blocks which have at least

10 ‘Backward Villages’ were chosen

purposively. This was necessary as it was not

possible to include all the CD Blocks.

iii) For each selected CD Block, one ‘Backward Village’ was

chosen by simple random sampling to eliminate bias.

Thus the total number of sample villages came to

92, which was a feasible number for study, given the

53

budget and the time frame.iv) For each of these 92 villages, households wereselected through systematic

random sampling on the following basis:

(a) Upto 100 households – 50% but at least 30. In

case of total being less than 30 all households

were surveyed.

54

(b) Greater than 100 – 20% but at least 30were surveyed.

The research team developed the following toolsfor data collection:

1. A questionnaire for household survey of the selectedbackward villages.

The questionnaire was field tested in Birbhum.

2. A questionnaire for GPs regarding use of development

funds in Backward and non-backward villages.

3. A checklist for semi-structured interviews with GPmembers and staffs.

4. A checklist for members of Panchayat Samitiesand staffs of Block

Development Office.

5. A checklist for FGD atvillage level.

6. A checklist for FGD atdistrict level

II.I. Field ResearchSupport

In order to execute the research a team consisting of

academicians and administrators and two research

assistants were formed at the state level. Support

was taken from a former teacher of statistics at Presidency

College and the statistician of PRDD regarding sampling.

55

For the purpose of accurate and unbiased data collection

from the households collaboration was made with the

following academic institutions with proven track record in

survey:

1. North Bengal University for Uttar andDakshin Dinajpur

56

2. Vidyasagar University for Paschim Medinipur,Purulia and Bankura

3. Palli Charcha Kendra, Visva Bharatifor Birbhum

4. IGNOU Centre of RDK College Murshidabad forMurshidabad.

For each district a coordinator was appointed and the entire

work was monitored from the state level. The state level

team visited 22 out of the 92 survey villages.

In order to ensure that the data was digitized accurately,

a professional IT firm which has also done the digitization

for CSSSC regarding the SRD baseline was appointed.

III. Survey ofLiteratureIt seems necessary here to refer to some of the key works

which have influenced our vision, methodology (most

specifically reflected in the construction of the

questionnaire) and analysis.

While the incidence of poverty and that of

backwardness are intimately connected, mainly because

they tend to co-exist, the fact remains that the two are

not exactly the same. A detailed theoretical discussion of

the cyclical relations between the two and their

points of divergence is beyond the scope of the

Report. However, it needs to be noted here that insofar as

57

poverty and backwardness are concerned the former has

attracted lot of attention of the researchers and scholars,

but the latter, comparatively speaking, has drawn less. To

be more specific, a vast literature, based on intense and

continuing debates, exists on theestimates, modes

of measurement and

factors/indicators/correlations relating to poverty

but in comparison

58

backwardness has received little sustained attention to

develop the same kind of literature.

The “construction” of backwardness in the available

literature has a strong tendency to blame the capitalist

mode of development as the “fundamental factor”. Such

identification is based on the logic that the capitalist

path of development, powered by its drive for increasing

differentiation, penetrates into the subsistence agrarian

systems and consequently erode the hitherto existing

patron-client relationships which, despite being immensely

unequal in sprit and practice, could provide ‘minimum

security’ to all. The sociological form of this argument,

which could be found, for instance, in Francine Frankel’s

India’s Green Revolution (1971) and Barrington Moore’s Social Origin of

Dictatorship and Democracy (1967), would thus explain that

in the traditional agrarian system there was a sort of

“harmony” despite the existence of asymmetric inequalities.

It is because the ascriptive inequalities were accepted as

“given”. Both Frankel and Moore refer to the reactions of

the poor to the actions and policies of the State which is

presumably capitalism-friendly, but it is common knowledge

that such reactions are too scattered and intermittent to

cause any significant change in the dominance of the State.

With the coming of the Market economy in India in 1991, the

State has been on the back foot but it did not alter the

situation because with the ascent of the Market the

capitalist path of development became even stronger.

59

The advent of the Market in India’s quest for

development has important implications for the Report

which focuses on the backward villages in West Bengal.

First, because in West Bengal the Left Front government,

notwithstanding its ideological orientations against

capitalism in general and the Market dominance in

particular, has to function under the rules governing a

federated state like India with a strong unitary bias and

conform to the policies

60

adopted by the Government of India. Second, it follows

from the first that the Left Front government has to

negotiate its ideological stance through the Market

economy, formally adopted by the Indian State, which at

least in the initial stages of its “trickle-down” strategy

can perpetuate, if not aggravate, backwardness.

To refer back to the idea of backwardness, the way we

conceptualize it and codify it in our questionnaire

the guidelines set by Amartya Sen are quite evident.

Here one can refer specifically to three of his core

concepts/theses -

‘exchange entitlement’, ‘public action’ and ‘poverty as

capability deprivation’- which he developed in the

respective classic works, Poverty and Famine, Development as

Freedom, and Hunger and Public Action. The first is of

fundamental significance to us because in emphasizing the

“ultimate importance” of basic human capabilities it went

beyond the narrow confines of poverty measurement paradigm

which has been ruling the study of poverty and

backwardness. It made us conscious that lack of bargaining

power results in certain groups and individuals not

having accessto certain essential

items (Sen’smajor preoccupation was with

food). The second refines the capabilities approach further

in visualizing its eventual transformation into action by

the State. The third stresses on the expansion of

“capabilities” of persons to lead the kind of life they

61

value – and have reasons to value. These capabilities, Sen

argues, can be enhanced by public policy, but also on the

other side, the direction of public policy can be

influenced by the effective use of capabilities by the

public. To add, the concept of capability deprivation,

extensively used in the Human Development Report(s) of the

UNDP, has also in course of time acquired central

importance in the discourse of human development.

62

Here we can refer to the works of yet another prominent

scholar of poverty, Robert Chambers. In Rural Development:

Putting the Last First (1983) , Chambers refers to the deprivation trap

which, according to him, consists of five interconnected

clusters – powerlessness, isolation, (income) poverty,

physical weakness and vulnerability. These together,

Chamber points out, “interlock like a web to trap people in

deprivation”. What clearly comes out of Chambers’

formulation is that poverty, and we may add that by

implication backwardness, are enduring precisely because

they do not depend on one cause, and that the mere

elimination of one cause does not solve the problem. It is

the web of many factors that together keep a person

permanently entrenched in poverty. In our study therefore

we have tried to understand how this web persists. We

have tried to see whether sufficient educational

opportunities are available, whether there is enough work

throughout the year, whether modern banks are providing

credit to the poor, whether the welfare measures of the

state are reaching the poor, whether the poor are aware of

their political rights, etc. In short, is there an enabling

environment for the poor to build their “capabilities” to

escape from the deprivation trap into a world of freedom

and opportunity?

Researchers working on chronic poverty have emphasized, and

we agree, that different segments of the poor have

different levels of vulnerability to the poverty trap.

63

We also agree that poverty and backwardness have to be seen

as a dynamic and fluid concept and not a static

one. What we have tried to understand in this study

though is not so much why certain individuals are

chronically poor but why certain habitations - in the form

of a village or a cluster of villages remain chronically

poor. In resorting to such stance the study not only steers

clear of the economistic and mechanistic notion and

understanding of income-based poverty; it also rejects the

‘reasoning’ based on what is technically

64

known as mental-metricism - the underlying idea of which is

that the poor are too close to the reality to have a sense

and idea of the state of well-being.

It is important that in this context we refer to a broader

tradition, that of village studies, which has a fairly

long temporal span. The purpose here is to make a brief

reference of the varying modes of such tradition. Indian

village had been aptly described by Gandhi, the proponent

of Gram Swaraj, as the “face of India”. The logic behind

such description was unmistakably clear: that the

Indian society, and for that matter, the Indian economy and

polity, could be understood comprehensively if we take into

account the nature and dynamics of the Indian villages.

Accordingly, periodic attempts have been made to explore

the nature of the Indian village, that too from

various vantage points - social, cultural, economic

and political. While the purview of the present study does

not necessitate a comprehensive review of the literature on

the Indian village there is a need to provide a brief

account of the same, especially since the mid twentieth

century.

The nineteenth century accounts of describing the Indian

village as “self- contained entity” and “mini-republic”

detached from the external world, as pioneered by Sir

Charles Metcalfe and Sir Thomas Munro, have been dismissed

by later scholars as ‘myth’ created and perpetuated by the

65

British administrators. However, it was somewhat later in

the same century that we find efforts by scholars liker Sir

Henry Maine, to initiate empirical studies on the Indian

village with social and economic focus with family being

considered as a unit. A parallel stream of study was done,

with intense focus on communities, was being done by B.H.

Baden-Powell. But the more sustaining and intensely

empirical research of the Indian village began since the

mid twentieth century with greater thrust

66

towards sociological and anthropological

investigations and newer methodological tools including

fieldwork. A major common feature of such studies,

conducted in varied locale and on various themes at varying

points of time, was that the Indian villages, contrary to

their ‘compartmentalised’ nature asserted by the earlier

studies, are part and parcel of the broader structures and

processes - a microcosm of sort. The specific themes in

such studies include caste, class, gender, religion,

occupational structure, agrarian structure/ land

ownership, family and kinship, marriage, household aspects

- which are situated within the broader themes like social

stratification, social transformation, social inequality,

social mobility, economic development, political

relations and so forth. A brief reference can be made to

some such studies: M. Marriott edited, Village India: Studies in the

Little Community (1955); A. Beteille, Caste, Class and Power: Changing

Patterns of Stratification in a Tanjore Village (1965); D. Gupta, Social

Stratification (Gupta: 1991); R. Jeffrey and P. Jeffrey, Don’t

Marry Me to a Plowman: Women’s Everyday Lives in Rural North India,

(1993); P.K. Bose, Classes in Rural Society: A Sociological Study of Some

Bengal Villages (1984).

Some of the studies also came to reject the rigidly

hierarchical nature of the Indian villages to assert that

beyond the vertical hierarchical relations (such as, caste)

there also exist horizontal relationships as a key to the

everyday survival of the communities. Some studies,

67

interestingly, also noted the existence of a rural-urban

continuum through the urban linkages, economic as well as

social, of the Indian village, thereby challenging the

hitherto existing rural-urban dichotomy which notionally

tended to segregate the villages from the towns and cities.

A good instance in this context is H. Gould, “The Indian

Village: A Sociological Perspective” in H.A. Gould, Politics

and Caste (1990). Because the current study has an

important quantitative (survey method, to be

specific)

68

component it is also imperative that we refer to

Ramakrishna Mukherjee’s study on Six Villages of Bengal, (1946).

The work is based on his fieldwork conducted in six

villages in Bogura district of the then East Pakistan (now

Bangladesh) in 1942. The highly insightful study is

regarded as one of the pioneering efforts in the

utilization of the data collection methods like survey,

interview, observation, apart from collating secondary

data from the district administration.

Highlighting the need for bridging the gap between two

major streams that were dominating the village study at

that point of time Mukherjee noted, “it is the causal or

the concomitant relations among the economic and the social

(including ideological) trait of a people which leads to

specific societal organisations and the formulations of

distinct ideological orientations of their constituent

members.” The study covered as diverse issues as patterns

of landholding, agricultural technology, irrigation,

occupational patterns, nature of credit, socio-economic

hierarchy, correlation between caste and class, health

(nature of diseases) and so forth with special reference to

the intra-village differences and distinctions, located

within the broader framework of Developmental State.

Politics, however, remains a blindspot in the study.

A notable feature of the Indian village studies since the

mid fifties is the gradual movement from studies with

highly descriptive and holistic orientation to those of

69

issue- and theme-based analyses. A major manifestation of

such movement has been the growing number of specific

village studies covering different parts of India. Some of

the instances of this genre of study are: G. Chattopadhyay,

Ranjana: A Village in West Bengal (1964); A. Beals, Gopalpur: A South

Indian Village (1967); Y. Singh, “Chanukhera: Cultural Change in

Eastern Uttar Pradesh” in K. Ishwaran edited, Change and

Continuity in Indian Villages, (1970); M.N. Srinivas, The Remembered

Village (1976); A. Das, Changel: The Biography of a Village (1996);

70

These specific village studies make us aware of two vital

points: i) that no homogeneous village exists because even

a single village, not to mention the cluster of villages,

are divided in terms of class, caste, religion and gender;

and ii) because of this, notwithstanding certain

commonalities, there is no ‘typical’ Indian village. In

turn, this adds to the awareness about the complexities of

the villages in India and the challenge of unraveling them

through empirical studies.

In post-colonial India, which came out of the bondage of a

fairly long colonial rule, for obvious reasons the villages

become an important locus of development. The first

initiative to this effect was the Community Development

Programme (CDP) which was initiated in late 1952. The CDP

was mainly meant to enlist the participation of the

villagers in national development, a lofty as well as

practical idea towards what later came to be known as

people-centric development. However, it ended in failure

for various reasons, one of which was over-

bureaucratisation. Since then, notwithstanding this

instance of failure, the Indian villages have continued to

occupy the centrestage of rural development policies, and

several studies have been done on this aspect. A major

objective of such policies, which has important

implications for the present study, has been the removal of

backwardness.

71

In the changed scenario of development in the twenty first

century the Indian villages continue to attract the

attention of the policymakers and development

practitioners. Studies on the Indian villages continue to

be conducted. In fact, there is an impressive literature on

village studies as a theme in itself. In this context, we

can refer to two informative academic efforts covering more

than a decade: L. Dumont and D.F. Peacock, “Village

Studies”, Contributions to Indian Sociology 3, (1959: 9-39) and S.

Niranjana, “Conceptualising the Indian Village: An

72

Overview of the Indian Village Studies Tradition”, Indian

Journal of Social Science, Volume 4, Number 3, (1991: 371-85). It

should also be noted here that since the later twentieth

century methodological norms and complexities, and more

specifically, conflicts in the study of the Indian villages

began to concern the scholars and two prominent works

in this context are: A. Beteille and T.N. Madan

edited, Encounter and Experience: Personal Accounts of Fieldwork, (1975),

and P.K. Bardhan (ed) Conversations between

Economists and Anthropologists: Methodological Issues in

Measuring Economic Change in Rural India (1989). Of much

significance in this context is yet another works - L.C.

Jain’s Grass without Roots (1985), which intensely focuses on

select blocks and critically assesses the designed lack of

people’s participation vis-à-vis government-funded and-

sponsored rural development schemes. The narrative turn

in village studies in evident, for instance, in a

relatively recent study - Arild Engelsen Rudd, Poetics of Village

Politics: The Making of West Bengal’s Rural Communism, (2003). With the

broader quest for exploring the rural base of communism in

West Bengal Ruud focuses on two villages in Raina I block

of Bardhaman to draw attention to the dynamics of group

perception as regards participation, both of the poor and

the rural middle-classes. The treatment is ‘political’ in

terms of both formal and informal spheres, with the

explanations ranging from the rural middle class’s

negotiation with the nationalist agenda of ‘development’ to

the construction of linkage of communism with various lower

73

caste groups. One of the controversial arguments that Rudd

makes is that the developmental efforts of the state is

marginal to the life of the villagers. The study is quite

interesting but it tends to ignore more traditional social

science concerns such as agrarian structure, class

politics, and intricacies of party structure and electoral

politics.

74

Despite many sifts and shifts in village studies one finds

a perennially ‘common thread’ which is somewhat

paradoxical: the Indian villages, despite many instances

of backwardness, or perhaps because of them,

continue to be considered as the most potential site of

development.

Let us refer here to a recent series of study by two

economists. In any discussion on poverty and governance the

three successive studies of Bardhan and Mookherjee remain a

sort of landmark. In a very interesting and highly

informative study on “Decentralization in West Bengal:

Origins, Functioning and Impact” (2004), economists Pranab

Bardhan and Dilip Mookherjee highlight certain key

research findings vis-à-vis two major issues in

development: first, the patterns of local participation of

local residents in development interventions, and second,

the success of these interventions in targeting resources

to the intended beneficiaries of various programs and

schemes. In the process Bardhan and Mookherjee scrutinize

the performance of the Left Front Government in

achieving their political objectives in

terms of accountability and

the responsiveness in the delivery of public

services and the political economy of the reforms, both of

which are widely considered to be the backbone of efficient

and effective governance. The findings reveal that while

the Panchayat system in the state has strengthened the

75

political base of the Left front “reasonably well”, from

the vantage point of administration, more

specifically from that of the distribution of

resources at the local level much remains to be done. This

is especially so in the context of the marginalized

segments of the beneficiaries who bear the brunt of the

uneven outcomes. This, they observe, is particularly

characterized by the low participation of women, SC/ST

inhabitants and those who remain beyond the circle of the

dominant party. However, they find considerable improvement

in the participation of the minorities.

76

Continuing their research on the complexities of thedecentralization of service

delivery at the local level Bardhan and Mookherjee in an

essay on “Pro-poor Targeting and the Accountability of

Local Governments in West Bengal”, (2005), make a

longitudinal study - with the time-span of 1978-1998 - of

eighty villages in terms of targeting of credit, employment

programmes, agricultural input kits and fiscal grants. The

study does not find much evidence of the elite cooptation

of the resources within local communities but

significantly, the study explicitly mentions that, despite

little evidence of intra-village allocative bias, in the

selection of local infrastructure projects under the

employment generation programmes and in the allocation of

resources across Gram Panchayats by the higher level

government there is a tendency to generate less employment

and allocate less in villages marked by a rise in poverty,

inequality and by frequency in low caste households. This

remains a nagging problem despite the contention of Bardhan

and Mookherjee that there has been an impressive

performance of the state in reducing rural poverty and

augmenting agricultural growth over the last three decades.

Observing that West Bengal has experienced more of

decentralization of expenditure and not decentralization of

governance, Bardhan and Mookherjee recommend, in yet

another write-up titled “Decentralization and Its Impact

on Poverty Reduction”, the adoption of the bottom-up

77

approach which is supposed to make the local government

institutions more inclusive and participatory by forging a

“partnership” with the poor at the local community level

where it matters most.

At this juncture we can also refer to a recent survey-based

study the findings of which are of much significance

in our discussion. The study on

“SRD

78

Programme: Design of Purpose Level Indicators and Baseline

Measurement in West Bengal” had been done by the Centre for

Studies in Social Sciences (CSSSC) on behalf of DFID, UK

(2007). The two-phase study, initiated in 2005, covered the

whole of West Bengal except the hill subdivisions of

Darjeeling and the city of Calcutta. The major findings of

the study, especially those having implications for the

present study, include:

The six districts - lowly ranked in terms of

human development in West Bengal - are Uttar Dinajpur,

Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Purulia.

In these districts there is distinctly less enthusiasm

about the performance of the panchayat institutions. There

appears to be a certain lack of confidence of the people in

furthering of decentralization. This is particularly

evident in the relatively backward districts of

Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad and

Purulia. A large number of people believe that government

departments would do the job better and very few wanted the

primary school or health centre to be transferred

to the GP. The

largest proportion of respondents in most districts thought

that greater participation by the people in the work

carried out by the GP was the most important step to

improve its performance. In majority cases general

population; especially the people of the backward districts

do not believe in the political functionaries on financial

79

matters.

A large number of GP functionaries, nearly more

than one-third in every district and more than half in four

district said that women members were less efficient than

men, although a majority in most districts also agreed

that there were certain new advantages because of the

presence of women members.

80

It is found that those women who have been elected to the

GP following party activities and positions in party

organizations are more aware, active and articulate than

those women who occupy the GP office through reservations.

Regarding’ ‘Service Delivery’, in all districts,

the major service expected from GPs is the construction and

maintenance of roads. Only in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and

Birbhum there is substantial additional

demand for drinking water and in Darjeeling also for

health services. In some GPs, they found that peculiarly

local problems like shifting course of river after

every monsoon were being addressed.

In the districts very few residents are aware

of the activities of NGO or VEC in their village. A

majority in more than half the districts said that GPs

played an important role in the formation of SHGs.

Everywhere the GP seems to play a key role in arbitration

matters.

The uneven distribution of benefits across

different villages within a GP is another important aspect

of decentralization. There is widespread dissatisfaction in

all districts about the BPL lists that are used to

determine beneficiaries for many GP programmes. But the

dissatisfaction is strongest in the most backward

districts of Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin

81

Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad and Purulia (in

addition to North 24-Parganas). Large majorities in most

districts felt that the BPL lists are politically biased. A

section of the GP functionaries in Uttar Dinajpur, Birbhum,

Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling (excluding the hills) and South

24-Parganas, thinks that the Beneficiary Lists for

various schemes are not available to be seen in the GP

office.

82

In six districts - Uttar Dinajpur, Malda, Birbhum, North and South

24-Parganas and Bardhaman - more than a quarter of

children of school-going age did not go to school. The

major reason given for this was the high cost of education

which these families claimed they could not afford. It is

interesting that the drop-out rate is high in some of the

most advanced districts like Bardhaman and North 24

Parganas and the reason given is the high cost of

education.

A large proportion of residents prefer to go to

the nearest government hospital rather than the primary

health centre for treatment. The exceptions in this regard

are Paschim and Purba Midnapore and Bankura where there is

a significant clientele for the health centres. Next

to government hospitals, a large proportion of

people in all districts go to unlicensed

practitioners widely known as “quacks”.

IV. ChapterPlan

The findings of the research have been presented in the

form of seven chapters. The first chapter traces the

background of the identification of the backward villages,

the process and method of identification and the

83

activities undertaken by P&RD Department till the beginning

of the research. The second explains the objectives,

methodology and process of the research. It also

discusses the relevant literature related to village

studies. The third chapter explains the universe of the

study. The fourth chapter introduces the respondents

of the survey. The fifth traces the roots of backwardness

in terms of the findings of the

84

survey and the field visits. We have tried here to explain

certain general features of backwardness as well as

certain local factors leading to backwardness. We have

also analyzed whether there is any geographical pattern to

the backward villages. In the next chapter we have

discussed the role of the political and administrative

functionaries, the opinion of the respondents regarding

them and tested the hypothesis that political

discrimination against the opposition party by the party in

power at the GP is a cause behind backwardness. The final

chapter consists of recommendations for the Government of

West Bengal.

Let us now move to the third chapter titled Locating the

Universe which, apart from providing a brief overview of the

universe including the district profiles, would also

unravel the unique nature and characteristics of the

backwardness in each district.

85

3 LOCATING THE UNIVERSE

In the previous chapters we have discussed the context in

which 4612 villages in the state came to be identified as

‘backward villages’. We have also discussed how for the

purpose of the study we have derived a sample of 92

villages in 7 districts to carry out our in-depth analysis.

This analysis is the primary content of this report.

However in this chapter we would like to provide the reader

a broad overview of (a) the distribution of the backward

villages in the state; (b) a profile of the seven study

districts and (c) the unique features of the backward

villages in these districts.

I. A State Wide Overview of the Backward Villages

Table 3.1: Rank of districts in terms of Percentage of

Backward Villages (in descending order)

Rank DistrictName

No.of

Villag

No. of B.V.

% of Backward Villages

HDI Rank

1 Kolkata -----

0 1

86

2 NorthTwenty Four

1584 2 0.12 3

3 Purba 3038 8 0.26

87

Medinipur4 Haora 734 4 0.54 25 Hugli 1915 21 1.09 66 Barddhaman 2529 55 2.17 57 South

Twenty Four

2140 66 3.08 8

8 Nadia 1346 59 4.38 99 Paschim

Medinipur8702 638 7.33

10 Birbhum 2478 218 8.79 1411 Jalpaiguri 756 79 10.44 1012 Murshidaba

d2210 242 10.95 15

13 DakshinDinajpur

1638 184 11.23

14 Darjiling 708 85 12 415 Bankura 3830 569 14.85 1116 Koch Bihar 1204 26 21.59 1117 Maldah 1799 602 33.46 1718 Puruliya 2683 994 37.04 1619 Uttar

Dinajpur1504 760 50.53 13

West Bengal

40798 4612 11.30

The above table shows that in 10 districts BVs constituteless than 10% of the total

villages. For 5 districts the percentage is between 10 and

20 while Uttar Dinajpur is clearly the worst case with more

than 50% of the villages being Backward Villages. It is

also interesting to note that the Backward Villages are

spread all over the state and even in the relatively

advanced districts one can find pockets of poverty in the

form of backward villages. It can also be seen that there

is more or less a correspondence between the HDI rank of

the district and the percentage of backward villages in the

district although the correspondence is not exact.

88

Next, we have tried to identify which are the worst

affected blocks in the state. It has to be acknowledged

here that ideally we should have expressed the

89

Backward Villages in terms of percentage of the total

number of villages in the Block in order to understand how

bad the condition of the Block is as all the Blocks do not

contain equal number of villages. Hence it is possible that

some blocks with a small number of villages have a very

high percentage of Backward Villages. Such an analysis

however was not possible as we do not have data on the

number of villages in each block. Hence we have relied on

the number of backward villages in the Block. For the sake

of analytical convenience we have grouped the data into 6

ranges – 1-20, 21-40, 41- 60, 61- 80, 81 – 100 and 100+.

90

Table 3.2: Classification of Blocks in Each District in terms of the number of

Backward Villages presentNo. DISTRICT 1-

2021-40

41-60

61-80

81-100

100+

1. BANKURA 11 7 3 12. BARDDHAMAN 183. BIRBHUM 14 34. DAKSHIN DINAJPUR 4 3 15. DARJEELING 6 26. HOWRAH 37. HUGLI 108 JALPAIGURI 10 19. KOOCH BIHAR 810. MALDA 4 7 1 1 211. MEDINIPUR1 19 6 3 312. MURSHIDABAD 20 213. NADIA 1714. NORTH 24 PARGANAS 115. PURULIA 1 9 3 5 1 116. SOUTH 24 PARGANAS 1517. KOLKATA18. UTTAR DINAJPUR 1 1 3 1 3

TOTAL IN THE STATE 162 41 11 13 2 6

The above table shows the concentration of BackwardVillages in terms of blocks.

It can be seen that 226 blocks in West Bengal have at least

one backward village. Out of this, 162 blocks have 1-

20 Backward Villages, 41 Blocks have 21-40

Backward Villages, 11 Blocks have 41-60 villages, 13 Blockhas 61-80 villages, 2

Blocks have 81-100 Backward Villages and 6 Blockshave more than 100Backward Villages. While it is encouraging to seethat the overwhelming majority of the blocks have only 1-20 Backward Villages, it is sad to note that as many as 6

91

Blocks have more than 100 Backward Villages.

1 The data is based on 2001 Census and hence there is only one Medinipur in the list.

49

The six Blocks are as follows:

Table 3.3: Blocks with more than 100 Backward VillagesDistrict Block No of BVs

1 Uttar Dinajpur Karandighi 170

Goalpokhar II 125

Goalpokhar I 118

2 Puruliya Jhalda II 102

3 Malda Habibpur 140

Gazole 104

It may be mentioned here that Bagmundi Block in Puruliyahas narrowly missed

the list with 98 Backward Villages but for all practical

purposes belongs to the list of worst affected blocks.

II. A Profile of the Study Districts and the Significant Features of the Backward Villages in those districts

One of the primary objectives of this exploratory study on

‘backward villages’ is to capture the deep roots of

backwardness of these villages as compared to the

others, thereby suggesting certain remedial measures. But

given the constraints relating to time, manpower and

resources, only seven out of a total of 19 districts in West

Bengal (excluding Kolkata) were purposely chosen as the focal

point of the study keeping in mind their low HDI ranking,

geographical distribution and concentration of backward

villages. The districts include: Bankura, Birbhum, Dakshin

50

Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Paschim Medinipur, Purulia and Uttar

Dinajpur. Moreover, the total number of identified backward

villages being huge, it was felt necessary to do a

scientific sampling of the villages the details of which

have

51

already been discussed elsewhere (see chapter2:

Designing the Study). Consequently, the

universe of the study extends to cover 92 backward villages

located in 92 blocks distributed in the 7 select districts

(Table- 3.1).

Table 3.4: Backward Villages in the Study DistrictsDISTRICT (S) NO. OF

BACKWARD

VILLAGES

% OF BACKWARD

VILLAGES OUT OF

TOTAL VILLAGES

IN THE DISTRICT

HDI RANK

OF THE

DISTRICT

SELECTED

BACKWARD

VILLAGES

Bankura 569 14.85

11 19

Birbhum 218 8.79

14 9

Dakshin Dinajpur 184 11.23

--- 6

Murshidabad 242 10.95

15 11

Paschim Medinipur 638 7.33

--- 19

Purulia 994 37.04

16 20

Uttar Dinajpur 760 50.53

13 8

‘Backwardness’ is a complex and a multidimensionalphenomenon. A wide range

of qualitative as well as quantitative factors have either a

direct or an indirect bearing on the nature and extent

of backwardness of an area. In the present chapter,

therefore, a conscious attempt has been made to view the

selected 92 backward villages from a macro- perspective of

the district as a whole to facilitate a better understanding

of their vulnerability as compared to the non - backward

ones in the chapters that follow. A brief account of the

specificities of each of the seven study districts is given

below2. We begin with the brief over view of key

52

development indicators of thedistrict of Bankura.

2 All profiles taken from h t t p : // w bp l a n . g o v . i n /

51

Demography

Population

1991 2001Total 2805065 3192695Male 1437515 1636002Female 1367550 1556693

% Share in State'sPopulation

4.12 3.98% share of UrbanPopulation (W.B) 8.29

(27.48)7.37 (27.97)% share of Rural

Population (W.B) 91.71 (72.52)

92.63 (72.03)% share of major

religious communities (W.B)

Hindus 87.15 (74.72)

84.35 (72.47)Muslims 6.63 (23.61) 7.51 (25.25)

% share of SC (W.B) 31.37 (23.62)

31.24 (23.02)% share of ST(W.B) 10.34 (5.59) 10.36

% share of Children(0-6) (W.B) 16.65

(16.98)14.37 (14.24)

Sex Ratio (W.B)

All 951 (917) 952 (934)SC 959 (931) 968 (949)ST 972 (964) 984 (982)Children of 962 (967) 953 (960)

Population Density (perSq. Km) (W.B)

408 (767) 464 (903)Decadal Growth rate(%) (W.B) 18.12

(24.73)13.82 (17.77)

Educatio1991 2001

Literacy

Rate(%

)

(W.B)

All

Total 52.04 (57.70)

63.44 (68.64)Male 66.75(67.8 76.76 (77.02)

Female 36.55 49.43 (59.61)Rural 50.01 62.04 (63.42)Urban 73.70 80.22 (81.25)

SCTotal 26.96

(42.21)42.92 (59.04)

Male 40.27 58.22 (70.54)Female 13.08

(28.87)27.11 (46.90)

STTotal 32.43 49.60 (43.40)Male 50.41 67.84 (57.38)

Female 13.88 31.13 (29.15)Gender Gap inLiteracy (W.B) 30.2 (21.25) 27.33 (17.41)

Primary

Upper PrimaryNo of Schools-SSA- 3465 (Govt) 518

(Govt/GoPupil - TeacherRatio(Govt)-SSA-2006 (W.B)

33.62 (45.20) 55.25 (61.41)

Net EnrolmentRatio(overall)SSA

97.09 (98.03) 80.50 (78.74)

Drop-outRate(Cohort studySSA 2004)(W.B)

10.52 (19.92) 18.71 (29.70)

0.62 0.6

9 0.6

7 0. 7

0.2

60.4

3

D IS TR ICT : BAN KURA Administrative Information

No. of Sub-divisions 3No. of Municipalities (2003) 3No. of Blocks 22No. of Mouzas 3830No. of Police Stations 21No. of Gram Panchayats 190No. of Inhabited Villages(2001) 3577No. of Gram Sansad 2464Area (Sq. Km.) 6882No. of Family Welfare Centres 24No. of PHCs 70No. of Electrified Mouzas (’03-’04) 2623% of Rural HHs Electrified(W.B) (01.04.05)

27.22 Av. Population per Bank Offices (RBI-2005)(W.B) 20000

(19000)

IndicesWBHDR-2004 Value Rank

Human Development Index 0.52 11Gender Development Index

0.46 10Education Index 0.62 11Health Index 0.67 9Income Index 0.26 16

C o m p a r i s o n of Ind i ce s w ith We s t Be ng a l

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 Edu Ind ex He alth Index Incom eIn dex

Bank ura

W .B.

Employment2001

Work participation rate(W.B)

Male FemaleRural 57 (54.1) 33.5(20.

9)Urban 53 (53.7) 13.4 (11.6)% of main

worker(W.B)Rural 46.1 12.1 Urban 49.5(50.2) 9.5 (9.2)

% of marginal worker(W.B) Rural 10.9 (8.3) 21.4

(11.8)Urban 3.5 (3.6) 3.9 (2.4)% of agricultural 28.0

(22.7)48.7 (32.2)No. of applications

on live register ofemployment exch.(2003)

285480

No. of Placements 1324

HealthInfant Mortality Rate of W.B (2004)

Male 45Female 34

Infant Mortality Rate (2001) Male 41Female 45

Life Expectancy (2001) (W.B) Male 62 (65)Female 68 (69)

Mean age at Marriage(IIPS-2004) (W.B)

Male 26 (24.7)Female 18.1

(18.5)Beds per lakh of population(2003)(W.B)

93(86)

OthersPer Capita Income(2003-2004) at current prices 18236.17

(20895.64)% of cultivable area to total area(’04-’05) (W.B)

55.36 (65.48)Cultivable area per agri worker(’04-’05) ( hectres) (W.B)

0.40 (0.44)

% of forest area(’04-’05) 21.65 (13.52)

% of BPL families(P&RD,2002) (W.B)

42.48 (36.38)

Offences reported against women 2002 2082003 265

% change in offences reported against women

2001-2002 0.48

2002-2003 27.40

52

DistrictProfile

Location &Area-

Located in the western part of the state of West Bengal,

Bankura is an agriculture - based district. It is a part of

the Bardhaman Division of the state and situated in the

“Rarh” region of West Bengal. District Bankura is bounded

by latitude 220 38’ N and longitude 86o 36’ E to 87o 47’ E.

Its topography varies with altitude. River Damodar flows

along the northern boundary of the district. The total area

of the district is 688200 hectares.Soil &Topography-

The district is divided into three distinct

topographical regions, viz, the hilly terrain in the

western part, undulating central part and alluvial plain in

the eastern part, unidentifiably merging into one another.

The hilly region is characterized by large granite rocks,

central part by red lateritic soil and eastern part by

alluvial and loamy soil. The undulating terrain of about

90000 hectares is susceptible to soil erosion and the hard

granite base leaves lesser scope for economic production. A

large chunk of the land in the central region is lateritic

in nature and the soil is devoid of many basic nutrients

53

essential for normal crop.

Agro- climatic conditions &Cropping Pattern-

Net cultivable area of the district is 4.30 lakh hectares.

About 46% of the net- cropped area is under irrigation. The

gross cropped area is about 6 lakh hectares and the cropping

intensity is 147%. Rice, wheat, oilseeds and vegetables are

the

54

principal crops. Most of the pre - kharif and kharif rice

are grown under rain fed conditions.

It is paradoxical that though Bankura lies in sub-humid zone

having total Annual Rainfall of 1300 mm to 1400 mm yet 80%

of the total rainfall is received during four months of the

year. Agriculture is largely dependent on the vagaries of

monsoon. Moreover, the land being undulating, lateritic and

porous, result in poor subsoil moisture which becomes a

potent threat to the crop. Drought constitutes a major

hazard in the district. Intermittent gaps in precipitation

and moisture stress during the monsoon gives rise to serious

set back in production during the Kharif season, which is the

main stay of agriculture in the district.

Migration-

Migrating out on a mass scale for work is a significant

element to be found in the Bankura District. Migration in

this district is basically a distress sale of labour outside

his/ her own place of living for a period of 15 days to six

months (even in a few cases for eight months) in a year more

or less on a regular basis. It is a very common phenomenon

among the socio - economically marginalized, mostly SC and

ST population of the district. As per the Bankura

Human Development Report, around 84% migration is to meet

the food crisis, 10% migrate to meet other family need, 4%

migrate as additional working hand in the families, 1- 2%

have to migrate if there is serious natural calamity the most

55

commonest of which is drought. Migration takes place at least

twice in a year in general - kharif transplanting and

harvesting. The duration is from one and a half months to

two months in a year. The landless and the extremely

marginalized migrate out three to four times - kharif

transplanting and harvest, winter crop (potato) cultivation

and harvest, summer paddy (Boro) transplantation and

harvest. In this case the

56

duration is four to six months in a year. The migrants

are mostly engaged in Bardhaman and Hooghly districts and

in some cases in Gujarat and Maharashtra as construction

labour.

Backward Villages: Uniquefeatures

The poor quality of soil and lack of water makes agriculture

very difficult in this district. The villagers, who are

equally divided into SCs and STs do not have much of an

alternative in terms of local industry, big or small. The

extensive forest areas are also not able to meet the

livelihood demands of the people as forest based industries

have not developed. Hence they have to survive mostly on the

basis of migration.

We now move on to the key development indicators of thedistrict of Birbhum.

Administrative InformationNo. of Sub-divisions 3No. of Municipalities (2003) 6No. of Blocks 19No. of Mouzas 2473No. of Police Stations 18No. of Gram Panchayats 167No. of Inhabited Villages(2001) 2256No. of Gram Sansad 2138Area (Sq. Km.) 4545No. of Family Welfare Centres 22No. of PHCs 58No. of Electrified Mouzas (’03-’04) 2225% of Rural HHs Electrified(W.B) (01.04.05)

26.22 Av. Population per Bank Offices (RBI- 19000

Employment2001

Work participation rate(W.B)

Male FemaleRural 54.5

(54.1)20.3 (20.9)Urban 51.8

(53.7)12.2 (11.6)% of main worker

(W.B)Rural 45.9 7.9 Urban 48.2

(50.2)9.4 (9.2)

% of marginal worker(W.B) Rural 8.6 (8.3) 12.4

(11.8)Urban 3.6 (3.6) 2.8 (2.4)% of agricultural 33.5

(22.7)47.1 (32.2)No. of applications

on live register ofemployment exch.(2003)

262543

No. of Placements 754

0.61 0.6

9

0.5

30. 7

0.2

70.4

3

D I ST R I C T : BI R B HUMDemography

1991 2001

Population

% Share in State'sPopulation% share of UrbanPopulation (W.B)% share of Rural

Total 2555664 3015422Male 1313285 1546633Female 1242379 1468789

3.75 3.76

8.98 (27.48) 8.57(27.97)

Population (W.B) 91.02 (72.52) 91.43 (72.03)

% share of major religious communities (W.B)

Hindus 66.61 (74.72)64.49 (72.47)Muslim 33.06 (23.61)35.08 (25.25)s

% share of SC (W.B) 30.68 (23.62)29.51 (23.02)% share of ST(W.B) 6.95 (5.59) 6.74 (5.50)% share of Children(0-6) (W.B)

Sex Ratio (W.B)

19.03 (16.98) 16.19

(14.24) All 946 (917)

950 (934)SC 943 (931) 948(949) ST 976 (964) 995(982) Childre

Indices

WBHDR-2004 Value RankHuman Development Index 0.47 14Gender Development 0.42 14IndexEducation Index 0.61 12

Population Density (perSq. Km) (W.B)

n of (0-6)

976 (967) 964 (960)

562 (767) 663 (903)

Health Index 0.53 15

C o m p a r i s o n o f I nd i c es w i t h W es t B e ng al

LiteracyRate(%)

(W.B)

All

SC

ST

Education1991 2001

Total 48.56 (57.70) 61.48(68.64) Male 59.26

(67.81) 70.89 (77.02) Female

37.17 (46.56) 51.55

(59.61) Rural 46.60

(50.50) 59.88 (63.42) Urban

67.42 (75.27) 77.65

(81.25) Total 27.66

(42.21) 45.74 (59.04)

Male 38.47 (54.55) 57.75

(70.54) Female 16.13

(28.87) 33.05 (46.90)

Total 14.76 (27.78) 31.20

(43.40) Male 23.63

(40.07) 44.17 (57.38)Female 5.63 (14.98) 18.17

(29.15)

0.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.10

Edu Index Health Index Income Index

Birbhum

W.B.

Gender Gap inLiteracy (W.B) 22.09 (21.25) 19.34 (17.41)

55

Rate(Cohort study 14.60 (19.92) 31.90 SSA 2004)(W.B)

OthersPer Capita Income(2003-2004) at current prices 16466.24

(20895.64)% of cultivable area to total area(’04-’05) (W.B)

74.10 (65.48)Cultivable area per agri worker(’04-’05) ( hectres) (W.B)

0.49 (0.44)

% of forest area(’04-’05) 3.51 (13.52)

% of BPL families(P&RD,2002) (W.B)

44.02 (36.38)

Offences reported against women 2002 3292003 355

% change in offences reported 2001-2002 -

Primary Upper PrimaryNo of Schools- SSA-2006Pupil - TeacherRatio(Govt)-SSA-2006 (W.B)Net EnrolmentRatio(overall)SSA2006 (W.B)Drop-out

2373 (Govt) 605 (Govt/Govt aided)

39.29 (45.20) 57.92 (61.41)

97.81 (98.03) 78.69

(78.74) Health

Infant Mortality Rate of

W.B (2004) Infant Mortality

Rate (2001)

Life Expectancy (2001) (W.B)

Mean age at Marriage(IIPS-2004) (W.B)

Male 45Female 34Male 60Female 65Male 56 (65) Female

58 (69) Male 23.6 (24.7) Female 17.6 (18.5)

Beds per lakh of population(2003)(W.B) 74 (86)

56

DistrictProfile

Location &Size-

Birbhum is the northern - most district of the Bardhaman

Division - one of the three administrative divisions of

the state. In shape it looks like

an Isosceles triangle with the apex pointing north and the

base (southern boundary) formed by the river Ajay. The

district is bounded on the north and west by the

Santhal Parganas, on the east by the districts of

Murshidabad and Bardhaman and on the south by Bardhaman,

from which it is separated by the Ajay river. The total area

of the district is 4545 sq. k.m. The district is located

between 23°32’30” to 24°35’N (latitude) and 88°1’40” to

87°5’25”E (longitude).Soil &Topography-

Called by the name of "The land of red soil" Birbhum is

famous for its topography and cultural heritage which is

unique and is somewhat different from that of the other

districts in West Bengal. To the west lies an undulating,

generally barren upland, part of the eastern fringe of the

Chota Nagpur plateau, rising to 3,000 ft (900 m); to the

east is a densely populated, alluvial plain of the Gangetic

Delta. Important geographical features in Birbhum are the

57

khoai (eroded undulated patches of barren area), the red,

laterite soil (ranga mati), with palm trees visible from a

long distance and multiple protected forested areas on the

western side. The most interesting part of the geology of

Birbhum stems from the gradient of red soil. The western part

of the district suffers from periodic drought. The laterite

and acidic nature of soil devoid of many basic

essential nutrients are the major

58

constraints for normal cultivation. In addition parts of

Suri, Bolpur and Rampurhat sub- divisions are affected by

water - logging.

Agro- climaticconditions -

The climate on the western side is dry and extreme, but is

relatively milder on the eastern side. It receives annual

rainfall of around 1,300 mm, mostly in the monsoon months

(June to September). The dry plateau feature makes the land

in the west less fertile compared to the plains in the east.

It is a rural, agricultural district. Rice, legumes, wheat,

corn (maize), and mangoes are the chief crops in the east;

coal, china clay, and iron-ore deposits are worked in the

west. While 159.3 km of land are occupied by forests,

3,329.05 km are used for agricultural purposes.

Agriculture is dependent upon the rains in monsoon or has

to be supplemented with irrigation in other seasons.69. 62%

of the net cultivable area is irrigated. Cropping Pattern -The agro- climatic conditions of the district offerexcellent scope for cultivation of

paddy, potato, wheat, sugarcane, mustard and pulses

along with bhadoi and winter vegetables. Also, there is a

good scope for sericulture although the district faces lack

of diversification in agriculture.

Cottage and Small ScaleIndustries -

The district has immense potential for cottage and small

scale industrial activities especially development of the

skill based ones. The district has also made considerable

59

progress in the development of handicrafts like artistic

leather goods, shoal pith works, kantha stitch sarees, wooden

and decorative work, artistic bamboo products, etc.Rural Reconstructionexperiments-

Birbhum district has a rich heritage of experimentations

with rural development. Sriniketan furthers Rabindranath

Tagore’s vision of rural development. In 1922, Sriniketan

was established as a rural reconstruction centre whereby

experiments in

60

farming and animal husbandry were carried out on a

scientific footing, side by side with efforts to improve the

health, nutrition, and sanitary conditions of neighbouring

villages. Much emphasis was laid on extension work. Even

today, Sriniketan focuses on agriculture, adult education,

village welfare, cottage industries and handicrafts. Rural

co-operative stores sell the handicrafts - batik, kantha

embroidery, weaving, bell metal products, dhokra metal-

ware, leather goods and terracotta pottery.

Backward Villages: UniqueFeatures

The population of the backward villages consists of both

Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. The Rampurhat

Subdivision has several stone quarries, many of whom a re

illegal, which provides easy cash to the tribal population

of the backward villages in the area but results in severe

health hazard and does enormous damage to the environment of

the region. Some of the villages in the souther part of the

district are also affected by floods of nearby rivers.

From Birbhum we move on to the district of Dakshin Dinajpur

to observe its key development indicators.

59

W(

%

%(%laNlieNe

Demography

Population

1991 2001Total 1230608 1503178Male 632969 770335Female 597639 732843

% Share in State'sPopulation 1.81 1.87% share of UrbanPopulation (W.B) 13.35

(27.48)13.10 (27.97)% share of Rural

Population (W.B) 86.65 (72.52)

86.90 (72.03)% share of major

religious communities (W.B)

Hindus 75.30 74.01 Muslims 23.20

(23.61)24.02 (25.25)% share of SC (W.B) 28.98 28.78

% share of ST(W.B) 16.74 (5.59)

16.12 (5.50)% share of Children

(0-6) (W.B) 18.77 (16.98)

16.37 (14.24)

Sex Ratio (W.B)

All 944 (917) 951 (934)SC 939 (931) 948 (949)ST 980 (964) 979 (982)Childrenof (0-6) 988 (967) 966(960)

Population Density (perSq. Km) (W.B)

555 (767) 677 (903)Decadal Growth rate(%) (W.B) 24.39

(24.73)22.15 (17.77)

Administrative InformationNo. of Sub-divisions 2No. of Municipalities (2003) 2No. of Blocks 8No. of Mouzas 1638No. of Police Stations 8No. of Gram Panchayats 65No. of Inhabited Villages(2001) 1579No. of Gram Sansad 929Area (Sq. Km.) 2219No. of Family Welfare Centres 9No. of PHCs 19No. of Electrified Mouzas (’03-’04) 1334% of Rural HHs Electrified(W.B) (01.04.05)

15.61 Av. Population per Bank Offices (RBI-

26000(19000

Educatio1991 2001

Literacy

Rate(%

)

(W.B)

All

Total 46.40 (57.70)

63.59 (68.64)Male 56.75 72.43 (77.02)Female 35.33 54.28 (59.61)Rural 40.96 60.38 (63.42)Urban 79.93 83.28 (81.25)

SCTotal 33.05*

(42.21)54.55 (59.04)

Male 45.72* 66.35 (70.54)Female 19.06*

(28.87)42.09 (46.90)

STTotal 18.88* 42.82 (43.40)Male 28.42* 55.14 (57.38)Female 9.10* 30.22 (29.15)

Gender Gap inLiteracy (W.B) 21.42 (21.25) 18.15 (17.41)

Primary

Upper PrimaryNo of Schools- SSA-’06

1182 (Govt) 185 (Govt/Govt Pupil - Teacher

Ratio(Govt)-SSA-2006 (W.B)

39.21 (45.20) 78.87 (61.41)

Net EnrolmentRatio(overall)SSA2006 (W.B)

97.51 (98.03) 68.94 (78.74)

Drop-outRate(Cohort studySSA 2004)(W.B)

23.37 (19.92) 29.47 (29.70) OthersPer Capita Income(2003-2004) at current prices 17895.20

(20895.64)% of cultivable area to total area(’04-’05) (W.B)

86.41 (65.48)Cultivable area per agri worker(’04-’05) ( hectres) (W.B)

0.47 (0.44)

% of forest area(’04-’05) 0.42 (13.52)

% of BPL families(P&RD,2002) (W.B)

43.54 (36.38)

Offences reported against women 2002 712003 125

% change in offences reported againstwomen

2001-2002 - 25.262002-2003 76.06

0.53 0.

69

0.6 2 0.7

0.39 0.4

3

D IS TR ICT : DAK S HIN DINAJPUR

W.B)

Indices ( Uttar & Dakshin Dinajpur combined)WBHDR-2004 Value Rank

Human Development Index 0.51 13Gender Development Index

046 10Education Index 0.53 15Health Index 0.62 11Income Index 0.39 11

0.8

C o m p ar is on o f Ind ice s w it h Wes t Beng al

0.6

0.4

0.2

0Edu Ind ex He alth Ind ex

In co m e Ind ex

Dina jpur

W .B.

Employment2001

ork participation rateW.B)

Male FemaleRural 56.6

(54.1)26.9 (20.9)Urban 48.8

(53.7)13.8 (11.6)of main

worker(W.B)Rural 50.6

(45.8)11.8 (9.1)Urban 46.4

(50.2)10.8 (9.2)of marginal worker

W.B) Rural 6.0 (8.3) 15.1 Urban 2.4 (3.6) 3.0

(2.4)of agricultura 30.2

(22.7)50.2 (32.2)o. of applications

onve register of

110372

o. of Placementsffected during 2003 77

Health

Infant Mortality Rate of W.B (2004)

Male 45Female 34

Infant Mortality Rate (2001) Male NAFemale NA

Life Expectancy (2001) (W.B) Male 61* (65)Female 63* (69)

Mean age at Marriage(IIPS-2004) (W.B)

Male 26.9 (24.7)Female 17.8 (18.5)Beds per lakh of population(2003)

(W.B)54

60

DistrictProfile:Location &Size-

In the pre - independence days, Dinajpur was an important

constituent district of Rajshahi Division in undivided

Bengal. However, after independence, at the time of the

partition of India in 1947 West Dinajpur district was

created out of the erstwhile Dinajpur district. The West

Dinajpur district was enlarged in 1956 at the time of the re-

organization of the state with the addition of some areas of

Bihar. The district was bifurcated into Uttar Dinajpur and

Dakshin Dinajpur on 1.04.1992. The erstwhile Balurghat Sub - Division along withBansihari and Kushmandi

Blocks (which were in Raigunj Sub - division prior to

bifurcation) comprise the new district. The district is

drained by a number of North - South flowing rivers like

Atreyee, Punarbhaba, Tangon and Brahmani.

Climate, Soil &Topography -

It is predominantly an agricultural district with a large

area of land being under cultivation. The soil of the

district is mostly acidic which causes non- availability of

essential plant nutrients to the crop resulting in higher

cost of cultivation. The area under irrigation is only 34%.

A large part of the district is flood or inundation prone.

The major portion of the annual precipitation is during a

very short span between July and September causing inundation

61

and flash flood.CroppingPattern -

The district is agriculturally rich. Paddy and cultivation

of vegetables constitute the major crops. However, paddy

cultivation is gradually becoming costlier and

unremunerative. The farmers’ prices are fluctuating.

Moreover, jute which used to be grown in large quantum in

the district, has lost its viability in the face of easy

availability of substitute cheaper products as a result of

which the jute industry in the district is also on the

decline.

62

Minerals &Industry-

Dakshin Dinajpur is not a mineral - rich district. Lack of

major mineral reserves makes the district industrially

backward. Industrial activities are confined mainly to rice

and oil milling sectors. Fruit and vegetables processing

sectors, however, offer some opportunities. The general

apathy of the people towards venturing into new initiatives

and experimentations stands as a major stumbling block.

Communication & Connectivity-One of the most important reasons for the backwardness ofthe district is poor

road and rail connectivity resulting in remoteness to the

State capital and other large consumption centres. It is the

only district in the state with no rail connectivity. There

is only one link road i.e. one arterial State Highway No. 10

which connects the district with the rest of the state and

the country.Migration-

Migration has taken its toll in the socio - economic health

of the district. The decennial population growth is much

above the state average and is mainly due to migration

Periodical lack of employment among the people of the

district, forces them to desert their homes for greener

pastures. These people engage themselves in hard works

outside the district and even outside the state and

sometimes fall an easy prey to incurable diseases.BorderProblems-

63

Dakshin Dinajpur is bounded on three sides by the Indo -

Bangladesh international border (approx 252k.ms) 6 of the

districts 8 blocks have borders with Bangladesh which makes

petty smuggling, illegal trading and trafficking a common

phenomena.

64

Backward Villages: Uniquefeatures

The population of the backward villages of this district is

divided between the Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled

Castes. Although the land is fertile yet in the absence of

proper irrigation makes agriculture unprofitable for small

and marginal farmers. In the absence of industry large scale

migration to other states takes place. Lack of

communication facility has resulted in poor market

connectivity.

From Dakshin Dinajpur we move on to discuss thekey development indicators ofMurshidabad.

63

Demography

Population

1991 2001Total 4740149 5866569Male 2439342 3005000Female 2300807 2861569

% Share in State'sPopulation 6.96 7.32% share of UrbanPopulation (W.B) 10.43

(27.48)12.49 (27.97)% share of Rural

Population (W.B) 89.57(72.52)

87.51 (72.03)% share of major

religious communities

Hindus 38.39 35.92 Muslims 61.40

(23.61)63.67 (25.25)% share of SC (W.B) 13.40 12.00

% share of ST(W.B) 1.30 (5.59) 1.29 % share of Children(0-6) (W.B) 20.95

(16.98)17.80 (14.24)

Sex Ratio (W.B)

All 943 (917) 952 (934)SC 937 (931) 951 (949)ST 971 (964) 972 (982)Children of (0-6)

977 (967) 972 (960)Population Density (per 890 (767) 1102 (903)Decadal Growth rate (%)(W.B)

28.20 (24.73)

23.76 (17.77)

Educatio1991 2001

Literacy

Rate(%)

(W.B)

All

Total 38.28 (57.70)

54.35 (68.64)Male 46.42 60.71 (77.02)

Female 29.57 47.63 (59.61)Rural 35.52 52.28 (63.42)Urban 60.80 68.34(81.25)

SCTotal 32.79

(42.21)48.91 (59.04)

Male 40.54 58.05 (70.54)Female 24.42

(28.87)39.27(46.90)

STTotal 18.39 35.79 (43.40)Male 25.95 46.17 (57.38)

Female 10.60(14.98 25.01 (29.15)Gender Gap inLiteracy (W.B)

16.85 (21.25) 13.08 (17.41)

Primary

Upper PrimaryNo of Schools- SSA-2006

3048 (Govt) 587 (Govt/Govt Pupil - Teacher

Ratio(Govt)-SSA-2006 (W.B)

56.59 (45.20)109.29 (61.41)

Net EnrolmentRatio(overall)SSA2006 (W.B)

97.32 (98.03)78.42 (78.74)

Drop-outRate(Cohort studySSA 2004)(W.B)

15.01 (19.92)33.73 (29.70)

OthersPer Capita Income(2003-2004) at current prices 17486.22

(20895.64)% of cultivable area to total area(’04-’05) (W.B)

76.15 (65.48)Cultivable area per agri worker(’04-’05) ( hectres) (W.B)

0.43 (0.44)

% of forest area(’04-’05) 0.14 (13.52)

% of BPL families(P&RD,2002) (W.B)

43.31 (36.38)

Offences reported against women 2002 4172003 674

% change in offences reported againstwomen

2001-2002 3.732002-2003 61.63

0.5

20.6

9

0.57 0. 7 0.

29 0.4

3

DI ST RI C T : MUR SHI DAB AD Administrative Information

No. of Sub-divisions 5No. of Municipalities (2003) 7No. of Blocks 26No. of Mouzas 2210No. of Police Stations 26No. of Gram Panchayats 254No. of Inhabited Villages(2001) 1925No. of Gram Sansad 3633Area (Sq. Km.) 5324No. of Family Welfare Centres 34No. of PHCs 70No. of Electrified Mouzas (’03-’04) 1883% of Rural HHs Electrified(W.B) (01.04.05)

20.44 Av. Population per Bank Offices (RBI-2005)(W.B) 29000

(19000)Indice

sWBHDR-2004 Value RankHuman Development Index 0.46 15Gender Development Index

0.41 15Education Index 0.52 16Health Index 0.57 14Income Index 0.29 14

0.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

0

C o m p a r i s o n o f I n d ic e s w i t h W e s t Be n g a l

M urs hida bad W .B.

Ed u In d ex He alth In d ex In co m e

In dex

Employment2001

Work participation rate(W.B)

Male FemaleRural 51.3

(54.1)14.7 (20.9)Urban 50.2(53.7

)27.7 (11.6)% of main

worker(W.B)Rural 45.7(45.8

)8.8 (9.1)

Urban 47.1(50.2) 21.1 (9.2)% of marginal worker

(W.B) Rural 5.6(8.3) 6.0 (11.8)Urban 3.2(3.6) 6.6 (2.4)

% of agriculturallabourers(W.B) 33.8

(22.7)9.2 (32.2)No. of

applications on live register ofemployment exch.

310425

No. of Placements effected during

847

Health

Infant Mortality Rate of W.B (2004)

Male 45Female 34

Infant Mortality Rate (2001) Male 61Female 59Male 58(65)

Life Expectancy (2001) (W.B) Female 60(69)Mean age at Marriage(IIPS-2004) Male 22.4

(24.7)Female 18.1 (18.5)Beds per lakh of population(2003)

(W.B)49

64

DistrictProfile

Location &Size-

Murshidabad is the mid North - Western district of WestBengal lying between

23˚43’ N and 24˚52’ N latitude and 87˚49’E

and 88˚44’E longitude with headquarters at Berhampore

on the banks of the Bhagirathi river. It is an isosceles

triangle shaped district with apex pointing to north - west.

It is bounded along its whole eastern frontier, from the

extreme north to the south - eastern extremity, by the

mighty Padma river (the main channel of the Ganga) which

separates it from the West Bengal districts of Malda in the

north and Bangladesh in the east. On the south it is bounded

by the districts of Bardhaman and Nadia, the river Jalangi

on the south-east forming the boundary between it and

Nadia for a considerable distance. To the west it is

bordered by the West Bengal district of Birbhum and to the

north- west marginally by the Santhal Parganas of the

Jhargram state.

Agro- climaticconditions -

The economy is mainly rural agrarian with lots of mango,

litchi orchards, fisheries, and little urban development. The

main crops grown include: rice, wheat, potato, jute,

sugarcane, pulses and vegetables. However, the Murshidabad

being a flood prone district, cultivation of crops is

adversely affected especially the ‘Aman’ paddy

65

cultivation. Floods occur annually during the monsoon months

due to the riverine nature and unusual slope of the district.Industrialscenario-

Among the districts in West Bengal, Murshidabad has the

largest number of household industries in the country.

Most of the village dwellers engage themselves in ‘Bidi’

(local cigar) binding to the extent that it is fast growing

in the form of a cottage industry. Stone querry being

another important economic activity, even children of the

poor families are engaged in hazardous work which

66

directly affect their health. Both women and children

are employed in bidi making. Due to the seasonal nature

of cultivation as in Bankura, the men folk in Murshidabad

too mostly migrate out both as masons and farmers to Delhi

and the adjoining areas.Human DevelopmentScenario -

Above 60% of the population in Murshidabad follow the Islamic

faith which is roughly 26% of the state share of the

minority population. As most of the families live below the

poverty line and struggle hard to make their both

ends meet, naturally the children are engaged by their

parents to different kinds of jobs to earn money.

Increasing incidents of child labour has led to a sharp rise

in the number of dropouts. Owing to the low level of

literacy and poor awareness level the health indices of the

inhabitants of most of the villages of Murshidabad are very

low. Mortality rate of children and mothers in the district

is higher as compared to the overall state figures.

Malnutrition of mother and children too is also a well- known

phenomenon in this district. The state of Muslims in

Murshidabad closely resembles the scenario as depicted in the

Sachar Committee Report on the conditions of Muslims in the

country.BorderIssues-

As the riverine international border line between Murshidabad

and Bangladesh is deemed to be soft and porous with no

fencing, it serves as a convenient route for drug

67

trafficking along with trafficking of women.Backward Villages: uniquefeatures

Murshidabad is the only study district which has a Muslim

majority population. The district is primarily agricultural

but agriculture is not proving to be profitable enough for

small and marginal farmers. The problem gets accentuated by

flood and river erosion. The biri industry provides some

relief to the households but it is hazardous to health. The

Farakka Block at the northernmost tip of the district,

68

adjoining the state of Jharkhand, has a tribal population

which has been severely deprived of benefits of development.

In one village in Baharampur Block the study team found

evidence of the continuation of the Jotdar system.

Having looked at the key development features of the

district of Murshidabad we move on to discuss the district

of Paschim Medinipur.

67

Demography

Population

1991 2001Total 4486279 5193411Male 2301869 2648048Female 2184410 2545363

% Share in State'sPopulation 6.59 6.48% share of UrbanPopulation (W.B) 12.65

(27.48)11.90 (27.97)% share of Rural

Population (W.B) 87.35 (72.52)

88.1 (72.03)% share of major

religious communities(W.B)

Hindus 86.81 85.58 Muslims 10.78

(23.61)11.33 (25.25)% share of SC (W.B) 16.34* 18.05

% share of ST(W.B) 8.28* 14.87 % share of Children(0-6) (W.B) 17.68*

(16.98)14.36* (14.24)

Sex Ratio (W.B)

All 949 (917) 961 (934)SC 952* (931) 973 (949)ST 969* (964) 977 (982)Children of 953* (967) 951* (960)

Population Density (perSq. Km) (W.B)

458 (767) 531 (903)Decadal Growth rate(%) (W.B) 23.57*

(24.73)15.35* (17.77)

Educatio1991 2001

Literacy

Rate(%

)

(W.B)

All

Total 65.4 (57.70)

70.4 (68.64)Male 77.5 81.3 (77.02)

Female 52.5 59.1 (59.61)Rural 63.5 68.7 (63.42)Urban 77.6 82.4 (81.25)

SCTotal 54.56*

(42.21)63.57* (59.04)Male 68.66* 76.88*

Female 39.75* (28.87)

49.84* (46.90)

STTotal 40.31* 47.05*

(43.40)Male 55.57* 62.92* (57.38)Female 24.56* 30.83*

Gender Gap inLiteracy (W.B) 25 (21.25) 22.2 (17.41)

Primary

Upper PrimaryNo of Schools-SSA-2006 4687 (Govt) 816

(Govt/GovtaidedPupil - Teacher

Ratio(Govt)-SSA-2006(W.B)

41.24 (45.20) 61.91 (61.41)

Net EnrolmentRatio(overall)SSA2006 (W.B)

98.52 (98.03) 77.86 (78.74)

Drop-out Rate(Cohort studySSA 2004)(W.B)

17.65 (19.92) N.A (29.70)Others

Per Capita Income(2003-2004) atcurrent prices (in Rs) (W.B) 20914.35*

(20895.64)% of cultivable area to total area(’04-’05) (W.B)

61.81 (65.48)Cultivable area per agri worker(’04-’05) ( hectres) (W.B)

0.39* (0.44)

% of forest area(’04-’05) 18.52 (13.52)

% of BPL families(P&RD,2002) (W.B)

32.88 (36.38)

Offences reported against women 2002 4522003 530

% change in offences reported against women

2001-2002 - 1.312002-2003 17.26

0.7

4 0.69

0.6

8 0. 7

0.4

5 0.4

3

D IS TR ICT : P AS CH IM MED IN IP URAdministrative Information

No. of Sub-divisions 4No. of Municipalities (2003) 8No. of Blocks 29No. of Mouzas 8701No. of Police Stations 27No. of Gram Panchayats 290No. of Inhabited Villages(2001) 7580No. of Gram Sansad 3491Area (Sq. Km.) 9786No. of Family Welfare Centres 35No. of PHCs 84No. of Electrified Mouzas (’03-’04) 4729% of Rural HHs Electrified(W.B) (01.04.05)

20.08* Av. Population per Bank Offices (RBI-2005)(W.B) 21000*(19000)

Indices (Purba & Paschim Medinipur CombinedWBHDR-2004 Value Rank

Human Development Index 0.62 7Gender Development Index

0.55 5Education Index 0.74 4Health Index 0.68 8Income Index 0.45 7

0.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

0

C o m p a r i s o n o f I n d i c e s w i t h W e st B e n g al

Me dinipur

W .B.

Edu Ind exHe alth Ind ex In co me Index

Employment2001

Work participation rate(W.B)

Male FemaleRural 55.0* 24.3*(20.Urban 50.6*

(53.7)10.1*(11.6)% of main worker

(W.B)Rural 43.4*

(45.8)8.3* (9.1)Urban 45.4*

(50.2)7.4* (9.2)% of marginal worker

(W.B) Rural 11.6* (8.3)

15.9*(11.8)Urban 5.1*

(3.6)2.7* (2.4)% of agricultural

labourers(W.B) 28.7*(22.7)

39.6*(32.2)No. of applications

on live register ofemployment exch.(2003)

408092

No. of Placements effected during

310

HealthInfant Mortality Rate of W.B (2004)

Male 45Female 34

Infant Mortality Rate (2001) Male 47*Female 51*

Life Expectancy (2001) (W.B) Male 65* (65)Female 67* (69)

Mean age at Marriage(IIPS-2004) (W.B)

Male 24.6* (24.7)Female 17.6* (18.5)Beds per lakh of population(2003)

(W.B)66

68

DistrictProfile

Location &Size-

Paschim Medinipur is situated in the South - Western side of

West Bengal. It is bounded by Bankura and Purulia districts

in the North, Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts of Orissa in

the South, Hooghly and Purba Medinipur districts in the East

and Singhbhum district of Jharkhand and Purulia district of

West Bengal in the West. Kangsabati, Silabati, Subarnarekha,

Dulongs, Keleghai and their tributaries are the main rivers

of the district. The district is located between 21047’ N

and86040’ E- 87052’ E. The district has an area of 929528hectares of which net area

under cultivation is584022 hectares.

Topography &Soil-

The climate is tropical and the land surface of the district

is characterized by hard rock uplands, lateritic covered

area, and flat alluvial and deltaic plains. The soil is

fairly fertile. The western part of the district consisting

of Jhargram, and parts of Medinipur sadar and Kharagpur Sub

- divisions suffer from periodic droughts. Soil in these

areas being red and lateritic in nature is devoid of

many basic nutrients essential for normal crops.

69

Agro- ClimaticConditions-

The climate is characterized by hot summer, cold winter,

abundant rainfall and humidity. The district is

predominantly agricultural with about 70% of the population

dependant on agriculture and allied activities. Paddy

occupies the first place in production; other important

crops are potato, wheat, oilseeds, betel vine, groundnut,

sugarcane and cashew nut. Vegetables are grown in

some areas. Animal husbandry and fishery are now emerging

as important contributors of

70

economic growth of the district. Irrigation is provided to

both kharif and rabi crops. Kangsabati canal system is the

main irrigation scheme. Ground water supports supplementary

irrigation.63% of the net cultivable area is irrigated and

exploitation of ground water potential is only 27% of the

utilizable recharge.

EconomicProspects-

The agro- climatic conditions of the district along with

vast tracts of cultivable waste and other fallow lands offer

excellent scope for plantation and horticulture. Also there

is good scope for sericulture, bee keeping, mushroom

production and their marketing in the district. The district

being rich in both ground water and surface water resources

is suitable for the development of agriculture and fishery.

Backward Villages: UniqueFeatures

The majority of the backward villages are located in the

hilly forest regions of the district. This part of the

district has poor soil quality and irrigation facility as a

result of which traditional agriculture has not developed.

Forest based industry – small or large in scale – have not

developed. Poor farmers do not get adequate credit facility

from the Banks unlike the richer potato growing eastern part

of the district. The tribal population also suffers from

social evils such as alcoholism which adversely affects their

71

health and family income.

From Paschim Medinipur we move on to the adjacent district

of Purulia. Once again we begin with the key development

indicators of the district.

Demography

Population

1991 2001Total 2224577 2536516Male 1142771 1298078Female 1081806 1238438

% Share in State'sPopulation 3.27 3.16% share of UrbanPopulation (W.B) 9.44

(27.48)10.07 (27.97)% share of Rural

Population (W.B) 90.56 (72.52)

89.93 (72.03)% share of major

religious communities

Hindus 90.95 83.42 Muslims 5.98 (23.61) 7.12 (25.25)

% share of SC (W.B) 19.35 18.29 % share of ST(W.B) 19.23 18.27 % share of Children(0-6) (W.B) 18.59

(16.98)16.12 (14.24)

Sex Ratio (W.B)

All 947 (917) 954 (934)SC 940 (931) 952 (949)ST 962 (964) 971 (982)Childrenof (0-6) 969 (967) 964 (960)

Population Density (perSq. Km) (W.B)

355 (767) 405 (903)Decadal Growth rate(%) (W.B) 20.00(24.73

)14.02 (17.77)

OthersPer Capita Income(2003-2004) atcurrent prices (in Rs) (W.B) 16182.38

(20895.64)% of cultivable area to total area(’04-’05) (W.B)

68.91 (65.48)Cultivable area per agri worker(’04-’05) ( hectres) (W.B)

0.57 (0.44)

% of forest area(’04-’05) 12 (13.52)

% of BPL families(P&RD,2002) (W.B)

43.65 (36.38)

Offences reported against women 2002 3212003 251

% change in offences reported against women

2001-2002 112.582002-2003 -21.81

0.55 0.

69

0.61 0. 7

0.1

80.

43

DISTRICT :PURULIAAdministrative Information

No. of Sub-divisions 3No. of Municipalities (2003) 3No. of Blocks 20No. of Mouzas 2683No. of Police Stations 20No. of Gram Panchayats 170No. of Inhabited Villages(2001) 2468No. of Gram Sansad 1913Area (Sq. Km.) 6259No. of Family Welfare Centres 23No. of PHCs 53No. of Electrified Mouzas (’03-’04) 1766% of Rural HHs Electrified(W.B) (01.04.05)

18.22 Av. Population per Bank Offices (RBI-2005)(W.B) 24000

(19000)IndicesWBHDR-2004 Value Rank

Human Development Index 0.45 16Gender Development Index

0.40 16Education Index 0.55 14Health Index 0.61 12Income Index 0.18 17

LiteracyRate(%)

(W.B)

All

SC

Education1991 2001

Total 43.29 (57.70) 55.57(68.64) Male 62.17(67.81) 73.72 (77.02) Female

23.24 (46.56) 36.50(59.61) Rural 40.32(50.50) 53.24 (63.42) Urban70.58 (75.27) 75.40(81.25) Total 31.81

(42.21) 45.14 (59.04)Male 48.93 (54.55) 63.01

(70.54)

0.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.10

C o m p a r i s o n o f I n d i c e s w i t h W e st B e ng al

Purulia

W .B.

Edu Index He alth IndexIncome Index

Employment

ST

Gender Gap

inLiteracy (W.B)

No of Schools- SSA-2006Pupil - TeacherRatio(Govt)-SSA-2006 (W.B)Net EnrolmentRatio(overall)SSA2006 (W.B)Drop-out Rate(Cohort study SSA 2004)(W.B)

Female 13.47 (28.87) 26.35

(46.90) Total 27.61

(27.78) 42.64 (43.40)Male 43.91 (40.07) 61.26 (57.38)

Female 10.55(14.98) 23.40 (29.15)38.93 (21.25) 37.22 (17.41)

Primary UpperPrimary

2974 (Govt) 355 (Govt/Govt aided)

39.40 (45.20) 36.96 (61.41)

90.51 (98.03) 67.97 (78.74)

29.30 (19.92) 37.95 (29.70)

Health

Work participation rate(W.B)

% of main worker (W.B)

% of marginal worker(W.B)% of agricultural labourers(W.B)No. of applicationson live register ofemployment exch.(2003) No. of Placements effectedduring 2003

2001Male Female

Rural 52.9 (54.1)39.2 (20.9) Urban 46.8 (53.7)9.0 (11.6) Rural37.8 (45.8) 12.6

(9.1) Urban 42.3(50.2) 6.3 (9.2) Rural 15.1 (8.3) 26.6 (11.8) Urban

4.4 (3.6) 2.6 (2.4)

25.5(22.7)52.0(32.2)

196945

179

Infant Mortality Rate of W.B (2004) Infant Mortality Rate (2001)

70

Life Expectancy (2001) (W.B)

Mean age at Marriage(IIPS-2004) (W.B)

Male 45Female 34Male 46

Female 46Male 60 (65)

Female 63 (69)Male 23.7 (24.7) Female 18.3 (18.5)

Beds per lakh of population(2003)(W.B) 97 (86)

71

District Profile: Unique

Features: Location &

Size-

Purulia is the westernmost district of West Bengal. Itlies between 22.60˚ and

23.50˚ North latitude and 85.75˚ and 86.65˚ East

longitude. The geographical area of the district is 6259

sq. kms (Census 2001). This district is encircled by

Bankura, Midnapur and Bardhaman

districts of West Bengal and

Hazaribag, Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Jamshedpur and

Bokaro districts of Jharkhand state.

Soil &Topography-

The district is characterized by undulating topography

with rugged hilly terrains in the western and southern

parts. In general three types of soils have been

recognized in this district viz. residual, lateritic and

clayey loam. The fertility is low, as the soils

contain very little organic matter. Soil erosion is

the most prominent phenomenon of the district resulting

in huge deposition of fertile soil in the valley

region. As a result vast areas of land remain

uncultivable wasteland.Climaticconditions-

Purulia is well- known as a drought prone district and

falls within the semi- arid region of the state. The

district is situated within the agro- climatic region

72

of the Eastern plateau and hills of the sub- region

Chhotanagpur south and West Bengal plateau. The

district has a sub- tropical climate and is

characterized by high evaporation and low precipitation.

Average annual rainfall varies between 1100 and 1500mm.

73

Croppingpattern-

Cultivation of this district is predominantly monocropped.

About 60% of the total cultivated land is upland. Paddy is

the primary crop of the district. 50% of the total land is

under net - cropped area and only 17% of the net cropped area

is under multi crop cultivation. 90% of the net cropped area

is under Aman paddy cultivation. The crops are grown mostly

under rainfed condition, generally with fertilizer

consumption per unit area. Several medium and minor

irrigation schemes are being executed in the said

district. The total irrigation potential created is 8541

hec in Kharif and 1955 hec in Rabi.

Extremistactivities -

In recent times developmental activities in some blocks of

the district like Jhalda, Baghmundi, Balarampur, Bundwan,

Joypur etc. each of which share its borders with Jharkhand

has been adversely affected following the rise of Left

extremist activities.

Tribalpopulation-

Most of the blocks in the district has a preponderance of

SC, ST and OBC population with habitat, social customs,

cultural pattern and economic activities markedly different

from that of the other sections of the society. Their low

literacy rate and inadequate income opportunities have

filled them with a sense of alienation from the mainstream.

74

Backward Villages: UniqueFeatures

The above discussion of the general features of the district

clearly indicates why there are so many backward villages in

the district. The soil of the district is not conjusive for

agriculture and industrialization has never really taken

root in the district. Even small scale industries have not

developed in the district. On the other hand investments

in irrigation have not been adequate. The majority

of the

75

population of these villages are tribals who have not been

properly integrated into the mainstream development process.

Finally, we move to the northernmost of our study districts

– Uttar Dinajpur. The key development indicators are as

follows:

74

Demography

Population

1991 2001Total 1897045 2441794Male 987771 1259737Female 909274 1182057

% Share in State'sPopulation 2.79 3.04% share of UrbanPopulation (W.B) 13.34

(27.48)12.06 (27.97)% share of Rural

Population (W.B) 86.66 (72.52)

87.94 (72.03)% share of major

religious communities

Hindus 54.21 51.72 Muslims 45.55

(23.61)47.36 (25.25)% share of SC (W.B) 29.04 27.71

% share of ST(W.B) 5.35 (5.59) 5.11 % share of Children(0-6) (W.B) 20.49

(16.98)21.02 (14.24)

Sex Ratio (W.B)

All 921 (917) 938 (934)SC 921 (931) 940 (949)ST 943 (964) 978 (982)Children of 966 (967) 965 (960)

Population Density (perSq. Km) (W.B)

604 (767) 778 (903)Decadal Growth rate (%)(W.B)

34.00 (24.73)

28.72 (17.77)

Educatio1991 2001

Literacy

Rate(%)

(W.B)

All

Total 34.58 (57.70)

47.89 (68.64)Male 45.24 58.48 (77.02)Female 22.85 36.51 (59.61)Rural 27.78 42.86 (63.42)Urban 74.49 80.50 (81.25)

SCTotal 33.05*

(42.21)50.06 (59.04)

Male 45.72* 63.49 (70.54)Female 19.06*

(28.87)35.71 (46.90)

STTotal 18.88* 28.68 (43.40)Male 28.42* 39.51 (57.38)Female 9.10* 17.63 (29.15)

Gender Gap inLiteracy (W.B) 22.39 (21.25) 21.97 (17.41)

Primary

Upper PrimaryNo of Schools- SSA-2006

1453 (Govt) 219 (Govt/Govt Pupil - Teacher

Ratio(Govt)-SSA-2006 (W.B)

49.58 (45.20) 61.65 (61.41)

Net EnrolmentRatio(overall)SSA2006 (W.B)

94.43 (98.03) 45.40 (78.74)

Drop-outRate(Cohort studySSA 2004)(W.B)

42.33 (19.92) 27.20 (29.70) OthersPer Capita Income(2003-2004) atcurrent prices (in Rs) (W.B) 14046.26

(20895.64)% of cultivable area to total area(’04-’05) (W.B)

88.35 (65.48)Cultivable area per agri worker(’04-’05) ( hectres) (W.B)

0.43 (0.44)

% of forest area(’04-’05) 0.19 (13.52)

% of BPL families(P&RD,2002) (W.B)

40.98 (36.38)

Offences reported against women 2002 1162003 107

% change in offences reported against women

2001-2002 - 14.712002-2003 - 7.76

0.53 0.

69

0.62 0. 7

0.39 0.4

3

DISTRICT : UTTAR DINAJPUR

Administrative InformationNo. of Sub-divisions 2No. of Municipalities (2003) 4No. of Blocks 9No. of Mouzas 1504No. of Police Stations 9No. of Gram Panchayats 99No. of Inhabited Villages(2001) 1477No. of Gram Sansad 1422Area (Sq. Km.) 3140No. of Family Welfare Centres 11No. of PHCs 22No. of Electrified Mouzas (’03-’04) 1376% of Rural HHs Electrified(W.B) (01.04.05)

12.28 Av. Population per Bank Offices (RBI-2005)(W.B) 34000

(19000)Indices ( Uttar & Dakshin Dinajpur combined)WBHDR-2004 Value Rank

Human Development Index 0.51 13Gender Development Index 046 10Education Index 0.53 15Health Index 0.62 11Income Index 0.39 11

0.80.70.60.50.40.30.20.1

0

C o m p a r i s on o f I nd i c e s w i t h W e st B e ng al

Dinajpur

W .B.

Edu Index He alth Index Income Index

Employment2001

Work participation rate(W.B)

Male FemaleRural 52.1 25.5 Urban 50.2

(53.7)11.1 (11.6)% of main worker

(W.B)Rural 46.4

(45.8)11.4 (9.1)

Urban 47.5 (50.2)

8.7 (9.2)% of marginal worker(W.B) Rural 5.8 (8.3) 14.2

(11.8)Urban 2.7 (3.6) 2.4 (2.4)% of agriculturallabourers(W.B) 34.6

(22.7)51.4 (32.2)No. of applications

on live register ofemployment exch.(2003)

145571

No. of Placements effected during

904

HealthInfant Mortality Rate of W.B (2004)

Male 45Female 34

Infant Mortality Rate (2001) Male 68Female 59

Life Expectancy (2001) (W.B) Male 61* (65)Female 63* (69)

Mean age at Marriage(IIPS-2004) (W.B)

Male 24.6 (24.7)Female 17.8 (18.5)Beds per lakh of population(2003)

(W.B)30

75

DistrictProfile

Location &Size

Till independence, Dinajpur was an important constituent

district of the Rajshahi Division in undivided Bengal. The

Radcliffe award in 1947, which assigned the western portions

of Dinajpur to West Bengal, was followed by the transfer of

a narrow land corridor from Purnea district in Bihar to West

Bengal in order to link the three northernmost districts of

Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling to the rest of the

state. Following the administrative bifurcation of Paschim

Dinajpur district on April 1, 1992, the portions comprising

Islampur subdivision and the old Sadar sub division

excluding Kushmandi PS and Bansihari PS were reconstituted

into Uttar Dinajpur district. The district of Uttar Dinajpur

came into existence on April 1, 1992 after the bifurcation

of the erstwhile West Dinajpur district. The

district lies between latitude 25˚11’ N to 26˚49’ N and

longitude 87˚49’ E to 90˚00’ E occupying an area of 3142 km

enclosed by Bangladesh on the East, Bihar on the West,

Darjeeling district and Jalpaiguri district on the North

and Malda district and Dakshin Dinajpur district on the

South.Climate, Soil &Topography-

This newly constructed district is preliminarily agricultural

in nature. The regional topography is generally flat with a

76

gentle southerly slope towards the main rivers like Kulik,

Nagar and Mahananda, the basin lying between Rajmahal hills

on the east. Uttar Dinajpur is bestowed with very rich soil

type due to alluvial deposition, which helps to grow paddy,

jute, tea, sugarcane, etc. The climate of this district is

characterized by hot summers with high humidity, abundant

rainfall and cold winter.

77

CroppingPattern-

Uttar Dinajpur stands first in the rate of growth of grain

productivity among all the districts in West Bengal. The

cropping intensity is high with multiple cropping in

practice. The agro - climatic condition is suitable for

horticulture, sericulture and floriculture. The district

being rich in both ground water and surface water resources

is suitable for the development of agriculture and

pisciculture.Cross - BorderProblems-

The district is used as a transit route for smuggling and

trafficking. The border regions suffer from the corrupting

influence of the smuggling trade.

Backward Villages: uniquefeatures

It is a paradox that a district where land is fertile has the

highest percentage of backward villages in the state. From

our field visits we came to understand although the land is

fertile the district suffers from poor irrigation facility

which makes cultivation difficult for small farmers. As they

cannot afford to buy water from private sources they are

often forced to give up their land to the rich landowners in

return for rent which allows them to just about subsist.

Interestingly a cash crop like jute is cultivated for

domestic use rather than for commercial purpose as they

cultivators do not get adequate price. Absence of industry

results in large-scale migration to other parts of India. The

78

tea industry absorbs some people but it is not able to

provide a large scale solution to the problem of rural

unemployment.

CONCLUSION

The above discussion unfolds the fact that although the

backward villages in every district share certain

commonalities, yet there exist certain specificities which

are intrinsic to a particular district as different from

the rest. The inter-district and

79

intra-district variations in location, culture, economy and

politics go a long way in shaping the nature, trends and

degree of backwardness in different regions the intricacies

of which are explored in greater details in the chapters that

follow.

80

4Introducing the

Respondents

In any survey-based empirical research it is therespondents who are the key

players and the questionnaire is framed to elicit their

responses on varied issues which are related to the central

objectives of the research. As their responses are more

often than not conditioned by the backgrounds of the

respondents, it is the general practice of this kind of study

to tell a story about who they are in terms of their social,

economic, political and other features. In this chapter we

try to present a profile of the people we have interviewed.

In the present study a total of 3,815 respondents spread over

92 backward villages have been selected by the process of

systematic random sampling to avoid any significant bias.

The primary objective of the chapter is to introduce the

respondents of the selected backward villages by providing a

clear picture of their demographic details, economic

standards, health conditions, educational status, and

occupational patterns. While introducing the respondents,

relevant information about their respective households has

also being included, as the respondents are

81

primarily integral parts of their

families/households. It is believed that an analysis of the

way of life of the respondents in general may serve as

an essential guide to understanding the nature and the

root causes of ‘backwardness’, for it is the poorest of the

poor residing in these vulnerable villages who are the worst

victims of poverty and deprivation.

Let us firstly consider the district wise breakup of the respondents.

82

Table-4.1: District- wise break up of respondentsDistricts No of

RespondentsPercentage ofRespondents

Bankura 716 18.77Birbhum 324 8.49Dakshin Dinajpur

286 7.50Murshidabad 946 24.80Paschim Medinipur

519 13.60Purulia 667 17.48Uttar Dinajpur 357 9.36Total 3815 100

I. DemographicProfileAccording to 2001 Census, West Bengal has a population of

80176197, amongst which 41465985 are Males and 38710212

are Females.3 West Bengal is a state mainly inhabited

by Hindus (72.47 %), followed by Muslims (25.25 %). The state

ranks first in terms of density of population (904 per sp

km.) Percentage of population living below the poverty line

is 28.6%4. The majority of people of the state (more than 72

%) live in the rural areas5.

We have surveyed 3815 respondents in seven districts - UttarDinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum andMurshidabad. The demographic profile of the respondents maybe better understood under following heads: Religion, Caste,Gender and Family Size.

83

3 2001 Census4 P & RD, 20025 Census 2001.

84

I.I.ReligionWest Bengal is a state that is mainly inhabited by Hindus

(72.47 %), followed by the Muslims (25.25 %).The largest

percentage of Hindus among these 7 districts is found in the

districts of Paschim Medinipur (85.58 %), Bankura (84.35 %)

and Purulia (83.42 %). The largest percentage of Muslims is

found in the districts of Murshidabad (63.67 %) and

Uttar Dinajpur (47.36 %)6 respectively. The

distribution of the different religious communities in all

the districts under survey

is displayed in the form of a piegraph below:

Distribution of ReligiousCommunities in the Studydistricts (In Percentage)

Others,395, 10%

Christians,74, 2%

Muslims,1015, 27%

Hindus,

2331,61%

Hindus Muslims Christians Others

85

6 Census 2001

Table –4.2: District- wise distribution of respondents in terms of religion

(in percentage)

District (s) Hindu Muslim Christian Others

Bankura 56.15 16.48 0.00 27.37

Birbhum 92.90 6.79 0.00 0.31

Dakshin

Dinajpur 87.76 3.85 8.39 0.00

Murshidabad 27.48 66.60 4.55 1.37

Paschim

Medinipur 66.28 0.39 1.16 32.18

Purulia 87.26 10.04 0.00 2.70

Uttar Dinajpur

53.50 46.22 0.28 0.00All

Respondents 61.10 26.61 1.94 10.35

Among the total number of 3815 respondents, 2331(61.10 %)are Hindus and 1015

(26.61 %) are Muslims, 74 (1.94 %) are Christians and the

rest 395 (10.35%) belong to others’ category.7 In Birbhum 92

.90 % respondents are Hindus followed by the districts of

Dakshin Dinajpur (87.76 %) and Purulia (87.26 %). The

highest percentage Muslim respondents are in the districts

of Murshidabad (66.60 %) and Uttar Dinajpur (46.22 %). The

above Table on the respondents’ religion clearly point out

that even in the backward villages, Hindus and Muslims form

the main religious communities and their respective

percentages do not vary from the over

all statepercentages.

7 ‘Others’ consist of mainly STs, but it is not clear whether they are Hindus or Christians.

8 Census 2001

82

I. 2. SocialComposition: CasteAccording to 2001 Census, West Bengal’s percentage of SCand ST population is23.02 % and 5.50 % respectively. The highest number of SCsis in the districts of Dakshin Dinajpur (28.78 %) and Birbhum(29.51 %), whereas Purulia (18.27 %) and Paschim Medinipur(14.36 %) top the lists of percentage of STs. 8

Social Composition of Respondents

GEN, 1456,38%

OBCs, 149,4%

SCs, 1070,

28%

STs,1140,30%

SCs STs OBCsGEN

Table – 4.3: Social Composition of RespondentsDistrict (s)

SCs STs OBCs General

Bankura 30.03 31.56 4.75 33.66

Birbhum 40.74 31.79 12.96 14.51

Dakshin

Dinajpur 58.74 34.97 1.40 4.90

9 Census 2001

82

Murshidabad

16.91 11.63 4.23 67.23

Paschim

Medinipur 23.70 55.30 2.70 18.30

Purulia 21.59 40.78 1.50 36.13

9 Census 2001

83

Uttar

Dinajpur 35.85 11.76 1.40 50.98

All

respondents

28.04 29.88 3.91 38.17

Among the respondents who have been surveyed, 1456(38.17 %) belong to

General Caste, 1070 (28.05%) are SCs, 1140 (29.88 %) are STs

and 149 (3.91%) are OBCs. The largest number of General Caste

belongs to the district of Murshidabad (67.23 %) but the

‘General’ category here includes both Hindus and

Muslims, followed by the district of Uttar Dinajpur (50.98

%). The highest number of SCs is found in the districts of

Dakshin Dinajpur (58.74) and Birbhum (40.74 %).The

highest number of ST respondents is found in the districts of

Paschim Medinipur (55.30 %), Purulia (40.78 %) and the lowest

number of ST respondents is in the districts of Murshidabad

(11.63 %) and Uttar Dinajpur (11.76 %). The highest and

lowest numbers of OBC respondents are found in the

districts of Birbhum (12.96

%), Dakshin Dinajpur (1.40 %), and Uttar Dinajpur

(1.40 %) respectively. The above two tables on Social

composition clearly point out that in the backward villages,

the highest number of villagers fall in the categories of

SCs and STs, except for in Murshidabad, where the

inhabitants are mostly Muslims.

10 Census 2001

83

I.3.GenderAccording to the 2001 Census, West Bengal has a population of

80176197, amongst which 41465985 are Males and 38710212 are

females.9

84

Table- 4.4: Distribution of Respondents in terms of GenderDistrict (s) Male Female

Bankura 82.44 17.56

Birbhum 76.10 23.90

Dakshin Dinajpur 57.89 42.11

Murshidabad 78.86 21.14

Paschim Medinipur 81.73 18.27

Purulia 87.90 12.10

Uttar Dinajpur 66.95 33.05All Respondents 77.54 21.18

Our Survey figures indicate that more than 77 % of therespondents are males and

only little more than 21 % are females. In the study

districts more than 57 % of the persons surveyed are Males.

The highest number of male respondents is found in the

districts of Purulia (87.90 %), Bankura (82.44 %), and

Paschim Medinipur (81.73%). Contrarily, Dakshin Dinajpur and Uttar Dinajpur,top the list of females.

85

I. 4. Age

Table – 4.5: Age group of the respondents (in percentage)Districts 18 -25 26-35 36-45 46-60 60+

Bankura 7.69 28.49 31.77 22.36 9.69

Birbhum 15.79 31.58 28.48 17.65 6.50

Dakshin

Dinajpur 7.69 32.52 29.72 17.48 12.59

Murshidabad 9.25 26.46 31.14 24.34 8.82

Paschim

Medinipur 8.28 32.35 35.50 17.36 6.51

Purulia 7.34 26.15 34.40 24.77 7.34

Uttar Dinajpur

10.67 33.71 30.62 19.66 5.34All

Respondents 8.96 28.81 31.64 21.31 8.07

The maximum numbers of respondents are in the age group of36 – 45 years. In

Paschim Medinipur 35.50 % respondents are in age group of 36

- 45 followed closely by the district of Purulia (34.40 %).

Thus, it is found that in all the seven districts more than

28 % of the respondents are 36-45 years of age. The

second largest group of respondents falls in the age group of

26-35. The highest number of respondents belonging to this

category is found in the districts of Uttar Dinajpur (33.71

%), Dakshin Dinajpur (32.52 %) and Paschim Medinipur (32. 35

%). The highest percentage of respondents belonging to the

age group of 46-60 is found in the districts of Purulia

(24.77 %), Murshidabad (24.34 %) and Bankura (22.36 %).

86

However, in all the study districts a very small percentage

of the respondents are

87

above sixty years of age the highest in this regardbeing Dakshin Dinajpur

(12.59%).

I.5. FamilySizeAs displayed in the pie- graph below, 55% of the

respondents’ have five to eight member- families. The family

size of 28% of the respondents is, however, moderate having

less than five members. On the contrary, 17% of the

respondents have

large- sized families consisting of morethan eight members.

Family- Size of the Respondents

28%

17%

7% 10%

22%5678

16% <5>8

Table 4.6: Family Size of the Respondents (in percentage)Total no. of members in the family

District (s) 5 6 7 8 < 5 > 8

Bankura 18.85 16.06 8.94 6.42 34.22 15.50

Birbhum 27.16 15.12 11.73 5.25 32.41 8.33

Dakshin

Dinajpur 24.48 11.54 5.59 4.20 48.95 5.24

Murshidabad 18.18 15.75 11.63 10.57 19.98 23.89

Paschim

Medinipur 29.87 20.81 9.44 2.70 22.16 15.03

Purulia 18.14 14.24 11.54 7.20 28.64 20.24

Uttar Dinajpur

23.53 19.33 11.20 7.84 24.65 13.45All

Respondents 21.63 16.20 10.33 6.95 28.13 16.78

Most of the respondents have a family of 5 members. Thedistricts of Paschim

Medinipur (29.87 %) and Birbhum (27.16 %) top the list of

5 member families. There are 618 families with 6

members in their families. The district of

Murshidabad has a maximum number of families with 6

members. Relatively smaller family size is found in the

districts of Dakshin Dinajpur (48.95 %), Bankura (34.22 %)

and Birbhum (32.41 %). The biggest family size is seen in

the districts of Murshidabad and Purulia. 23.89 % of the

respondents in Murshidabad and 20.24 % of the respondents in

Purulia have a family size of more than 8 members

respectively. In Murshidabad one family is found to have 36

members and some families are so large in size as to consist

even 26 to 27 members.

Table – 4.7: Adult females in the family (in percentage)Total Number of Members per Family

District (s) 1 2 3 4 5 Others

Bankura 48.18 33.80 12.43 2.65 0.00 2.93

Birbhum 54.94 30.86 8.02 1.85 1.54 2.78

Dakshin

Dinajpur 57.69 33.22 7.34 0.70 0.00 1.05

Murshidabad 50.11 25.48 8.88 4.12 1.59 9.83

Paschim

Medinipur 41.43 29.87 8.86 4.24 1.16 14.45

Purulia 49.18 29.69 12.14 2.85 2.55 3.60

Uttar Dinajpur

68.35 20.73 5.88 2.52 1.12 1.40All

Respondents 51.09 28.96 9.65 3.04 1.23 7.05

Most of the families (around 80%) have either one or twofemale members. As

shown in the table above, out of a total of 3815 families,

3054 numbers come under the above two categories. Of them

1949 families have only one adult female member, 1105

families have two adult female family members, 368 families

have three adult female members, 116 families have more

than four adult females in their families, whereas 53

families are there with five adult female members .In the

district of Uttar Dinajpur 68.35 percent families have only

one adult female in their family. In all the seven districts

it has been found that more than 40 percent of the

respondent’s families have only one adult female. The

percentage of respondents’ families with two adult females is

not more than 20 percent in any district; the highest being

the districts of Bankura (33.80 %) followed by Dakshin

Dinajpur

(33.22%). The percentage of families with 3, 4 and 5

adult female members is, however, not noteworthy.

Table- 4.8: Distribution of Children who are less than 18 years of age

Range

Total No. of

families

with

Children less

than

Percentage

of

families

with

Total noof

childrenin

the

families with

less than 18

Percentageof

children in

the family

with

less than0 406 10.64 0 0

1 670 17.56 670 7.51

2 1037 27.18 2074 23.25

3 807 21.15 2421 27.14

Others 895 23.46 3755 42.10TOTAL 3815 100 8920 100

Figures displayed in the table above show that ofthe total number of 3815

households surveyed, in 406 (10.64%) families, there are

no children below 18 years of age. 670 (17.56%) families

have one child, 1037 (27.18%) families have two and 807

(21.15%) families have three children who are less than 18

years of age. Thus, it is seen that more than half of the

families have either two or three children under eighteen

years of age. Moreover, a significantly high proportion

(42.10%) of the respondents’ families have more than 3

children below eighteen years, which indicates that the

notion of family planning is yet to gain ground in

these backward areas.

Table –4.9: Distribution of Girls below 18 years of age

Range

Total No. of

families

having

girls less than

18 years

Percentage of

families

having

girls less

Total no of girls

in the family

Percentage of

girls in

the

family

0 954 25.00 0 0

1 1387 36.36 1387 31.11

2 694 18.19 1388 31.14

3 302 7.92 906 20.32

Others 478 12.53 777 17.43Total 3815 100 4458 100

The above table shows that out of 3815 families, in 954families there are no girls less than18 years of age. There are 1387 families with one girl, 694

families with two and 302 families with three girls less

than 18 years of age. Thus, it can be said that in the study

villages nuclear family is the norm.

Table –4.10: Distribution of Male & Female Membersabove 60 years of age

Range

Total no of

families

with

members who

are more than

60 years of

Percentageof

families

with

members

who are

more than

Total no of

members above

60 years

Percentageof

members in

the family

who are

above 60

years0 2112 55.36 0 0

1 862 22.60 862 60.87

2 263 6.89 526 37.15

3 9 0.24 27 1.91

Others 569 14.91 1 0.07

Total 3815 100 1416 100

The figures in the above table indicate that 2112 surveyed

families in the backward villages do not have any member

who is more than 60 years of age indicating a very low life

expectancy rate. 862 families have one member with more than

60 years of age and 263 families have more than two members

who are more than 60 years of age. There are only nine

families with more than three senior citizens in their

families. Above feature may reflect either lack of

adequate and timely medical facilities or lack of adequate

nutrition or both.

II. EconomicConditionII.1.Occupation

Table 4.11: Occupational Pattern ofRespondents

S.I Types of Occupation No. (s) of Respondents

Percentage ofRespondents

1. Farmer 90821.81

2. Share Cropper 112 2.693. Marginal Farmer 110 2.644. Agri Labour (but has land) 780 18.735. Agri Labour (Does not have 775 18.626. Works as domestic help 109 2.627. Owner of a small shop 73 1.758. Brick kiln/ Khadan/ Crusher 114 2.749. House wife 338 8.1210. Labourer 175 4.2011. Bidi Binder 58 1.3912. Others 611 14.68

Total 4163

Table –4.12: District- wise Occupational Pattern of Respondents

District (s)

Farmer

Share

Cropper Marginal Farmer

Agri Labour

(but has

land)

Agri Labour(Does not

have land)

Works as

domestic help

Owner of

a small

shop

Brick kiln/

Khadan/

Crusher

worker

House

wife Labourer Others

Bidi

Binder

Bankura 22.61 1.66 1.92 24.01 18.77 3.19 1.40 0.64 5.36 9.58 10.86 0.00

Birbhum 19.78 4.18 0.56 18.94 28.97 0.00 1.11 2.51 11.42 0.00 12.53 0.00

Dakshin

Dinajpur 4.47 2.06 14.78 38.49 20.62 1.03 1.37 0.69 13.06 0.00 3.44 0.00

Murshidab

ad 16.03 4.43 0.09 9.74 16.92 3.37 3.10 5.31 6.47 2.04 27.37 5.14

Paschim

Medinipur 22.85 2.64 4.22 32.86 17.22 3.51 0.88 2.81 6.33 0.00 6.68 0.00

Purulia 47.46 1.19 1.04 5.82 3.73 2.09 1.94 2.84 6.57 11.49 15.82 0.00

UttarDinajpur 4.97 1.38 4.97 20.99 41.44 2.49 0.28 0.83 17.68 0.00 4.97 0.00

AllResponden

ts 21.81 2.69 2.64 18.74 18.62 2.62 1.75 2.74 8.12 4.20 14.68 1.39

Among the families of the respondents who are engaged in agriculture, 908 are farmers, 780 are agricultural labourers

who have land, 775 are landless agricultural labourers, 112 respondents are sharecroppers and 110 are marginal farmers. Of those who are engaged in professions otherthan agriculture it is found that there are 109 work as domestic help, 73 are

92

owners of small shops, 114 are Brick kiln / ‘khadan’ /

crusher workers, 338 are housewives and 844 respondents are

engaged in miscellaneous professions. It is also seen that

in all the districts the percentage of respondents engaged

in agriculture related work is maximum. In Uttar Dinajpur

it is found that 41.44 percent respondents are landless

agricultural labourers. In Dakshin Dinajpur nearly

38.49% respondents are there who are agricultural labourers

with land. In Murshidabad (5.14 %) respondents are there

who are ‘bidi’ binders. In Purulia,11.49 % respondents are wage- labourers. In UttarDinajpur, 17.68 percent

respondents arehousewives.

93

94

II.2.Earning Members in the Family

Table –4.13: No. Of earning members in the respondents’ families

Earning Members

No. Of respondents’

family members

Percentage of

respondents’

family membersMale 4779 72.03

Female 1633 24.61

Child 140 2.11

Aged 83 1.25

TOTAL 6635 100

Table- 4.14: Earning members of the respondents (in percentage)District (s)

Male Female Child Aged

Bankura 67.47 29.79 1.99 0.75

Birbhum 78.69 20.40 0.18 0.73

Dakshin

Dinajpur 50.57 40.17 5.70 3.56

Murshidabad

72.34 26.19 0.47 1.00

Paschim

Medinipur 67.58 29.30 0.75 2.37

Purulia 93.03 5.54 0.76 0.67

Uttar

Dinajpur 70.59 20.59 8.48 0.35

All

Respondents

72.03 24.61 2.11 1.25

The number of earning members in the respondents’ families in

the seven districts of survey is 6635, out of which 4779 are

Males, 1633 are Females, 140 are Children and 83 are aged.

The highest percentage male earning members are found in the

districts of Purulia (93.03 %), Birbhum (78.69 %) and

Murshidabad (72.34 %). The

95

highest percentage of female earning members is found in the

district of Dakshin Dinajpur (40.17 %). In Uttar Dinajpur

8.48 % of the children are earning members of their families

followed by Dakshin Dinajpur (5.7%) showing a significant

prevalence of child labour.

II.3.Sources ofIncomeTable-4.15: Primary source of income(in numbers)

Types of occupation

No of workers in

the respondents

family

Percentage of

workers in the

respondents familyAgriculture 1371 33.56

Wages of field labour 1708 41.81

Share Cropper's share of crops

83 2.03

Salary of Government service

43 1.05

Salary received by

working in others house 164

4.01

Mine Worker 32 0.78

Biri Binder 52 1.27

Mason 27 0.66

Labourer 195 4.77

Other 410 10.04

TOTAL 4085 100

The above table clearly points out that from 4085respondents’ family members, for

3162 income comes from agriculture related work and amongst

which 1708 family members’ income is generated by working

in someone else’s land. The highest percentage of

respondents’ family members whose income comes from

agriculture is found in the districts of Purulia (52.41 %)

and Paschim Medinipur (40.85 %).The highest number of

96

respondents’ family whose income by working as

an agricultural labourer is maximum in the districts of Uttar

Dinajpur (70.99 %) and Dakshin Dinajpur (61.59 %)

97

Table – 4.16: Secondary sources of income of therespondents’ families

Other sources of income No. of respondents Percentage of respondents

Cottage industry 703 40.92

Small shop 74 4.31

Any member of

family sends money from

outside

76

4.42

Agriculture 86 5.01

Nothing 385 22.41

Labour 109 6.34

Farming 38 2.21

Bidi Binder 31 1.80

Other 216 12.57

TOTAL 1718 100

Amongst 6635 earning members of the respondents’ families itis found that only

1718 respondents’ family members are engaged in secondary

sources of income. Amongst such sources of income, the

highest number of respondents’ family is engaged in

Cottage industry. In the districts of Murshidabad more than

81 % of the respondent’s family members are engaged in cottage

industry. It is followed by the districts of Paschim Medinipur

(52.05 %) and Bankura (43.17 %).

98

II.4.Landholding Size of Respondents

Table-4.17: Land holding size of the Respondents

Land holding size No. of respondents

Percentage of the

Respondents

0 1220 31.98

0- 0.4 bigha 181 4.74

0.5- 1 bigha 485 12.71

1-2 bigha(s) 664 17.40

2-5 bighas 659 17.27

>6 bighas 108 2.83

Others10 498 13.05

TOTAL 3815 100

From the findings of the survey as exhibited above it is

clear that in all the seven select districts quite a few

numbers of respondents, i.e., 31.95% are landless. Out of

those who have land of their own, 181 respondents own only a

small piece of land (0- 0.4 bighas). 485 respondents have

0.5 – 1 bigha, 664 families have 1- 2 bighas, and the

families of 659 respondents have 2- 5 bighas of land. More

than 6 bighas of land, however, is owned by only a handful of

108 respondents spread over all the

studydistricts.

99

10 291 out of this 498 consist of no entry on part of surveyors. Theremaining consists of various measuring units with which it is notpossible to draw clear parallel in terms of Bigha. None of the datahowever changes the significance of the table.

10

II.5Total Monthly Income and Expenditure ofthe

respondents’ families

Table – 4. 18: Total Monthly Income of the Respondents’ Families

Total Monthly income No of RespondentsRs 500-1000 1908Rs1000-1500 997Rs 1500-2000 382Rs2000-2500 145Less than Rs 500 80Other 254TOTAL 3766

The above Tables clearly points out that the majority of the

respondents families income falls under Rs -500 – 1000

category. The highest percentage of this group is found in

the districts of Bankura (66.53 %), Uttar Dinajpur (57.06 %)

and Purulia

(55.44 %). Again it is found that of 3766 people, 3287

people fall under

income group of Rs. 500 – 2000.

Table – 4.19. Total Monthly FamilyExpenditure

Monthly Expenditure No. of PersonRs 500-1000 1887Rs 1000-1500 971Rs 1500-2000 395Rs 2000-2500 220More than Rs 2500 7Less than Rs 500 69Other 206TOTAL 3755

10

The majority of the respondents’ families’ expenditure is

between Rs 500 - 1000. In the districts surveyed Bankura

(68.79 %) Purulia (55.35 %) Paschim Medinipur

No o

f respondents

10

(52.17) and Dakshin Dinajpur top the list in this regard.

Again, we have also found that out of 3755 backward

villagers, 3253 fall under the category of Rs 500-2000.

Thus, a close view of the income and expenditure

pattern of the respondents’ families show that owing

to the low level of income coupled with rising

expenditure the residents of the backward villages have very

little or no savings at all. Their earnings are spent by

them to meet their daily family expenses and also to purchase

necessary inputs for agriculture. This is also reiterated by

the findings

from the fieldvisits.

Income and expenditureof the

respondents

2500200015001000500

0

IncomeE xpenditure

Ra nge inRs

III.Education

10

In West Bengal, according to the Census 2001, the literacyrate of the population is

68.64 %. The percentage of male literates is 77.20 %

and percentage of female literates is 59.61 %.11 We

present below the educational standards of the

respondents.

11 2001 Census Report

100

Ed uc ati on al St atu s of th e Re sp ond en ts

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

2099

697

44323 255

149

20741

Cannot read and is not able to signCan read and is ableto signOnly able to Sign

Completed PrimaryEducation (Class IV) Completed Class VIII

Madhyamik Passed

H.S. Passed

Others

It is found that from 3815 respondents, 2099 cannot read and

are not able to sign, that is, they are illiterate. There

are 697 respondents who can read and are able to sign. There

are 44 respondents who can only sign. Again there are 323

respondents who have completed primary education, whereas 255

respondents have completed class viii. It is also

interesting as from 3815 respondents, only 149 have

passed Madhyamik Examination and another 47

have appeared in Madhyamik

Examination but failed. However, there are 41 respondents who

have passed the Higher Secondary examination. The highest

literates are in the districts of Uttar Dinajpur (69.47 %),

Murshidabad (64.80 %) and Dakshin Dinajpur (61.89 %). In all

the seven districts the total percentage of illiterate is

more than 37 %. It is also worthy to note that in Purulia

district the percentage of illiterate (37.18 %) is less than

other surveyed districts. The percentage of people who can

101

read and sign is not very high in any district. In Paschim

Medinipur it is 24.08 % and in Purulia it is

20.99 %. The percentage of respondents who have completed

primary school is not significant, amongst the seven

districts in the four districts of survey it is less than10 %, only in the district of Birbhum it is, 12.65 % and inPurulia it is, 10.64 %. The

percentage of respondents who have passed MadhyamikExamination is very low.

The lowest percentage of Madhyamik passed respondents

is in the districts of Dakshin Dinajpur (1.40 %) and Uttar

Dinajpur (1.68 %). The highest percentage of Madhyamik passed

respondents is in the districts of Birbhum (6.48 %) and

Purulia (6 %).

Table- 4.20: Percentage of children going to school, dropout and yet to enrol

Category of children No. %

1 Minor 525 6.22

2 Yet to enroll 598 7.08

3 Drop-out 1882 22.29

4 Going to School 5439 64.11

Total 8444 100

A Cohort Study by SSA done in 2004 states that dropout ratein West Bengal is

19.92 % at Primary level and 29.70 % at Upper Primary level.12

It is found from the above table that out of 8444 children

5439 (64.11 %) are going to school. Of 8444 children 1882

(22.29 %) children are dropouts. There are still 598 (7.08)

children still yet to enroll. Thus it can be said that the

dropout rate of the children in backward villages is high and

our survey reveals that it is mainly due to their poor

financial condition.

III.I. FemaleLiteracyTable – 4. 21: Number of adult females in the household whocan read and sign her name (in percentage).

0 1 2 3 4 Other

Bankura 55.15 29.25 8.50 3.62 0.00 3.48

Birbhum 53.09 29.01 11.73 5.25 0.00 0.93

Dakshin

Dinajpur 59.79 33.57 4.55 0.70 0.00 1.40

Murshidabad 52.11 25.37 12.84 4.11 1.05 4.53

12 Cohort Study, SSA, 2004

Paschim

Medinipur 45.38 35.77 10.58 3.27 1.15 3.85

Purulia 60.27 26.69 7.20 1.80 0.00 4.05

Uttar Dinajpur

59.10 26.61 8.68 3.08 0.00 2.52

All 54.90 28.78 9.63 3.24 0.42 3.43

The female literacy rate is very low in Backward Villages.It is found that out of

3822 female members of the respondents’ families, 2071

females are illiterate. In all the districts of survey it is

found that percentage of female illiterates in the

respondents’ family is more than 45 %. The highest

percentage of females who cannot read and sign their names

is in the districts of Purulia (60.27 %), Dakshin Dinajpur

(59.79 %) Uttar Dinajpur (59.10 %) and the lowest being in the

district of Paschim Medinipur (45.38 %). The percentage of one

female member who can read and sign in the respondents family

is less than 30 % in five districts out of seven districts,

only in the districts of Paschim Medinipur (35.77

%) and Dakshin Dinajpur ( 33.57 % ) it is little

better. The percentage of two female members who can read and

write in the respondents’ family is less than 15 % in all the

districts. In the districts of Murshidabad (12.84 %), Birbhum

(11.73 %) and Paschim Medinipur (10.58 %) it is slightly

better in this regard compared to other districts where it

is less than 10 %. The percentage of three members in a

family who can read and write is less than 5 % in nearly all

the districts of survey, except Birbhum where it is 5.25 %.

In 5 districts, however, there are no female illiterates

in four member respondent families, the exceptions being the

districts of Murshidabad (1.05 %) and Paschim Medinipur (1.15

%).

IV. Living ConditionsTable – 4. 22: Materials Used in constructing the roof of respondents’ houses

Materials No. Of respondentsPercentage of

the respondentsStraw 1874 47.40

Tin 861 21.78Cement 172 4.35Tiles 851 21.52Khola 114 2.88Others 82 2.07TOTAL 3954 100

It can be seen that majority of the respondents use straw to

construct their houses. In Uttar Dinajpur district, 66.75 %

respondents use straw to construct their houses, it is

closely followed by the respondents of Paschim Medinipur

district where 66.67

% of the respondents use straw.In all the districts more

than 30 % of the villagers use straw to construct their

houses. However it is interesting to note that in

Dakshin Dinajpur, 56.42 % respondents use tins to

construct the roof of their houses on the ground that tins

ensure longevity. The backward villagers of Purulia (41.42 %)

and Murshidabad (40.80 %) districts prefer to tiles for

constructing the roofs of their houses. Amongst all the

districts, only in Purulia district it is seen that 16.86 %

backward villagers use ‘khola’ for making their house roofs.

Table – 4. 23: Fuel used for cooking bythe households

Type of fuels No. Of users Percentage of usersCow dung Cakes 1540 24.63

Dry leaves 2679 42.85Wood 1825 29.19Kerosene 47 0.75Coal 68 1.09Straw 46 0.74Others 47 0.75TOTAL 6252

All the 2679 backward villagers in seven districts use

dry leaves as fuels for cooking, 1825 respondents say

that they use wood while cooking, whereas 1540 respondents

use cow dung cakes, and 47 respondents use kerosene, 68

respondents use coal, 46 respondents use straw. In Uttar

Dinajpur district 63.36 % respondents use dry leaves for

cooking, it is followed by the district of Dakshin Dinajpur

where

49.91 % villagers use dry leaves .It is also interesting asin all the seven backward

villages more than 35 % backward villagers use dry leaves. The

largest cow dung users are in the district of Dakshin

Dinajpur, where 44.94 % respondents use this. It is followed

by Murshidabad District where 33.23 % respondents use cow

dung cakes.In Purulia district, 38.52 % backward villagers

use wood as a fuel, whereas

35.83 % backward villagers in Paschim Medinipur use wood.However, only 2.84

% backward villagers of Dakshin Dinajpur use woods .The use

of kerosene user is less than 1% in almost all the districts

except Uttar Dinajpur where 1.08 % of the backward

villagers use kerosene. However the difference is not

significant.In Dakshin Dinajpur there are no backward

villagers who use kerosene oil. Among the surveyed backward

villages in seven districts it is seen that in 6 districts

there is no backward villagers who use straw, the only

exception is Paschim Medinipur where nearly 5.22 % backward

villagers use straw as a fuel for cooking .The users of

other type of fuels are not at all very prominent. In

the district of Dakshin Dinajpur, it is 2.31 %,

whereas in the districts of Uttar Dinajpur and Paschim

Medinipur there are no users of othersources of fuel. 13

13 3815 respondents were interviewed, but it is found that in the report 6252 users of different fuel. This is because there were respondents who use multiple types of fuel.

V. Level of AwarenessTable 4.24: Whether the respondent has heard the

name of the following schemes

Schemes Yes No

1 WBREGS 74.97 25.03

2 AAY 43.14 56.85

3 NOAPS 39.76 60.23

4 IAY 62.04 37.95

5 PROFLAL 8.67 91.32

A high proportion of the respondents have little or

no knowledge about the existence of the various

government sponsored schemes meant for the poor like

PROFLAL, NOAPS and AAY indicating a very low degree of

awareness. This is also reiterated by our findings of the

field visits.

ConclusionThe above discussion provides a brief profile of the

people of the backward villages that have been studied. It

shows that most of the inhabitants are Hindus, except for in

Murshidabad. Among the Hindus too, the concentration of SC

and ST is quite high. A very high percentage of the people

is either illiterate or is barely able to read. The

villagers, in general, rely on subsistence agriculture; live

in kaccha houses made up of straw and use leaves or wood as

their fuel. To a great extent they are also deprived of the

available medical benefits. Thus, the present chapter offers a

glimpse of the vulnerable socio- economic conditions of the

dwellers of the backward villages which have been probed

into in greater details in the next chapter that

follows.

5 Tracing the Roots of

Backwardness

The primary objective of this chapter is to identify thefactors which lie at the root

of backwardness. We have framed a very detailed questionnaire

to trace the roots. While analyzing the responses received it

is noticed that it has both objective and subjective

dimensions which we have tried to capture in the four sections

of this chapter. The first section examines the socio-

economic roots of backwardness; in the second section an

attempt has been made to understand whether there is any

geographical pattern in the backward villages; in the third

section we have tried to explore how some specific local

issues lead to backwardness and finally, in the last section

we have focused on the awareness level of the villagers

regarding various government sponsored schemes in order to

find out whether lack of awareness is a cause of backwardness

of these villages.

I. Socio-economic roots of backwardness

The findings of the study show that there are a few

critical issues the roots of which lie embedded in society,

economy and polity. The issues relate to both infrastructural

arrangements and human development aspects as shown below:

(i) Sources of livelihood

(ii) Irrigation

(iii)Credit supply

(iv) Low income-expenditure level

(v) Illiteracy

(vi) Health facility

These categories should not be treated in isolation but

should be seen as inter- linked strands of a condition of

backwardness. Also, while these six categories can be seen as

general ones, it is also necessary to note that there is

a wide variety of specific local issues that make the

backwardness of one region different from another.

Overwhelming Dependence on Agriculture

Table 5.1: Primary Source of income for the Household

Farming inone’sown

Wagesofagri-labour

Share Cropper's share

Salary from Government

Salaryreceived by workingas domestic help

Wage from Khadan/ Crusher

BiriMaking

Mason’s wage Laboure Other

Bankura 30.8 44.1 0.8 1.35 4.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.1 9.9Birbhum 31.7

352.69

0.85

0.85 0.00

2.27

0.00

0.00

1.13

10.48D. 24.5 61.5 2.7 0.00 3.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.2

Murshidabad

26.69

36.37

4.62

1.69 4.95

2.70

5.86

3.04

3.15

10.92P.

Medinipur40.85

48.32

1.32

0.88 3.95

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.69Purulia 52.5 10.7 1.1 1.00 3.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 13.9 17.3

U. Dinajpur

15.19

70.99

1.93

0.28 5.80

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

5.80All

respondents

33.5 41.8 2.0 1.05 4.0 0.7 1.2 0.6 4.7 10.0

It can be seen that the overwhelming majority (77.40%) of the respondents work in agriculture related professions, either as small

farmers or as agricultural labourers. In the next table we shall see what the land-holding size is for the common farmer.

108

109

Table 5.2: Landholding size14

00- 0.4

0.5-1

1-2 bigh

2-5 bigh

>6 bigh Other

Bankura 35.89

3.77

10.47

24.72

17.60

1.12

6.42Birbhum 41.3 3.4 9.2 12.6 15.7 5.2 12.3

D. Dinajpur 29.72

3.85

16.78

19.23

20.98

6.99

2.45Murshidabad 40.2

74.97

8.14

10.68

11.52

1.06

23.36P. Medinipur 17.3 7.3 26.4 20.6 13.8 0.0 14.4

Purulia 11.99

3.45

9.45

20.84

32.68

7.95

13.64U. Dinajpur 54.0 6.7 15.4 12.3 6.4 0.0 5.0

All respondents

31.97

4.74

12.71

17.40

17.27

2.83

13.05

It can be seen that nearly 32% of the respondents do not have

any land. They have to work as agricultural labourers or have

to earn their income from a portfolio of unskilled or semi-

skilled activities. Among those who have land except for

Purulia, where soil quality is poor, the majority have less

than 2 bighas of land. This means that there is a severe

shortage of land for the farmers. Only 2.83% of the

cultivators have said that they have more than 6 bighas of

land. Our field experience shows that in some cases a small

number of families own a large amount of land. This was

particularly evident in Hajidanga village

of Behrampore Block in Murshidabad where

the jotdars system is still prevalent and virtually the

entire village is controlled by one absentee landlord. On the

other hand in the dry tribal areas of Birbhum for example,

families some time have a fair amount of land but they are

not able to grow crops on that land because of poor soil

quality and lack of irrigation. However on the whole the

general feature of the households we have surveyed show

that land holding size is not ideal for large-scale

capitalist or

110

socialist farming which increases productivityand hence income.

14 The exact amount of land which comes under the term ‘bigha’varies but the general average for the state is 3 bighas = 1acre. Although the precise measure of bigha varies from districtto district it does not vary so widely that it would alter theargument that we have derived from the table.

111

One option of household having no land or small quantities of

land to augment income that is that of participation in

cottage industry. We have tried to find out how many of the

respondent families are involved in cottage industry as this

can be a supplementary source of

income. The result is as follows:

112

Table 5.3: Whether the Household is Involved in Any Cottage Industry

Yes NoBankura 24.3 75.7Birbhum 10.8

089.20D. Dinajpur 27.6

272.38Murshidabad 39.6

460.36P.Medinipur 25.2

474.76Purulia 6.0 94.0

U.Dinajpur 22.69

77.31All respondents 23.9 76.0

It can be seen that in none of the districts the involvement

of the households in cottage industry has reached 40% and

in case of all respondents it is as low as

23.98%. The highest is of course Murshidabad which is due to

the presence of the Biri industry. Biri making is, however,

hazardous to health. It is a matter of serious concern

particularly because the people in the backward villages are

generally undernourished. We have seen in Murshidabad that

the poor women sit in row outside their houses during

their leisure time to make bidis and the children

surround them. It is very likely that they will fall

easy prey to lung-related diseases.

Role of the state and Civil Society Organisations to propagate new ideas of

livelihood generation

Our field visits clearly demonstrate that in almost all the

villages there are bamboo trees. But only in one village we

found that the some villagers have the skill to make

bamboo products. This shows that both the state as well

as civil society organisations (NGOs, Krishak Sabha etc)

113

failed to understand what the specific problems of the

villages are and how alternative sources of livelihood can be

generated from locally available resources. We have not seen

(and neither have the

114

field investigators reported) any example of low cost

alternative farming or kitchen garden. Agricultural

practices are outmoded and the farmers are not aware

of appropriate seeds that might improve productivity or

reduce cost. The state’s effort is restricted to

mechanical implementation of centrally sponsored schemes. We

have discussed the performance of select schemes elsewhere in

this chapter but it may be noted here that we have not seen

any strategy of long-term development of livelihood

opportunities of the poor in the villages that we have

visited. Indeed we have even heard complaints from villagers

that they want to form SHGs but do not know how to do it.

The Local Self-Government i.e. the Panchayats and the

corresponding Government machinery need to be much more

proactive in this regard as NGOs are non-existent in the

villages, as is evident from the following table:

Table 5.4: Whether there exists any NGO inthe village

Yes No Do not knowBankura 4.1 66.62 29.19

Birbhum 0.31

82.72 16.98D. Dinajpur 0.0 81.47 18.53Murshidabad 19.98 54.23 25.79P.Medinipur 0.9

668.40 30.64

Purulia 1.80

67.92 30.28U.Dinajpur 2.5 64.43 33.05All respondents 6.0

067.00 27.00

Hence the question of CSOs doing what the state has failedto do does not arise.

Thus it can be seen that the majority of the villagers is

115

dependent on agriculture but the size of cultivable land

is small and there is hardly any supplementary source in

the form of a thriving cottage industry. Paucity of

livelihood options therefore acts as a major cause of poverty

and backwardness of the villages.

116

Insufficient irrigationfacilities

If small size of cultivable land is one of the major problems

then the other problem is dependency on monsoon and inadequate

irrigation facility. We wanted to know from the respondents

whether they get irrigation facility or not. The result is

as follows:

Table 5.5: Whether the respondents getirrigation facility or not

Yes NoBankura 17.1

882.82Birbhum 22.5

377.47D. Dinajpur 60.4

939.51Murshidabad 21.9 78.0

P.Medinipur 17.73

82.27Purulia 1.8 98.2

U.Dinajpur 6.44

93.56All respondents 18.4

581.55

Even if we assume that the error margin is 20% we get a

dismal picture. The result is shocking in case of Purulia and

Uttar Dinajpur. We next asked the respondents who have land

whether they considered the irrigation facility they

get to be sufficient or not. The result is as follows:

Table 5.6: Whether irrigation issufficient or not

Sufficient Not SufficientBankura 22.7

677.24Birbhum 23.2

976.71D. Dinajpur 42.2 57.8

Murshidabad 48.56

51.44P.Medinipur 40.2 59.7

117

Purulia 41.67

58.33U.Dinajpur 13.0 86.9

All respondents 37.5

62.5

118

The sources of irrigation in the villages include

supply through the irrigation channels constructed by

the government and the privately owned shallow

tubewells. As can be seen, in none of the sample

districts even 50% of the respondents said that they are

satisfied with the irrigation facility that is available to

them. In case of Murshidabad the result is different because

there are many big water bodies in the district. Also

Murshidabad is not a drought prone district. But the

irrigation facility being insufficient, the poor farmers

buy water from the privately owned shallow tubewells at

high price. Even there shallow tubewells are run by diesel

as electricity is yet to reach many backward villages.

All

these increase the cost of production. This becomes evident

from the following table:

Table 5.7: Whether the Household has to purchaseirrigation facility

Yes NoBankura 59.3 40.6Birbhum 65.7

534.25D. Dinajpur 97.6

92.31Murshidabad 77.8 22.1

P. Medinipur 82.61

17.39Purulia 16.6

783.33U. Dinajpur 91.3

08.70All respondents 78.2 21.7

It is found from the table above that except in

Purulia the percentage of respondents paying for

irrigation is very high. The reason why the percentage of

‘no’ is high in Purulia and Bankura is that there is not

119

many sources from which water can be purchased any way. This

indicates that marginal farmers find it very difficult to

get adequate supply of water for agriculture.

Hence it is not uncommon, as we have seen in Uttar

Dinajpur, not to cultivate or to hand over land to the

big farmers for a rent since such small-scale

agriculture is not considered viable.

Inadequate reach of Banks, Credit Cooperatives and SHG based Micro Finance

Table 5.8: Source of Credit

Moneylender

InstitutionalSources of Chit

fund Neighbours Villagers Relatives Not requird

OtherBank

CreditCooperativeSociety

SHG

Bankura 31.01

3.31

11.85

1.57

0.00

24.74

0.00

1.74

21.43

4.36Birbhum 59.3

27.20

4.66 2.54

0.00

2.97

0.00

9.75

2.54

11.02D.

Dinajpur43.61

5.25

2.30 24.26

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

20.66

3.93Murshidab

a d 63.26

9.23

6.92 3.79

0.00

3.79

0.00

0.00

9.72

3.29Paschim

Medinipur 20.56

21.18

15.26

1.87

0.00

1.87

0.00

0.00

34.27

4.98Purulia 16.2

46.27

2.95 1.48

0.00

56.46

6.64

0.00

1.48

8.49Uttar

Dinajpur 85.54

4.52

0.90 0.30

0.00

0.00

0.00

2.71

1.81

4.22All

respondents

43.64

7.71

6.71 4.35

0.00

16.59

1.23

1.43

12.85

5.54

Credit is an integral part of rural economic and social life. It is an essential component of

the agrarian economy and survival of the rural families. One of the ambitions of post colonial

India’s rural development was to reach out to the poor with low interest rate

credit through banks and credit cooperative societies.

115

116

In recent times microfinance through SHG has been seen as

another major strategy. However the data collected for

the study clearly show that the villagers are

overwhelmingly dependent on the private money lenders and

neighbours for their credit. If we look at the total

percentage for Banks, Credit Cooperative Societies and

SHG (the columns marked in grey) the answer is

18.77%. In order to understand the reach of theSHG movement in these

villages we have tried to find out whether any member of

the household is a member of an SHG or not. The result is

as follows:

Table 5.9: Whether any member of the family is amember of a SHG

Yes NoBankura 33.8

066.20Birbhum 53.4 46.6

D. Dinajpur 56.64

43.36Murshidabad 12.3

787.63P.Medinipur 21.5 78.4

Purulia 30.73

69.27U.Dinajpur 21.2

978.71All respondents 28.4

971.50

The table above shows that the percentage in Birbhum and

Dakshin Dinajpur is comparatively higher although the

percentage of families uncovered under the any kind of

SHG programme in general is quite high. This means

that the activities of the SHGs are largely restricted to

savings and taking loan is rare as is evident from the

previous table (4.35%). Taken together the above two tables

clearly show that microfinance has not yet weakened the

hold of the moneylenders. Our survey has not given a clear

117

picture of money lending rates. However our rapid appraisal

of 22 villages has shown that the minimum rate is

60% while the maximum rate is 120%. This is where the

failure of institutional credit becomes significant as

those who can get loan from Banks get it at 7%. They are

usually the well-off sections of the society and hence

the Banks are

118

interested in them. The rich therefore get credit at 7%

while the poor have to pay at least 60%.

Low income – expenditurelevel

Any data on income or expenditure of a household

cannot be completely reliable. Hence in addition to

questions on income and expenditure we asked some proxy

questions regarding material of the roof, fuel for cooking

and how many full-meals the villagers get. The assumption

is that if the picture of the villages generated by

these proxy indicators is consistent with the level

of income and expenditure shown by the more direct

questions then it would mean that the statement

regarding the income and expenditure is fairly

accurate. The detailed tables for the Proxy Questions have

been presented in the previous chapter. It may be recalled

that the majority of the houses have roofs built with

straw, or tin with straw being the majority. This indicates

that the villagers do not have the resource to build a

pucca house. The increasing use of tin in the backward

villages in recent times can be attributed to the

realisation that it has greater longevity than straw

and thus become cost effective. Our interaction with

the villagers in course of focus group discussion

has also revealed that the villagers prefer to buy

tin, even if it involves greater expenditure

initially. The fact that 47.39 % continue to have straw

houses show that they are unable to make the investment

119

needed for building a tin roof.

Similarly the data on fuel used for cooking presented in

the previous chapter, the majority of the respondents

use cow dung or dry leaves or wood for cooking

which is indicative of their low income status. It

should be clarified that the use of dry leaves is a part

of the tradition of cooking in many of the villages. The

dry leaves are also available free of cost in

terms of the

120

government order in the areas where the Forest Protection

Committees are in existence. In some cases however the

women of the households have to travel far to collect the

dry leaves. This adds to their burden. Let us now consider

the data on income and expenditure. It is as follows:

Table 5.10: Monthly family income andexpenditure

Range of

Monthly family

income (Rs)

and

expenditure

No. of

respondents

showing

income

% No. of

responden

ts

showing

expenditu

%

1 < 500 80 2.09 0 0.00

2 500 - 1000 1908 50.01 1887 49.46

3 1000- 1500 997 26.13 971 25.45

4 1500 - 2000 382 10.01 395 10.35

5 2000 - 2500 145 3.80 229 6.00

6 > 2500 0 0.00 69 1.80

7 Other 254 6.65 206 5.39

8 No data 49 1.28 60 1.28

Total 3815 100 3815 100

The data in the table reveal that the majority of the

respondents earns and spends between Rs 500 and Rs

1500.

The sorry state of affairs presented above may be further

illustrated if we try to understand how many full meals the

respondents get. The result is as follows:

121

Table 5.11: Number of full meals family members get in a day

District No mealOnemeal

Two meals

Three meal

Fourmeals

OtherBankura 0.28 26.12 52.65 15.92 3.77 1.26Birbhum 0.00 8.33 79.63 8.95 0.00 3.09D. Dinajpur 0.00 43.01 56.99 0.00 0.00 0.00Murshidabad 0.21 18.08 67.02 7.82 0.00 6.87P.Medinipur 0.00 7.90 74.37 8.48 0.00 9.25Purulia 0.00 10.49 80.81 6.45 0.00 2.25U.Dinajpur 0.00 22.13 76.47 0.00 0.00 1.40All respondents

0.10 18.29 68.93 7.96 0.70 3.98

Our field experience suggests that poor people do

not always answer this question properly and tend to say

“two” or “three” even when they actually get one as they

feel shy of talking the hard truth about it.

Nonetheless it is interesting to note that 18.29% of the

households have said that they get only one meal per day.

During our field visits we tried to understand exactly what

a

‘ meal’ consist of. The answer is that the villagersusually eat only fermented

rice with water (paanta bhaat) and occasionally with some

pulses and some vegetables. This is, needless to say,

not likely to give the villagers adequate nutrition for

performing labour-intensive work for long hours. The lack

of nutritious diet leads to anemia and makes the villagers

disease-prone. Despite all these the poor villagers have to

toil hard for mere survival.

The income – expenditure figures can be best understood if

we locate them in the context of the family size. We see

122

that family size is around 5- 6 members per family (see

chapter on introducing the respondents for details). Thus

for a family of five to six the average income is

mostly around Rs 500-1500 per month. We may also note

that 2763 out of 3815 respondents, i.e. 72.42% of the

respondents have reported that they have no money to save.

123

These figures indicate low level of income of the

respondents who have to work hard for survival. Our field

visits have shown that those who have been able to migrate,

especially outside Bengal have occasionally managed to

increase the income level of the family but the rest are

able to barely survive on the basis of seasonal migration

to more developed regions of the state, such as, Bardhaman

or Hoogly. The current situation in these villages

clearly shows that land reform and decentralization

have not generated pro-poor economic growth in all the

areas of the state.

Illiteracy

Education is now an accepted indicator of poverty and lack

of human development and hence we have considered it

to be an important cause of backwardness of these

villages.

Let us consider the results from the survey. The break up

of educational qualification of the respondents is as

follows:

Table 5.12: Educational Qualification ofthe respondents

Educational qualification

No. Percentage

1 Cannot read and is not able to sign

2099

55.012 Only able to sign 44 1.15

124

3 Can read and is able to sign

697 18.124 Didn’t complete

primary education

(Class I to III)

9 0.23

125

5 Completed primary education

(Class IV)

323 8.46

6 Between Class V to Class VII

25 0.657 Completed Class VIII 255 6.688 Passed Madhyamik 152 3.989 Appeared in Madhyamik but

failed

47 1.23

10 Passed H.S. 41 1.0711 Graduate 32 0.8312 Masters Degree 4 0.1013 Data not clear 87 2.28Total 381

5100

To reiterate, our sample was chosen through systematic

random sampling and the only specification that we gave

regarding respondents is that they have to be adults

(18+). Hence there is a fair chance of the level of

illiteracy being representative. It is evident from the

table above that 55.01% of the respondents belong to the

category of ‘cannot read and is not able to sign’ or in

other words are completely illiterate. The field visits,

without much exception, revealed for instance, that the

Continuing Education Centres, Village Education Centres and

the SSKs are almost non-existent in the villages.

Interestingly in many villages the outer walls of the

schools contain the slogan and motto of Sarva Shiksha

Aviyaan (SSA) but there is little evidence of

implementing the spirit of the campaign. Our survey

reveals that in Murshidabad district, for instance, 63.7%

126

of the respondents say that they do not have an adult

education centre in the villages while 64% of them say

that there is no VEC in the village. No less

important, 73% of the respondents have not heard of the

Shikhya O Swasthya

127

Upasamity. The percentages for the same items in Dakshin

Dinajpur and Uttar Dinajpur are 76.9 and 72.2 ( lack of

adult education centres) respectively, 79.6 and 54.2 (lack

of VECs) and 87.7 and 82.9 (lack of Shikshya O Swasthya

Upasamity) respectively. While there is no dearth of

government schemes to attack illiteracy and ensure primary

education the percentage indicates the deficiency or the

failure of the functionaries to effectively implement them

and more importantly, sustain them.

Having seen the data on the over all literacy level, let

us consider the literacy level of the female respondents.

There were in all 808 female respondents in our survey. The

educational qualifications of them are presented in the

table below:

Table 5.13: Educational Qualification of thefemale respondents

Educational Qualification No. Percentage

1 Cannot read and is notable to sign 610 75.4

2 Can read and is able to 103 12.73 Has completed primary

education(Class IV)

31 3.84 Completion of intermediate

(Class 17 2.15 Completed Madhyamik

Examination 7 0.866 Appeared in Madhyamik

Examination 4 0.47 Passed H.S. 0 08 Other 32 3.99 No data 4 0.4

9

128

TOTAL 808 100

It can be seen that a staggering 75.49% of the respondents areilliterate.

129

Thus our examination of socio-economic roots indicate

that the villagers are trapped in an economy that is

based on small-landholding based agriculture, where

irrigation is inadequate and expensive, where the money

lender remains powerful, where the income-expenditure

level is low and majority of the villagers are

illiterate. In other words the root of backwardness

lies in the absence of capitalist/state-led modernization

of the economy.

Inadequate Health Facility and High Expenditure onHealthcare

The State and Central government has since independence in

1947 has built up a huge infrastructure of state-

sponsored health service for the poor in rural areas.

In West Bengal there is a separate Department of

Health and Family Welfare for delivery of health

services which runs state sponsored health facilities

from the GP to the district level. There are Sub-centres,

Health Centres, Subdivisional Hospitals and District

Hospitals. Apart from this under the Integrated Child

Development Scheme, all children upto 5 years of age are

provided nutrition through the anganwadi centres. Then

again various international donor agencies such as UNICEF

are also trying to improve immunization of the children.

Several NGOs such as Child In Need Institute and West

Bengal Voluntary Health Association in West Bengal are

trying to improve the health situation of the villages.

130

This has no doubt resulted in substantial improvement of

the situation at the state level over the years but in our

study villages we found that the health situation is

remarkably bad. Let us look at some important features.

131

Table 5.14: Diseases in the respondent families

Type of disease

Percentage15

for all

members

Percentage for children

1 Fever 48.71

10.442 Diorrhoea 40.2

465.533 Measles - 11.824 Breathing

trouble- 7.1

55 Philera 00.57

-

6 Malaria 4.77

0.247 T.B. 1.6

7-

8 Jaundice 0.59

0.599 Other 2.7

74.24

It can be seen from the above table that Fever and

Diarrohoea are the two most common diseases while the

incidence of tuberculosis has gone down

remarkably. This shows success of the DOTS programme. Even

the incidence of malaria, the traditional scourge of the

countryside of Bengal, has gone down with the exception

of Purulia where 20% of the respondents have identified

Malaria is a common disease in the village. On the other

hand common diseases like fever (usually Influenza,

‘jwar’ in Bengali) continue to create a nagging problem

for the poor. These diseases are usually waterborne

and we have found from our field visits that although

there are tube wells in the villages, the surrounding area

is poorly maintained which results in contamination. In

cases where a well is the primary source of drinking water

we have not come across a single incident where the well

was covered. When we asked the villagers why is it that

132

they have not covered it themselves we found that their

expectation is

that the Government/state would do it. This showsa somewhat negative

15 The sum total of the percentages is more than 100%.This is because several respondents mentioned more than one disease.

133

impact of the socialist model of development where the

state has taken the responsibility of almost all

development needs of the poor resulting in

excessive dependence on the state.

Table 5.15: Preference of HealthService Provider

Type of health service provider

Percentage1 Hospital 45.962 Sub centre 12.233 Private Doctor 5.204 Quack Doctor 35.215 Take care ourselves 0.496 Other 0.88Total 100

The above table shows that the villagers have very little

trust in the sub-centre which was created with the idea

that basic medicine would be provided to the rural poor

from a centre which is close to their village. However we

can see that the choice of the villagers is either to take

the patient to the Hospital or to take them to the quack

doctor.

Table 5.16: Person responsible forchild delivery

Type of health service provider

Percentage

1 Midwife 49.492 Midwife (with formal training) 3.073 Neighbour 9.20

4 Family members 11.635 Auxiliary Nurse & Maid 11.61

6 Doctor 0.217 Hospital 12.85

134

8 Quack Doctor 0.19

9 Other 0.19Total 100

135

In case of child birth it is clear that the state

supported system is not able to reach the poor. The

traditional practice of midwife is preferred by nearly 50%

and neighbours and family members constitute another 20%.

The fact that 20% of the child births are not done by even

traditional midwives is quite alarming. During our field

visits we came to know that there are occasions when

getting a midwife becomes difficult and the job of

delivering a child has to be done by a completely untrained

person. Awareness regarding schemes such as Janani Suraksha

Yojana for safety of pregnant mothers is also lacking.

Table 5.17: Distance of PrimaryHealth Centre

Distance of the PrimaryHealth

Centr

Percentage

1 0-2 km 22.762 2-5 km 29.623 5-7 km 18.094 > 7 km 29.51Total 100

We wanted to know from our respondents how far the Primary

Health Centre is from the village. As the table above shows

in nearly 30% case the distance is more than 7 km. It is to

be borne in mind that the condition of the road is very

often quite bad which makes traveling that distance

difficult.

136

Table 5.18: Whether there is any ICDS centre in the village

Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 53.50 46.50

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 65.03 34.97

3 Murshidabad 66.49 33.51

4 Birbhum. 25.00 75.00

5 Purulia 76.76 23.24

6 Bankura 60.61 36.88

7 Paschim Medinipur 72.25 27.75

All 63.12 36.88

Table 5.18.1: Whether the Aanganwadi worker comes regularly ornot

Yes No Don’t Know

1 Uttar Dinajpur 75.39 14.14 10.47

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 91.94 1.64 6.45

3 Murshidabad 86.47 6.84 6.68

4 Birbhum. 75.31 0.00 24.69

5 Purulia 90.23 5.86 3.91

6 Bankura 81.11 10.37 8.53

7 Paschim Medinipur 92.53 5.86 3.91

All 86.42 6.56 7.02

Similarly we tried to find out whether there is any ICDS

Centre in the village. It can be seen that the result is

moderately positive. However in most districts and in

many villages we found that there are equal number of

137

people saying

138

‘yes’ and ‘no’. Thus in order to ascertain in which

villages there is no ICDS centre we tried to find out the

number of villages in case of which at least 80% of the

respondents have said ‘No’. We have found that in 21 out of

92 villages (22.82%) at least 80% of the respondents have

said that there is no ICDS Centre in the village. We assume

that this means there is either no ICDS centre in the

village or the ICDS coverage is not enough for the village.

We have seen that in case of certain big villages there are

ICDS centres but not in every para. Thus we can say that the

reach of the programme is not adequate.

Table 5.19: Monthly Expenditureon Health

Monthly expenditure onHealth

(Rs

Percentage

1 0 -50

13.572 50 -

10024.633 100 -

20024.634 200

+19.975 No

data1.44Tota

l100

We wanted to know from our respondents what the monthly

expenditure on health is. As the table shows, nearly 20%

of the respondents spend more than Rs 200/- per month.

Around 50% spend between Rs 50/- to Rs 200/-. This table

needs to be compared with the table earlier presented in

the chapter where we have shown that the average monthly

income is less than Rs 2000/- for 88% of the respondents.

Thus we can see that in spite of an elaborate state

139

sponsored free health care system the villagers have to

spend a substantial amount of their earning on health care.

This reduces their potential to save and generate asset.

140

Having studied the human development factors

contributing to the backwardness of the study

villages, it seems useful to now consider whether any

particular social group can be identified

with the narrative of backwardness.

The Scheduled Tribes: A case of social exclusion

Scheduled Tribes constitute 5.5% of the population of West

Bengal but it is now widely accepted that their situation

is much worse than that of the Scheduled Castes. Hence it

is worthwhile to examine the data related to Scheduled

Tribes and Backward Villages.

Table 5. 20: No. of Backward Villages with morethan 50% ST

District Total BV

No. of

BVs with

>50% ST

% % of ST

in the

districts1 Bankura 569 190 33.39

10. 36

2 Bardhaman 55 21 38.18

06.413 Birbhum 218 89 40.8

206.744 D. Dinajpur 185 76 41.0

816.125 Darjeeling 85 49 57.6

412. 69

6 Haora 4 0 00.00

0.457 Hugli 21 2 09.5

204.218 Jalpaiguri 79 58 73.4

118.879 Koch Bihar 26 1 03.8

40.5710 Malda 602 188 31.2

216.8411 Medinipur 646 395 61.4

5P.

Medinipur

– 14.87;

E.

Medinipur12 Murshidabad 242 17 07.24

1.29

141

13 Nadia 59 1 01.69

2.47

142

14 N24P 2 0 00.00

2.2315 Purulia 994 342 34.0

618.2716 S24P 66 1 01.5

11.2317 U. Dinajpur 760 43 05.6

55.11State 4612 147

431.96

5.50Source: Census 2001, Human Development Profiles 2007,

GoWB and UNDP

It can be seen from the above table that 31.96% of the

backward villages have more than 50% ST population. It is

also found from the above table that ST majority backward

villages are concentrated in Jalpaiguri, Medinipur,

Purulia, Darjeeling, D. Dinajpur, Bardhaman and Bankura.

Malda also has a reasonably good percentage of ST majority

‘backward villages’. Thus among the districts which have

a significant number of backward villages only

Murshidabad (Muslim majority district) and Uttar Dinajpur

have low percentage of ST population.

The social composition of the respondents is shownin the table below:

Table 5.21: Social Composition of the Respondents

Caste

No. of respondents

Percentage State

Percenta1 Scheduled Caste 1070

28.04

23.02

2 Scheduled Tribe16

1140

29.88

5.503 Other Backward

Classes

149 3.90

NA

4 General 441 11.55

NA

Muslim 1015

26.60

25.25

Total 3815

99.97

-

143

16 STs include both Hindus as well as Christians in terms of religion.

144

Clearly even though the respondents were chosen through

systematic random sampling which means that there was

equal probability of all castes to be a respondent, 30

% of the respondents have turned out to be ST although

the state average for ST is only 5.50%. Thus the Scheduled

Tribes are particularly disadvantaged and there is a clear

co-relation between backwardness of these villages and the

presence of backward tribes.

Having seen that a particular social category, the

Scheduled Tribes, have significant concentration in the

backward villages let us now try to see whether there is

any definite geographical pattern in this regard.

II.Geographical

roots of

backwardnes

s

It has been

pointed out

earlier in the report

that backward

villages are

spread in all

districts of the

state. It is

however not possible

to pin-point in

145

a map each and

every backward

village. We have

therefore opted for

an indicative

map (Map 1). We

present here the

location of

Map 1. Blocks with at least 10Backward Villages

146

all the blocks which have at least ten backward villages.

It can be seen that there exists a clear positive

correlation between adverse geographical condition and

concentration of backward villages. The map clearly shows

that uneven development has unfortunately generated two

West Bengals - one that is relatively prosperous and

the other that is backward. Thus we may conclude that

‘backwardness’ is structural rather than accidental.

We may also point out here that we have tested a hypothesis

that the backward villages are located far away from the

District or Block or GP headquarters. In other words,

their backwardness is a result of their remoteness. Our

survey experience has however proved otherwise. There

are backward villages both near as well as far away from

the backward villages.

III. Local roots of BackwardnessIn this section we take up certain examples of specific

factors that explain the backwardness of certain regions

within the overall structural explanation presented above.

We present them in the form of case studies of

certain villages. But in order to explain the story of

these villages, in two cases out of three, we also include

discussions held at the Block Office and the GP Office.

CASE 1: BACKWARDNESS AND FLOOD

147

Khargram Block in Murshidabad district consists of 128

villages of which 22 are declared backward villages. There

are 12 GPs in the Block. Total population of the Block is

234715, out of which 59315 are SC and 3268 are ST. The

discussion with the BDO, the Joint BDO, the Block Relief

Officer, Sub Assistant Engineer

148

and Sabhapati who is a member of CPI (M) Party,

may be summarised as follows:

Election duty and flood relief duty eat up much of the

time of the Block officials hampering genuine

development work.

Incidence of corruption ison the rise.

The Block/Panchayat Samity can never raise its voice

vis-à-vis the district and there is no grievance

redressal mechanism.

The biggest problem that the Block faces almost

every year is flood which affects 160 Mouzas

approximately. 7 GPs remain completely submerged till

November and 3 remain partially submerged.

Lot of time was also taken up by endless numberof meetings which

reduce the time available fordevelopment work.

On March 22, 2007 we reached the Sadal GP office

accompanied by the B.D.O of Khargram. There we could

interact with the Panchayat Pradhan, Ati-ul Rahman and a

few key functionaries. Along with them some villagers

actively involved in the SRD work were also present on

the spot, who also enlightened us on certain important

issues and problems.

According to the information provided by them there are 13villages in the said

GP of which 10 are listedbackward villages.

The highlights of the discussion held at the GramPanchayat are given below:

149

In the perception of the Panchayat members the most

acute problem of the entire GP every year is the

overflowing of river Dwarka that leads to flooding of

the 7 out of the 10 backward villages. The

rest of the 3 backward villages are, however,

partly affected (with about 75% of the areas being

submerged).The backward village of Sankarpur

(sample village for our survey) falls under the second

category. The 11 k.m. long embankment on the river

Dwarka, according to them, has failed to

150

prevent the floods. Repeated written complaints lodged

to the Irrigation Department for the improvement of

the drainage system have also remained unheard.

Due to the heavy rainfall resulting in flood the

reliance on Bodo (winter paddy) cultivation is more

than that on the Aman (paddy cultivation in the rainy

season). Hence, even in fertile land only one crop is

possible. Aman cultivation involves risks.

All the backward villages within the said GP were

located at an average distance of about 4k.ms which

indicates their easy accessibility. Again out of a

total road length of about 42k.ms, only 19k.ms

of roads are unmetalled kuchcha roads, the rest being

either pucca or semi-pucca. Almost all the villages

except for one have telephone facilities. Almost the

entire GP area is electrified except for just 4

backward villages.

In course of the conversation it came out that most ofthe residents of the

GP are agricultural labourers. But due to the regular

occurance of floods every year, agriculture fails

to ensure the availability of food for the

people throughout the year. Therefore, many people

migrate to places such as Bardhaman and

Birbhum to be engaged as agricultural

labourers. Some of them also migrate to far-off

places like Mumbai and Moradabad between July and

November in search of work. Others, however, work

locally either as rickshaw-pullers or as fishermen.

Information gathered on the educational system

provides us with a mixed picture. While primary

151

schools and SSKs are present in almost all the

villages in the GP, the high drop-out rates and low

enrolment rates in the backward villages do not create

much hope.

Health scenario too is no better because of the

inadequate number of primary health centres and

doctors.Although the presence of NGOs, SHGs and ICDS centrescan be found in

many villages within the said GP, much remains to bedone in respect of

152

building up the general level of awareness

of the people and empowering them to face all

social and economic odds.

The different Government sponsored schemes meant for

the poor such as the NREGS, PROFLAL, NOAPS and

Tribal Pension schemes have failed to reach the

target groups. Only IAY and the AAY schemes seem to

have been helpful to them.

The ration dealers are creating problem by keepingwith them the ration

cards for thebeneficiaries.

In the opinion of the GP members and the Panchayat

Pradhan one of the most glaring problems that result

in social as well as economic backwardness of the

entire GP is child marriage and trafficking in

women.

Village Sankarpur

Sankarpur is a densely populated village with the total

population being 794, (4073 men and 3868 women). It is

predominantly a minority village with 94% of the total

population being Muslims. Our semi-structured interviews,

group discussions and non-participant observations may be

briefly summarised as follows:

The village is well-connected to the GP office by a semi-

pucca (morum) road. Availability of drinking water is

facilitated by tube-wells. The village is found to have

153

telephone as well as mobile phone facilities. Parts of the

village do not have electricity.

A large part of the village has cultivable land

(about 290 acres). However, owing to the lack of

adequate irrigation facilities, only single-cropping can

be

154

practiced. Due to the occurrence of floods Aman (the

monsoon crop) is not cultivated by poor farmers and Bodo

(the winter crop) is heavily relied upon.

The overall health scenario is far from satisfactory.

There is no health centre in the village. Except for only

one quack doctor there is no doctor in the village who

has a MBBS degree. Fever and diorrhoea are common diseases

among the villagers. The nearest health centre is the

Khargram Hospital which is quite far away.

Due to the lack of general public awareness of health and

hygiene, none of the houses have toilet facilities. But

different SHG group members in the village are taking

initiatives for generating sanitary awareness among the

masses living in the area.

There is only one primary school in the village. Mid-day

meals are provided to the children. There are 2 SSKs but

no high school there. Interestingly there is not even a

Madrasa. However, very little could be known about the

quality of education imparted and the quality of food

supplied to the children under the mid-day meal scheme.

Despite the existence of twenty two Grade-1 SHGs and an

NGO in the area, people are still lagging far behind in

respect of their political awareness for want of proper

education. We have gathered from the local people that

the NGOs are not actively involved in developmental

tasks. The members of the SHGs strongly feel the need

155

for proper governmental aid and training in necessary

skills for the upliftment of the village economy.

156

People are found to have little information about the

different govt. schemes for poverty eradication. Therefore,

very often the benefits fail to reach the targeted groups.

The above narrative is a fairly typical one and does not

make the case unique. Nonetheless they need to be told as

they give us a snapshot of the development related problems

of the village. What we have found in course of our field

work is that the central problem of the village does not

lie within the village but in the nearby river. When we

went to see the river we saw that the situation has been

aggravated by heavy silting which has made the bed of the

river shallow. There is also the problem of channeling the

excess water and this is intensifying flood every year.

The other side of the river falls under

another block and hence the Khargram block officials are

unable to cut a channel through a part of that Block in

order to reduce the load. There are land disputes because

of which land cannot be acquired for creating

channels. Apart from the physical devastation done by

it the flood also destroys the principal paddy crop and

this results in heavy indebtedness of the people in the

hand of the moneylenders. This creates a vicious circle

of poverty from which there is almost no escape. Those

who are able to migrate during the monsoon months are

relatively better off and are able to cope with the crisis

of livelihood options. Migration thus is a fairly common

phenomenon in the village. People migrate to districts like

Murshidabad but also to far away places like Bombay and

Moradabad.

157

It is this flood problem which lies at the centre

of all the problems of the villages in this Block

and this makes the case unique. Introduction of more

schools or adding an ICDS centre is not going to

solve the problem of Khargram until and unless the

problem of flood is solved.

158

CASE 2: A CASE OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION OF TRIBALS

The exclusion of tribals is a known feature of India’s

development narrative since 1947. Strikingly despite the

reservation of seats in the political bodies like the

Panchayats it continues unabated. On a hot summer

day we reached Murarai I Block Office in Birbhum

District to discuss the problems of the backward

villages. The major outcomes from the Focus Group

Discussion which took place at the Block Office with BDO,

PDO and other Block officials are as follows:

The backwardness of the backward villages can be

attributed to the inability on part of the villagers

of these villages or their representatives to claim

the benefits they are entitled to.

Lack of good roads prevents regular visit of the

officials to the villages. There is no alternative to

agriculture but agriculture also is not adequate to

provide livelihood.

Majority of the backward people are Scheduled Tribes.

Implementation of schemes is ad hoc. The solution

lies in the creation of holistic plans for the block.

From the block office we reached the Mohurapur Gram

Panchayat in the after noon. This Gram Panchayat is

located only a few kilometers from Jharkhand State. The

GP office is 7-10 kms from the Block Office. Mahurapur GP

consists of 15 villages out of which 8 are listed as

backward villages. It has a total population of

24,148, out of which 12436 are male and 11712 are female.

159

It has a SC population of 8407 and ST population of 4358.

The number of children of 0-6 years is 4361, out of which

2224 are male and 2137 female.

Being an agricultural area, rice is the main crop

cultivated here. Some amount of wheat and mustard are also

grown. Irrigation facility is not available. Land is

160

cultivated only once. People of this GP are mainly

agricultural labourers .They also works in ‘khadans’

(stone quarries). People generally migrate in the

months of February and July to the Bardhaman district. In

the NREGS out of 47 beneficiaries, out of which 12 are from

backward villages and 35 are from non- backward villages.

.

Mahurapur GP has 39 km roads, out of which 28 kms are

semi-pucca roads, and 6 kms are kuccha road. There

are no villages with full electrification. Number of

villages with partial electrification is 25 and out

of 8 backward villages, 5 backward villages have partial

electricity.

There are 125 deep tubewells, out of which 77 are in

non- backward villages and 48 are in backward villages.

But only 4% of the villagers have toilet facility. There

are only 2 villages with telephone facility. Out of 8

backward villages only one has telephone facility. Again,

there are 34 villages with no telephone connection.

Our Focus Group Discussion with the Panchayat members

and functionaries revealed the following issues which have

been clubbed under two broad heads

– infrastructure and humandevelopment:

Infrastructure:

Irrigation: There is no irrigation facility available

in this GP. Though it is an agricultural area, but

161

agricultural activities depend upon rain.

Communication: Majority of roads are semi-pucca or

kuccha roads and there is no pucca road in this

GP. Thus there is gave communication problem.

Internal communication is also under developed

and no rickshaw or van is available.

162

HumanDevelopment:

Employment: There are no factories and industries.

The people of this GP depend upon agriculture which

in turn again mainly depends upon rain. The other

option is to work in Khadan which in the long run

is injurious to their health.

Illiteracy: It is another major problem in this GP,including the backward

villages. It leads to lack of confidence resulting in

the inability to express their demands. It also breeds

a ‘culture of silence’.

Health facilities: Health facilities are not at

all adequate. The most frequent disease in this GP

is ‘kalajar’ .There is no Primary Health Centre in this GP

and there are only 4 health sub- centres. Thus they

have some access to health facilities but in the case

of severe health problems the situation is worse.

Interestingly, all 8 backward villages are inhabited by

Scheduled Tribes. The GP officials, who were non-ST,

thinks that the “inherent characteristics” of the

tribals were responsible for their backwardness. 17 This

reflects the mindset of at least some people engaged in the

process of development.

From the GP office we next visited a village named

Mukudapur. Mukandpur Mouza includes Simulguri village

which has 2 parts Ucchu Para and Nichu Para. It has a

population of 460, out of which 239 are male and 221 are

female. This village is mainly inhabited by ST [ Santhals]

163

for years.

The village mostly consists of mud houses with straw and

tin roofs. The roads are kuchcha. Agricultural land is

not fertile and stony. We did not see any

example of kitchen garden in the village although thereare lots of vacant land

17 This approach is uncannily similar to the way the officials of the colonial state used to characterize ‘criminal tribes’ or ‘bad characters’.

164

in the village. Water scarcity is acute and there is only

one pond which was almost dried up.

The following problems were identified

in the village: Roads are

unmetalled kuccha roads.

There is no electricity in the village, though two electric posts and some

wires are found. It was pointed out that

wires are stolen by some villagers.

Drinking water is scarce - only one tubewell is found

to be working. Health facility is very poor, as there

is neither any Primary Health Centre nor any Health

Sub Centre. There is no quack or trained doctor.

Lack of awareness is another major problem of thevillagers of this

Mouza. The villagers hardly have any knowledge of

various government schemes.

Lack of political accountability is another notable

feature of this GP. The representatives of the people

do not frequent the areas under their jurisdiction.

Addiction to alcoholic products like‘mohua’

and ‘hariya’ is major problem of the villagers of

this GP.

The villagers are overwhelming dependent on moneylenders for credit.

What was most striking about the villagers was their total

cynicism regarding the development role of the Gram

Panchayat. Migration is widespread. NREGS is yet to gather

momentum. We saw that NREGS related excavation of pond

has been stopped in the village because of some unknown

165

reason. When we asked a householder whether he has got

some work from NREGS he replied rather sarcastically –

“Oi du-tin din peyechi” (Yes, for two-three days). It

is difficult for us to convey in a research report the

sense of gloom, alienation and despondency that we saw in

the village.

166

Case 3: A backward para within a developedvillage

Chakuparsol village is situated in Belsulia GP of Bishnupur

Block in Purulia. It is a large village consisting of

18 paras, mostly inhabited by Muslims. The Village has

striking signs of prosperity - two-three storied houses, a

number of shops, extensive vegetable cultivation (which is

expensive) and so forth. There are 3 primary schools, 3

ICDS centres and the main road is a well-constructed moram

road. Double cropping, namely – Aman and Boro are widely

practiced. There are 18- 20 SHGs in the village. The only

missing element of development was proper health facility.

The Sachib of the Gram Unnayan Samity had a dominating

presence in the discussion. The Sachib, an elderly

Muslim with long beard, lives in a two storied house.

We had to exercise considerable effort to ensure that the

other villagers would take part in the discussion. It

came out from discussion that there is one para where

primarily Scheduled Tribes live. That para was at one end

of the village. None of the villagers present were ready

to accompany us in our visit to the para.

On reaching the para we found the usual visual image of a

backward village. The houses were dilapidated with old

tiles on the roof. The para is mostly inhabited by

Scheduled Tribes but it also has two Brahmin

families. The villagers told us a story that is very

167

different from the story that we heard in the developed

part of the village. The Sachib had told us that there

is no money lender in the village. What we found is that

the villagers of the poor para take loan from the

moneylenders of the developed paras of that village. They

also work as labourers for the prosperous villagers. It

was also found that some

168

villagers were yet to get patta for their land. We saw only

one tube well for the entire para which results is

scarcity of drinking water. The children have to walk

quite a distance in order to reach their school which

incidentally was not in the village itself.

IV. Information Gap regarding anti-poverty schemes

One of our hypotheses for the study was that the people

living in the backward villages are not aware of the

various anti-poverty schemes that the Government has

introduced over the last decade or so. Some of them who are

aware of the schemes do not know enough details to

take advantage of them or to collectively fight for

their rights. In our questionnaire we chose to test how

far the respondents are familiar with the names of

certain schemes and also whether they believed that

they know who exactly can be the beneficiaries of the

schemes. The result of the survey is as follows:

Table 5.22: Familiaritywith AAY

Yes NoBankura 69.1

330.87Birbhum 34.8 65.1

D. Dinajpur 58.39

41.61Murshidabad 43.1 56.8

P. Medinipur 43.16

56.84Purulia 26.0

973.91U. Dinajpur 18.2 81.7

All respondents 43.14

56.85

169

Table 5.22. 1: Familiarity with eligibility criteria of AAY

Yes NoBankura 49.0 50.9Birbhum 55.7

544.25D. Dinajpur 58.6 41.3

Murshidabad 64.46

35.54P. Medinipur 69.2

030.80Purulia 66.0

933.91U. Dinajpur 56.9 43.0

All respondents 59.17

40.82

It can be seen that there is a vast degree of

difference among the districts regarding their awareness

level related to Annapurna and Antyodyaya Yojana. In

Bankura and Dakshin Dinajpur more than 50% of the

respondents are familiar with the schemes but in all

other districts the percentage in less than

50%. It is quite alarmingly low in Purulia (26.09%) andUttar Dinajpur (18.21%).

The awareness level of the respondents drops below 50% in

case of the second question – the eligibility criteria.

Once again Purulia and Uttar Dinajpur have shown the worst

results, with Birbhum also in the less than 20% category.

Table 5.23: Whether heard of NOAPS – the old agepension scheme

Yes NoBankura 46.0

953.91Birbhum 38.8 61.1

D. Dinajpur 75.52

24.48Murshidabad 36.5 63.4

P.Medinipur 44.51

55.49Purulia 23.0 76.9

170

U.Dinajpur 31.93

68.07All respondents 39.7

660.23

171

Table 5.23.1: Whether familiar with the eligibility criteria of NOAPS

Yes NoBankura 59.7 40.3Birbhum 77.7

822.22D. Dinajpur 56.4

843.52Murshidabad 66.4

733.53P.Medinipur 68.8

331.17Purulia 83.7 16.2

U.Dinajpur 60.53

39.47All respondents 66.1 33.1

In the case of NOAPs the awareness level of Dakshin

Dinajpur is quite high (75%). The situation is quite

dismal elsewhere, with Purulia and Uttar Dinajpur once

again showing the worst degree of concern. In case of the

second question the percentage drops significantly but

Purulia and Uttar Dinajpur are the worst performers.

Table 5.24: Whether heard of IndiraAbas Yojana

Yes NoBankura 68.0 31.9Birbhum 54.3

245.68D. Dinajpur 82.8 17.1

Murshidabad 53.70

46.30P.Medinipur 69.7 30.2

Purulia 47.23

52.77U.Dinajpur 78.9 21.0

All respondents 62.04

37.95

172

Table 5.24.1: Whether familiar with the eligibility criteria of IAY

Yes NoBankura 60.1 39.8Birbhum 73.3

026.70D. Dinajpur 57.3 42.6

Murshidabad 60.63

39.37P.Medinipur 43.9

256.08Purulia 88.8

911.11U.Dinajpur 52.1 47.8

All respondents 61.34

38.65

It can be seen that the awareness level regarding IAY is

clearly quite high with all but one district scoring more

than 50%. Unlike the previous two cases, Uttar Dinajpur

has shown a very high level of awareness regarding

this scheme. Purulia lags behind.

Our field visits corroborate the findings that have

been generated by the survey. Indira Awas Yojana is

a popular scheme but we have received complaint of

corruption. In one FGD in Murshidabad the villagers

point out that the beneficiary gets Rs 20,000/- instead

of Rs.25,000/- and the remaining Rs.5,000/- goes as

bribe. On the other hand, one Pradhan in Uttar Dinajpur

told us that the government should stop IAY as only few

of the beneficiaries came under its fold while the demand

is huge. This, according to him, leads to misunderstanding

and discontent.

173

Table 5.25: Whether familiar with PROFLAL

Yes NoBankura 8.1 91.9Birbhum 12.0

487.96D. Dinajpur 6.6 93.3

Murshidabad 8.99

91.01P.Medinipur 20.6

279.38Purulia 1.5

098.50U.Dinajpur 3.6 96.3

All respondents 8.67

91.32

Table 5.25.1: Whether familiar with the eligibility criteria of PROFLAL

Yes NoBankura 36.2

163.79Birbhum 69.2 30.7

D. Dinajpur 36.84

63.16Murshidabad 47.0 52.9

P.Medinipur 24.30

75.70Purulia 50.0

050.00U.Dinajpur 38.4

661.54All respondents 39.5 60.4

The result indicates that very few people know about

PROFLAL. Only Paschim Medinipur has recorded a score of

more than 20%. Our field visits corroborate the findings

from the survey. In all the districts that we visited

PROFLAL is almost unknown. The relatively higher

percentage in case of Paschim Medinipur is because

of high awareness level in Sankrail (63.64), Garbeta III

(40.00), Chandrakona II (50.00) and Binpur II (54.55).

Binpur is located near Kharagpur and hence the awareness

level in the region is high. The remaining Blocks are in

the relatively more prosperous areas adjoining Hoogly

district which is know for massive potato farming.

174

We have next tried to understand the awareness level

regarding NREGS. The results are as follows:

175

Table 5.26: Whether any member of the family has received job card for

WBREGS

Yes NoBankura 77.7

922.21Birbhum 89.5 10.4

D. Dinajpur 82.52

17.48Murshidabad 60.6

839.32P.Medinipur 74.5

725.43Purulia 77.2 22.7

U.Dinajpur 84.31

15.69All respondents 74.9 25.0

Table 5.26.1: Whether anyone has received job

Yes NoBankura 25.7 74.3Birbhum 74.0

725.93D. Dinajpur 56.6 43.3

Murshidabad 24.84

75.16P.Medinipur 31.4 68.5

Purulia 39.73

60.27U.Dinajpur 55.7

444.26All respondents 50 50

Unlike PROFLAL one finds a very high degree of awareness

about WBREGS. The performance is the worst in Murshidabad

while Birbhum has done the best. However it can be seen

that there is a huge gap between those who have

received job card and those who have actually got work.

Our field visits have shown that WBREGS is extremely

popular everywhere but the villagers are not generally

aware that they have to apply for job card and getting a

176

job is their right. The Gram Panchayats are also not

very keen on

177

letting people know that they have to ask for jobs as it

would involve lot of paper work. Moreover some villagers

have complained that they need money on a daily basis

whereas under the NREGS they get money after a week. One

Block Development Officer in Purulia told us that the

villagers want money on a daily basis because they want to

consume liquor. Another BDO told us that the NREGS is

biased towards those who can dig soil and hence it

does not attract many who prefer to migrate rather than

doing such work.

Conclusion

In this chapter we have tried to trace certain features

of backwardness in the sample villages which require

attention of the government and civil society. We have

shown that the population of these villages is dependent

on agriculture, they do not have access to adequate

irrigation facility; the land holding size is small and a

large percentage do not have any land at all. The

moneylender continues to remain the most significant

source of credit for the poor and the rate that is

charged is often 100% or more. Illiteracy is very high,

especially among women. Staple diet consists of rice and

water mostly. In spite of the presence of an elaborate

health care system which is supposed to provide free health

care villagers have to spend a substantial amount on

health which, in turn, reduces their potential to save.

Finally, the benefits that the anti-poverty programmes are

supposed to bring to the poor is not reaching them

178

adequately as is evident from their lack of familiarity

with the names of the schemes, especially PROFLAL. There

are also certain typical local factors which result in

backwardness and we have provided examples of such. We have

also shown through a map that there is a certain clear

geographical pattern in the backward villages. Finally, it

is found that the Scheduled Tribes are particularly

disadvantaged. These factors to some extent explain

the chronic poverty of these villages. They explain why

the poor stay poor. However it would require

179

in-depth analysis as to why and how the villages

were left out of the development initiatives of the

state since 1947.

6

180

Exploring Politico -Administrative

Linkages

The previous chapter brings together certain features that

create a condition of backwardness. These features, to

recapitulate, consisted of overwhelming dependence on

agriculture for survival, inadequate irrigation

facility, poor health condition, over whelming

dependence on the moneylender for credit, illiteracy

and poor awareness level regarding the government

sponsored schemes. In this chapter an attempt has been made

to understand whether there is any political discrimination

against the backward villages, how far the citizen of these

villages are integrated into the political process and what

relationship they share with the state.

1. Political discriminationand supportAt the design stage of the research we had

formulated a hypothesis that political discrimination

against the opposition party may be a reason behind the

backwardness of the villages. In other words,

the party in power has discriminated against the

Sansad in which the backward village is situated

because the Sansad member is a representative of theopposition party.18 The

181

18 Here the reader may be made aware of a particular problem that wehad to encounter. Our mandate was that of studying the backwardvillages. However the ‘village’ does not have any representative inthe Gram Panchayat. The ‘member’ is elected from the Samsad, whichconsists of the geographical space inhabited by a certain number ofvoters as per the electoral roll of the last election. Thus there canbe several villages within a Samsad and if the village is big enoughthen there can be several Samsads within a village although the latteris rare. Hence it was not possible for us to directly understand whothe political representative of the village was. Hence we had to findout within which Samsad the village is located and then see thepolitical profile

182

research team felt that in order to test this hypothesis

we need to test on the first instance how many cases we

can see that the backward villages have a Sansad member

from the opposition party. It is only then that the

secondary question of discrimination against the opposition

party can be understood and analyzed.

We had difficulties in testifying this hypothesis due tonon - availibility of data

on 92 villages under study. It was possible to get data on

24 GPs from Birbhum, Murshidabad and Dakshin Dinajpur.

These GPs, one may reiterate, are GPs where the sample

backward villages are located19.

For the purpose of our analysis we have presented the

data district-wise in order to capture the district

specific complexities identified at the time of field

visits.

Birbhum6. 1. Political Profile of the GPs containing Sample

Backward Villages

Sl

No.Block Village GP

Rulin

g

Party

(No.

of

Oppositio

n party

Total

1 Murarai I Mukundapur Mohurapur INC

(9

)

CPI(M

) (6)

15

2 Mohammadbazar Porabali Deucha CPI(M

) (7

)

BJP

(1)

8

3 Rajnagar Azimnagar Gangmuri

Joypur

CPI(M

)

(13)

0 13

of the Samsad member and compare it with the political profile of

183

the Gram Panchayat. The tables presented here therefore haveinformation on the relevant Samsad within which the samplebackward village is located.19 See section on Sampling for details. As per the sampling methodologya backward village has been selected through random sampling fromBlocks which contain at least ten backward villages. Since thereis only one village per Block, there is automatically only one GP perBlock.

184

4 Suri I Muruliachak

Khatanga CPI(M

) (

6)

BJP

(1)

7

5 Bolpur Sriniketan

Patharghata

Kankalitala

CPI(M

)

(15)

+

RSP

0 16

6 Dubrajpur Khosbaspur Parulia CPI(M

)

(10)

AITC

(1)

11

7 Khoyrasol Amlakuri Lokepur CPI(M

)

(12)

0 12

It can be seen that of 7 GPs there are 6 GPs

which are under Left Front, especially CPI (M) .Only

Mohurapur GP in Murarai I Block is under INC. In 3

GPs (Gangmuri Joypur, Kankalitala and Lokepur) there is no opposition party

at all.

6.2. Political Profile of the Sansad containing sample Backward Village

Sl

No

.

Block Village GP

Sansad name Ruling

Party

1 Murarai I Mukundapur Mohurap

ur

Mohurapur IV

INC

2 Mohammadba

zar

Porabali Deucha Deucha VIII CPI(M)

3 Rajnagar Azimnagar Gangmur

i

Joypur

Gangmuri IX CPI(M)

4 Suri I Muruliachak Khatanga Not known CPI(M)

5 Bolpur

Sriniketan

Patharghata Kankali

ta la

Patharghatavi

CPI(M)

185

6 Dubrajpur Khosbaspur Parulia Paruliya -I CPI(M)

7 Khoyrasol Amlakuri Lokepur Lokepur V CPI(M)

The above table shows that but for one Sansad (Mohurapur

IV where INC is in power) in all the Sansads CPI(M) is in

power.

6.3. Comparison between Sansads Ruling Party and GPs Ruling Party

Sl

No.Block Village GP

Sansa

d

name

Sansad’

s

Ruling

Party

GPs

Rulin

g

Party1 Murarai I Mukundapur Mohurapur Mohurapur

IV

INC INC

2 Mohamma

dbazar

Porabali Deucha Deucha VIII

CPI(M) CPI(M)

3 Rajnagar Azimnagar Gangmuri

Joypur

Gangmuri IX

CPI(M) CPI(M)

4 Suri I Muruliachak Khatanga Not known CPI(M) CPI(M)

5 Bolpur

Sriniketan

Patharghata Kankalitala

Patharghata

VI

CPI(M) CPI(M) +

RSP

6 Dubrajpur Khosbaspur Parulia Paruliya -I

CPI(M) CPI(M)

7 Khoyrasol Amlakuri Lokepur Lokepur V CPI(M) CPI(M)

The above table clearly shows that the same party is in

power both in the GP as well as in the Sansad. Hence at

least from the available data it is not possible to

conclude that there is political discrimination against the

opposition party member of the backward villages.

Out of the 7 GPs mentioned above we have visitedMurarai I and Bolpur

186

Sriniketan Block offices and Mohurapur and KankalitalaGPs along with the

187

backward villages of Mukundapur and Muruliachak

village in Suri Block. Nobody had raised any allegation

on political discrimination against the party in the

Sansad. It is evident from our field visits that even

within one party all representatives are not equally vocal

and capable of extracting benefits from the GP. At

Mohurapur GP for example the Sansad member, although of the

same party (INC) is a woman who was hardly able to utter

a word before us. At Patharghata also the representative

was a woman (from CPIM) but clearly the person who mattered

was a man who was accompanying us from the GP. In both

cases we got the impression that the women members

were not in a position (due to the long history of

gender discrimination) to raise their voice and extract

benefits for their Sansads. At Muruliachak we found that

there are two adjacent villages both under the same

Sansad represented by CPIM. However the village

adjoining Muruliachak is a relatively advanced village. It

is clear that all the benefits of the state have been

grabbed by that village – such as ICDS Centre, Primary

School etc. The village is also traditionally richer – the

people in that village have land while the people in

Muruliachak are mostly agricultural labourers and work in

the fields of the adjoining village.

Murshidabad

6.4. Political Profileof the GP

188

Sl

No

.

Block Village GP

Ruling

Party

Oppositio

n party

Total

1 Kandi Bhabanandapur Hizole AIFB[3]

+

CPI(M)

[ 2 ]+

CPI [1]

, RSP

17

189

[4 ]

2 Berhampore Hajidanga Chhaighari INC (10) CPI(M) (8 ) 18

3 Khargram Sankarpur Sadal CPI(M)

(13)+

CPI

(1)+

AIFB(1)

INC (3) 18

4 Bharatpur I Haranandapur Sijagram CPI(M

) (9)

INC(8) 17

5 Suti I Lalupur Harua CPI(M)[

4 ]

,

RSP[4]

,

16

6 Samserganj Adwaitanagar Bhasaipaikar

INC(10) CPI(M)(8) 18

7 Farakka Bahadurpur Bahadurpur CPI(M

) (5)

INC

(4),

10

8 Raghunathga

n j I

Gadaipur Kanupur CPI(M)

(8)+

AIFB(1)

+

RSP(3)

INC(6) 18

9 Suti II Ichhalampur Laxmipur INC(13) RSP(4),

CPI(M)(1)

,

AITC(1)

19

10 Murshidabad

Jiagunj

Matijhil Nutan Gram AIFB

(6)+

CPI(M)

(5

INC (4) 15

11 Sagardighi Dakshin

Kalikapur

Gobardhan

d anga

INC(15) CPI(M)

(3),

19

It is found that out of eleven GPs in Murshidabad district

in four GPs INC is in power and in others Left Front is in

power. In majority of cases non-Left parties are in power

except in the GPs of Sadal of Khargram Block( INC have

only three seats out of eighteen ), Kanupur GP of

Raghunathganj I Block (INC have

190

only 6 seats out of 18 in the GP ) , and Nutan Gram GP of Murshidabad Jiagunj

( INC have four out of fifteen seats ).

6.5. Political Profile of the Sansad containing the backward villagesSl

No

.

Block Village GP

Sansad Name Sansad

Members

gender

Ruli

n g

Part

y1 Kandi Bhabanandapur Hizole Bhabanandap

u r XVIII

F IND

2 Berhampore Hajidanga Chhaighari Hajidanga !) M20

2) F

CPI(M

)

3 Khargram Sankarpur Sadal Sankarpur(III

to VII)21

I) 2-

F II)

4- M

I)5 –

CPI(M

)

II)

1- 4 Bharatpur I Haranandapur Sijagram XIII No.

Pallishee

M CPI(M

)

5 Suti I Lalupur Harua Harua IV

No. Sansad

M INC

6 Samserganj Adwaitanagar22 Bhasaipaikar

Adwaitanagar

XIII & XV

I)M

II)

F

INC

,

CPI(M

7 Farakka Bahadurpur23 Bahadurpur V Ranipur ,

1) 4- M I) 3–

20 In Hajidanga Samsad there are 2 Samsad Members, one is male andthe other is female.21 The Sankarpur village falls under more than 1 samsads , thusthere are 6 samsad members out of which 4 members are male and 2 arefemales . In 1 Samsad there are 2 Samsad Members. There are 5 Samsad Members who are of CPI(M) party exceptone Samsad Member whobelong toINC22 Adwaitanagar Village falls under Adwaitanagar XIII & XV Samsads .It has two members - one is male and the other is female and thefirst belongs to CPI(M) while the other belongs to INC.

191

23 Bahadurpur village falls under three Samsads - V Ranipur, VIRanipur & VIII Talkol which have four Samsad Members and all theSamsad Members are males. Three Samsad members belong to CPI(M)and one belong to INC.

192

VI Ranipur

& VIII

Talkol

CPI(M

)

II)

1 -

INC8 Raghunathga

n j I

Gadaipur Kanupur Kanupur -VIII

M CPIM

9 Suti II Ichhalampur Laxmipur24 Ichlampur VII

&

Ichlampur

1) M

2) F

INC

10 Murshidabad

Jiagunj

Matijhil Nutan Gram Muragoular F CPIM

11 Sagardighi Dakshin

Kalikapur

Gobardhand

a nga

Dakshin

Kalikapur

Sansad No.

III

M CPIM

The table shows that there are five Sansad Members

who belong to INC, fourteen Sansad Members belong to

CPI(M) and one Sansad member is an Independent Candidate.

Clearly the CPI(M) is in power in most of the Sansads.

6.6. Comparison between Sansads Ruling Party and GPsruling party

Sl

No.Block Village GP

Sansad name Sansad’s

Ruling party

GPs

Rulin

g

Party1 Kandi Bhaban

a

ndapur

Hizole Bhabanandapur

XVIII

IND AIFB [3] +

CPI(M) [ 2

]+ CPI [1]

, RSP [1]

, INC [6 ]

, IND [4 ]2 Berhampore Hajidang

aChha

i

ghar

Hajidanga CPI(M) INC (10)

24 Ichhlampur village falls under two Samsads - Ichlampur VII & Ichlampur VIII . There are three Samsad Members - 2 are males and one

193

is female.

194

3 Khargram Sankarpur Sadal Sankarpur(III to

VII)

I)5 –

CPI(M)

II) 1-

INC

CPI(M)

(13)+ CPI

(1)+4 Bharatpur I Harana

n

dapur

Sija

gr

am

XIII No. Pallishee

CPI(M) CPI(M) (9)

5 Suti I Lalupur Harua Harua IV No.

Sansad

INC CPI(M) [ 4

] , RSP[4]

, INC [

6 Samserganj Adwait

a

nagar

Bhasa

i

paika

Adwaitanagar

XIII & XV

INC , CPI(M) INC(10)

7 Farakka Bahadu

r pur

Bahad

urpur

V Ranipur

, VI

Ranipur &

VIII Talkol

I) 3 –

CPI(M) II)

1 - INC

CPI(M) (5)

8 Raghunathganj

I

Gadaipur Kanu

pur

Kanupur -VIII CPI(M) CPI(M)

(8)+

AIFB(1) +9 Suti II Ichhala

m pur

Laxmi

pur

Ichlampur

VII &

Ichlampur

INC INC(13)

10 Murshidabad

Jiagunj

Matijhil Nutan

Gram

Muragoular CPI(M) AIFB

(6)+ CPI(M)11 Sagardighi Dakshin

KalikapurGobar

dhan

danga

Dakshin

Kalikapur

Sansad No.

III

CPI(M) INC(15)

In the district of Murshidabad there is a mixture of

parties in GP and Sansad level in majority of cases.

There are four backward villages where GP and Sansad

members belong to the same party. In case of the rest

the backward villages have a member who does not belong to

the party in power in the GP.

195

In Murshidabad we found three completely different

scenarios in the three villages namely Sankarpur,

Bahadurpur and Chaighari. At Sankarpur the Pradhan of

Sadal GP was a resident of the village. There is no

political discrimination between GP and GS. However

there were allegations (this cannot be proved though)

that the Zilla Parishad, which is under INC discriminates

against the Left Front run GP and PS as a result of

which the flood problem of the Block is not solved. In

case of Chaighari the member is from CPI (M) whereas the

GP is under INC. However our field visit coupled with FGD

bring out a sad state of affairs. Bahadurpur village of

Bahadurpur GP is one of the most backward GPs and villages

we have seen. The entire GP does have electricity and is a

regular victim of flood every year. The Block office is

aware of the problem but sites remoteness and ST

predominance as the main cause of its backwardness. Both PS

and GP are however under CPI(M) whereas ZP is under INC.

The villagers were found to be extremely unhappy with the

prevailing political process as well as local

administration.

DakshinDinajpur

6.7. Political Profileof the GPSl

No.Block Village GP

Ruling

Party

Oppositio

n party

Total

196

1 Balurghat Chakkhetab Chingishpur

RSP

(13)+

BJP(1

),

INC(1

17

2 Bansihari Chotakhidirpur

Shibpur

CPI(M)(14)

AITC

(5),

BJP(3)

25

3 Gangarampur Akchha Sukdevpur CPI(M)(18)

AITC(1) 19

197

4 Harirampur Godal Bagichapur

AITC[7]

, BJP

[1]

CPI(M)[7]

,INC[3]

,IND [1]

19

5 Kushmundi Sarala Berail

INC [8] CPI(M)

[4] , RSP

[2],BJP

[3 ],

17

6 Tapan Sulapanipur GofanagarCPI(M)

(3) ,

RSP(3)

INC(3)

, IND(1)

10

6.8. Comparison between the Sansad Ruling party and the GP Ruling Party

Sl

No

.

Block Village GP

Sansads

Name

GPs

Rulin

g

Party

Sansads

Ruling Party

1 Balurghat Chakkhetab ChingishpurMahadipur RSP

,

RSP

2 Bansihari Chotakhidirpur

Shibpur Kanur CPI(M) CPI(M)

3 Gangarampur Akchha Sukdevpur Akcha CPI(M) CPI(M)

4 Harirampur Godal BagichapurSundail AITC

,

BJP

INC

5 Kushmundi Sarala Berail

1.Sarala F.P

2.

Sarala

INC 1.CPI(M)

2. INC

6 Tapan Sulapanipur GofanagarGobindapur CPI(M)

, RSP

CPI(M)

The above tables clearly points out that the ruling party

in GP and Sansad are the same except in Sarala village

where one Sansad Member is from CPI(M). We visited Sarala

and Chotokhidirpur villages. Out of the two, Sarala is

quite clearly not a ‘backward’ village – it is in fact a

fairly prosperous village. Hence the question of

discrimination does not arise. In case of

198

Chotokhidirpur the

199

Samsad member belongs to the same Party as the one that

is in power at the GP. The general impression that we

gathered was that the main reason behind the backwardness

of the people is that the Scheduled Tribes are

comparatively more alienated from the development process.

The GP also did not take much initiative to bring them

to the mainstream process of development. The GP

officials accompanying us were upper caste Hindus

who have a negative mindset in so far as the development

of the STs is concerned.

Thus on the basis of the data available from three

districts and also from our field visits it seems that

political discrimination against the opposition party has

not much to do with backwardness because such cases are few

and far between.

Let us now consider whether lack of political awareness and

alienation from the democratic process is a cause

behind the backwardness of the backward villages.

II. PoliticalAwareness

Academic literature and intellectual discourse on

contemporary West Bengal perhaps quite justifiably more or

less equates politics with the activities of the political

parties. West Bengal is a state where the political parties

have a very strong presence in rural society. West Bengal

is one of the few states in India which have party based

panchayats. There has been a sustained initiative on the

political parties to enhance political awareness of

200

the people through a number of ways such as rallies,

demonstrations, meetings etc.

However it is not enough to understand political

awareness in terms of affiliation to political parties

only. What is equally important is to understand whether

the citizen is integrated within the democratic process of

the state or whether s/he is alienated and feeling left

out. We have tried to understand

201

political awareness in terms of their knowledge and acquaintance with the

Pradhans.

6.9. Whether the respondent is aware of the name of the Pradhan

District Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 75.35 24.65

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 72.03 27.97

3 Murshidabad 87.10 12.90

4 Birbhum 74.07 25.93

5 Purulia 84.26 15.74

6 Bankura 70.95 29.05

7 Paschim Medinipur 83.04 16.96

All 79.69 20.31

It can be seen that at least 70 per cent of therespondents and an average of

79.69 per cent of the respondents have given

affirmative answere to this question. The respondents

were then asked if they have seen the Pradhan. The

responses are tabulaed as follows:

6. 10. Whether the Respondent has seenthe Pradhan

District Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 79.27 20.73

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 80.07 19.93

3 Murshidabad 84.78 15.22

4 Birbhum 84.57 15.43

5 Purulia 87.71 12.29

6 Bankura 84.92 15.08

7 Paschim Medinipur 86.71 13.29

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All 84.69 15.31

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Once again the overwhelming majority of the respondents

have said that they have seen the Pradhan. We had then

tried to find out if he had ever met him.

6. 11. Whether the respondent has met the Pradhan

District Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 66.95 33.05

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 67.48 32.52

3 Murshidabad 75.58 24.42

4 Birbhum 70.06 29.94

5 Purulia 73.46 26.54

6 Bankura 73.32 26.68

7 Paschim Medinipur 73.22 26.78

All 72.58 27.42

The response in the table indicate in clear terms

that the

overwhelming majority has seen the Pradhan, met

him/her and knew his/her name. This indicates that the

people of the villages are surely not alienated from the

Gram Panchayat and decentralisation of polity has

helped to maintain a certain amount of integration with

the democratic process. The interactions with the

villagers did not paint a fully rosy picture. It is true

that they visit the GP office frequently and feel free to

interact with the political functionaries. But the fact

remains that they have reservations about the performance

of the GP. During our field visits we found that while

evaluating the performance of the Pradhan the ordinary

villagers are critical enough without showing

any fear or reverence.

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In order to gain further insights into the dynamics of therelationship we sought

their reactions regarding involvement in the village levelparliament called the

“GramSansad”.

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6. 12. Whether the respondent is aware of the number of times the Gram

Samsad is held in a year.

District Correct answer Incorrect Answer1 Uttar Dinajpur 54.02 45.98

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 78.60 21.40

3 Murshidabad 43.43 56.57

4 Birbhum 30.06 69.64

5 Purulia 34.45 65.55

6 Bankura 62.52 37.48

7 Paschim Medinipur 62.83 37.17

All 50.87 49.13

Interestingly unlike the queries related to the Pradhan

there has been a sharp drop in the number of respondents

having correct information.

6. 13. Whether any member of the family attends Gram Samsad Meeting.

District Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 61.50 39.50

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 47.55 52.45

3 Murshidabad 39.53 60.47

4 Birbhum 50.31 49.69

5 Purulia 45.13 54.87

6 Bankura 61.45 38.55

7 Paschim Medinipur 58.19 41.81

All 50.64 49.36

Name of District % saying thatthey have neverattended the

GS meeting

(applicable to

% saying‘no’ in caseof BackwardVillages studyby SRD Cell(applicable to

1 Purulia 50.30 54.872 Uttar Dinajpur 63.89 39.503 Dakshin Dinajpur 40.81 52.454 Murshidabad 75.66 60.475 Birbhum 60.80 49.696 Bankura 41.19 38.557 P. Medinipur 35.24 41.81

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Significantly those who have given correct answer had

attended the meeting. It seems from the survey therefore

that the population is divided almost equally in terms of

their knowledge and interest in the Gram Samsad.25

Gram Sansad is the core of the participatory democratic

system in rural West Bengal. The earlier studies have

indicated that the Gram Sansad is still to gain required

momentum. The general reasons identified include political

divide in the villages, lack of benefit to the

people above poverty line, inadequate publicity, and

lack of active political interest. This study shows that

the functionaries of the Gram Panchayats have a tendency to

call the meetings at a time that is convenient to them

rather than to the poor villagers. Hence meetings are

often called in the afternoon so that the meetings end by 5

O’clock and the functionaries can return home in the

evening whereas it is more convenient for the poor

villagers to attend the meeting in the evening as they

get busy during day time to earn their daily wage. While

attending a Gram

Samsad meeting in Malda we saw that the Secretary was keento read out the

25 We may here compare our results with the results of from asimilar query in the report on SRD baseline by CSSSC. According totheir report (Table 5.31) the percentage saying that they have neverattended the Gram Samsad meeting in each of the seven districts is asfollows:

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It can be seen that the result is roughly the same for Purulia,Bankura and Paschim Medinipur for both the district as a whole aswell as backward villages. However the difference between thedistrict as a whole and the backward villages is quite significant incase of Uttar Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Birbhum (in Backward Villages,participation is higher), and Dakshin Dinajpur (participation inBackward Villages is lower). In both cases the highest non-participation is in Murshidabad.

208

results of scheme implementation hurriedly making it

difficult for the villagers to understand the

discussion. Sometimes the attitude of the GP functionaries

becomes mechanical and they are only interested in reaching

the quorum. Nonetheless the findings of the study show that

at least 50% of the villagers are integrated with the

democratic process of the Gram Samsad.

In order to assess the general political interest of the

respondents we tried to find out whether the

respondents have participated in the last Assembly

election or not.

6. 14. Whether the respondent had cast a vote inthe previous Assembly

Election

District Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 96.64 3.36

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 93.36 6.64

3 Murshidabad 93.13 6.87

4 Birbhum 91.98 8.02

5 Purulia 95.50 4.50

6 Bankura 96.51 3.49

7 Paschim Medinipur 93.64 6.36

All 94.50 5.50

The response is overwhelmingly positive. 94.50 per

cent of the respondents have said that they have voted in

the last Assembly election. It reflects a strong political

involvement of the villagers.

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Sometimes it is heard that people are voting under fear.

In order to test this view empirically we wanted to know

from our respondents whether they are afraid of the

political parties. The result is as follows:

210

6. 15. Whether the respondent is afraid of political parties

District Yes No No, but

do not

like them

Other

1 U. Dinajpur 9.52 78.43 11.20 0.84

2 D. Dinajpur 8.74 80.07 11.19 0.00

3 Murshidabad 6.52 86.52 5.54 1.41

4 Birbhum 5.64 85.89 6.90 1.57

5 Purulia 9.89 85.24 4.72 0.15

6 Bankura 10.69 87.48 1.69 0.14

7 P. Medinipur 15.27 76.58 7.54 0.61

All 9.44 83.85 6.01 0.70

The overwhelming majority of the respondents have

said that they are not afraid of political parties.

However it is worth noting that nearly 10 per cent have

said ‘yes’ in answer to the question. If we add

the percentage of respondents who have said ‘no, but do

not like them’ then the figure comes close to 16 per

cent. We may infer that this section of the

respondents is alienated to a certain extent from the

political parties.

The tables presented above as well as the experience of

the field visits suggest that the people of the backward

villages, like those of other villages of the state with

some exceptions, are quite interested in participating

in the democratic process. However, this does not

necessarily mean that they are happy with the state of

211

affairs. There are many complaints and grievances but the

grievances do not amount to a rejection of the

decentralized polity but is rather a sign of being part of

it. In certain parts we have even met ultra-left

organisations who

212

have joined the democratic political process as ‘Nirdal’

(non-party) candidates. This has important politico-

administrative implication.

In the next section we would try to explore the

relationship between the local state and the citizens

of the backward villages to understand whether the

people of the backward villages feel alienated from the

state or not.

III. Relationship withthe State

By local state we mean political and bureaucratic

infrastructure at the state level. While there is a

political infrastructure in the form of Gram Panchayat in

a cluster of villages, the bureaucratic infrastructure as a

part of the state system exist only at the level of the

Block and above. However, in rural West Bengal the

commonly understood terms are ‘gorment’ (meaning

‘government’),

‘shorkaar’ (government), ‘Ponchayet’, (Gram Panchayat),Block (Community

Development Block Office) and the ‘thana’ (the Local

Police Station). It is through the interaction with

these various organs of the state that the common citizen

of rural West Bengal develops a relationship with the

state. Structures such as the Subdivision, the District,

the State or the Union Government are usually quite far

away from their mental landscape.

In our survey we wanted to see how far the citizen is

213

integrated into the development process of the state. Let

us begin by looking at the following table which explains

whether the citizen visits the GP office or not.

214

6. 16. Whether the respondent has ever been to a GP office

District Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 81.79 18.21

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 70.98 29.02

3 Murshidabad 80.87 19.13

4 Birbhum 82.10 17.90

5 Purulia 78.26 21.74

6 Bankura 83.52 16.49

7 Paschim Medinipur 83.24 16.76

All 80.68 19.32

It is seen from the above table that at least 70 per cent

and an average of 80.68 per cent of villagers have

said that they have visited the Gram Panchayat

Office. In course of our field visits it came out that a

section of the Scheduled Tribe population have

occasionally shared their bad experience while meeting GP

functionaries but in general even if the villagers

are unhappy with the activity of the GP they do not

hesitate to visit the GP office. Some of the people we have

interacted with have referred to their not having even

transport cost to visit GP office. Added to it is the

problem of availability of the Pradhan or the secretary in

their offices. Our survey data coupled with interactions

with the villagers clearly bring out that the villagers

find the GP office as friendly and easily accessible.

The picture becomes radically different in case of the

Block Office. The Community Development Block was created

for the purpose of development of the rural areas and to

215

establish a close connection with the people of the village

and even today remains the cutting edge of the development

administration in

216

a district. When we asked the respondents whether s/he has ever been to the

Block Development Office, the result was as follows:

6. 17. Whether the respondent has ever been to a Block Development Office

District Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 14.24 85.76

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 7.34 92.66

3 Murshidabad 44.93 55.07

4 Birbhum 57.41 42.59

5 Purulia 55.49 44.51

6 Bankura 34.92 65.08

7 Paschim Medinipur 44.93 55.07

All 34.78 65.22

We can see that only 34.78 per cent of the respondentshave actually visited the

Block office. In case of the two Dinajpursthe result is worst.

India has been working for a long time for a responsive

administration. The beset tenet of this concept is the

administrators, particularly at the stage where there is

scope for face-to-face contact with the people

daily, would be responsive to the needs of the people

which call for their interaction with the people. Keeping

this dimension in mind we wanted to find out from the

respondents any event of visit of their village by the

block functionaries in the last one year. The responses are

tabulated as follows.

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6. 18. Whether any officer from the Block Office has visited your village in

the last one year

District Yes No

1 Uttar Dinajpur 17.37 82.63

2 Dakshin Dinajpur 7.34 92.66

3 Murshidabad 44.93 55.07

4 Birbhum 57.41 42.59

5 Purulia 14.24 85.76

6 Bankura 34.92 65.08

7 Paschim Medinipur 55.49 44.51

All 34.78 65.22

It is clear that the Block administration functionaries

do not go down to the field regularly. Interestingly, the

situation is alarmingly bad in two Dinajpurs and Purulia

where more than 80% of the villagers have failed to recall

any such event. It takes us to bigger question of whom the

villagers will rely on in times of need. The table below

clearly reflects the verdict. As expected the villagers

place much greater trust on PRIs than on the block

administration. Still there is a cause of concern because

20% of the total respondents have no reliance on either

of them. This percentage is higher in the more backward

districts like Dinajpurs and Purulia.

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6. 19. Whom does the respondent rely more on – Gram Panchayat or the

Block?

District Block GP Both None

1 Uttar Dinajpur 4.78 58.43 8.99 27.81

2 Dakshin Dinajpur

2.81 52.28 20.00 24.91

3 Murshidabad 7.03 64.72 15.58 12.66

4 Birbhum 9.21 67.30 7.30 16.19

5 Purulia 5.49 42.53 12.65 39.33

6 Bankura 2.39 71.73 11. 53 14.35

7 P. Medinipur 2.04 75.05 12.88 10.02

All 4.87 62.18 12.96 19.99

The verdict is quite clear. Only 4.87 per cent of the

respondents have preferred the Block over the GP and 12.96

per cent have given equal preference to both. The GP is

clearly the more reliable institution. However it is

significant to note that nearly 20 per cent of the

respondents have said that they do not rely on either –

thus pointing towards a gap between the state and the

people. In case of Purulia and the two Dinajpurs the

percentage is higher than the average.

Conclusion

We initiated the discussion in this chapter by trying to

understand whether the backwardness of the backward

219

villages is the result of political discrimination. Our

data and field visits have shown that mostly the same party

rules in the backward villages as well as in the Gram

Panchayat and hence the question of

220

political discrimination does not arise. However, we

have reasons to believe that at the village level there

is strong competition for benefits within the same party

and some representatives are able to extract more benefits

than others. In the second section we have seen that

political awareness is very high among the backward

villagers. In the third section we have noted that the

villagers on the whole share a strong bond (both

positive and negative) with the Gram Panchayat but the

Block office has become distant entity. It is also

disturbing to note that nearly twenty percent of the

respondents have said that they do not trust either

the GP or the Block. This partial

distancing from and disenchantment with the state

perhaps explains the relative failure of the state to

fulfill its mandate.

7

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Reflections and

Recommendations

The fundamental question - why and how backward villages

continue to stay backward and vulnerable? - has been the

main motive-force of this study. The question, in turn,

relates to the need for formulation of efficient and

effective public policy, and in a still broader context, to

the quality of governance. The study, intensive in terms of

its focus and extensive in terms of its select parameters,

reveals certain vital facts, events and conditions which

can be classified in two categories. The first concerns

those which were hitherto known to many, but which have

not been taken into consideration with due thrust while

formulating decisions and policies. Out of many possible

instances we can mention just one to illustrate the point:

the recurrent instance of the lack of health care

facilities in these villages, which cuts across their

geographical divides. The second category concerns

those which have hitherto been unknown to many. The

near-total absence of information among the targeted

beneficiaries about the vitally important pro-poor schemes

like PROFLAL can be cited as an instance here.

Information being the most vital ingredient of

efficient and effective public policy formulation and

implementation its partial and distorted form at best,

222

and the absence at worst, weakens the very

foundation of the explicitly declared policies vis-à-

vis the backward villages, the very policies which are

meant to alleviate the conditions of the poorest of the

poor. Our study at this juncture has made us aware of the

complex politico-administrative dimension

223

of governance. First of all, there is the complex issue

of adequate political will and administrative response to act

accordingly. The report, in terms of its reference to

the process of identification of the backward villages,

shows that there is a perceptible pro-active stance in this

regard at the upper echelon of the political establishment,

the consequence of which has been the ‘top-level’

administrative thrust towards the same. But our field-

visits reveal at the same time that at the grassroots-

level, except in few cases, there is as yet little

reflection, both at the administrative and at the

political levels, of the much needed attention to the

backward villages. The very fact that we did not find a

single instance of a Gram Sabha meet with an

exclusive backward Village agenda substantiates our point

that it is yet to find a focus at the local level. One of

the basic problems then is that of percolation of the

specific decisions and policies, which cannot be solved by

issuing series of orders and circulars, often disjointed

thematically. The solution probably lies in greater intra-

group interactions involving different strata of

political activists and bureaucracy. It also needs to

foster inter-group interactions among political

activists, elected political functionaries, bureaucrats and

NGO activists at the local level. No less important, the

stakeholders must be flexible enough to interact with the

inhabitants of the backward villages to acquire

an essential first hand- knowledge of the reality

and gain relevant information about the beneficiary needs,

local resources, local skill and local knowledge.

224

The establishment of inter- and intra-village networks

would be useful for this purpose.

The study in a way has confirmed a familiar adage of

development-oriented public policy: that in any such

measure or move the ‘primary consultants’ should be

the local people themselves for whom it is targeted. It is

important to add here that the study, more specifically the

interviews and focus group discussions, revealed on several

occasions that when it came to the question of voicing

their felt needs and grievances many in the backward

villages would

225

come forward without much hesitation. This

counteracts the popular perception about the

inevitability of the ‘culture of silence’. The field-visits

reveal the hitherto unutilized space for inducing and

projecting gainful activities, of local beneficiaries. In

this context it is worth mentioning that we have not found

effective presence of civil society organizations,

including the NGOs which remain either non-existent or

weak. As things stand now, notwithstanding the recognition

of the NGOs as ‘partners in development’ by the

Government of West Bengal, the collaboration between the

partners - the government agencies and the NGOs - still

remains a ‘missed opportunity’. Same is the case with the

Community-based Organizations (CBOs), which are yet to take

off in the concerned areas. This is not a very happy

situation at a time when capacity- building through civil

society activism has become an integral part of the

strategy of development and governance. Yet another

lesson from the study, related much to the aforementioned

observations, has been the realization of the need to

strengthen the sustainability of the political and

administrative interventions to pull the backward

villages out of the existing situation. Contrary to

the popular perception, often falsely reinforced by the

media, there have been quite a few interventions in the

backward villages. The vital question here is not of

increasing the number of interventions but that of

making the interventions, already made more effective and

sustainable. Such sustainability, in our view, can be

ensured in two major ways. First, by enhancing the capacity

226

to relate the short-term objectives (“outcomes”) to long-

term goals (“purpose”). We have found enough instances

of many schemes and programmes being sought to be

implemented just as ‘specific’ actions with a ‘target

date’, without having any broader goals in mind. The

problems in the backward villages are too grave to be

solved by such ad hocism. Second, sustainability can be

ensured by avoiding over-dependence on the blanket plans

for the need assessment of the villagers concerned.

There are both intra-village and inter-village

differences in terms of beneficiary needs. As a result, we

have realized that the

227

overarching macro plan has to rest on micro-level data

and information from the villages. For this purpose,

the need of the hour is to impart greater

flexibility to the projects, schemes and

programmes, with provisions for additions and

alternations, till the information and data are considered

reliable enough. This would also lessen the need to issue

orders and circulars too frequently which, as the study has

shown, adds to the confusion of the local administrators

and local people. In short, both ad hocism and the

reliance on blanket plans converge to give rise to a

problem: the utter neglect of the specificities which

result in insufficient and distorted understanding,

resulting in the perpetuation and aggravation of

backwardness.

Based on the findings of the research and the

aforesaid reflections, the following recommendations

are made:

More Concentrated Political and Administrative Attention

The problem being very serious and grave

calling for immediate attention there is strong

need for setting up a Task Force at the State level to

be headed by the Chief Secretary under the guidance of

the cabinet of Ministers for which a clear TOR

has to be drafted. This Task Force should

consist of all the Secretaries / Principal Secretaries

228

of all the concerned line departments. The

Principal Secretary, Panchayats & Rural Development

Department may be made the Member Secretary of the

Task Force. Responsibility – Chief Secretary.

The task force shall be primarily responsible forthe following – (a) on

the basis of this report and other consultations

draw up an action plan (b) initiate concerted

action between departments and set each

department their specific tasks, (b) initiate

necessary policy measures, (c)

229

sensitize political leaders from all political

parties and the civil society (d) prepare within a

definite time period a monitoring framework

covering the GP, the PS, the District and the State

levels, and (e) to regularly monitor the

progress of development initiatives in the

backward villages.

The task force shall meet every three months toreview progress as per

the actionplan.

All vacant posts in the relevant GPs and Block/PS to

be filled up on an urgent basis. Responsibility –

Chief Secretary.

Progress related to Backward Villages to be

discussed in the Development Meeting

of each district. Responsibility –

District Magistrates.

More Inclusiveplanning

Bottom – up planning as envisaged in the 11th Plan and

as per the methodology prescribed in the SRD planning

guideline may be implemented in all GS and GPs.

Responsibility – P&RD Deptt.

Need for Awareness Generation and Information

Dissemination about Poverty Amelioration

Programmes

230

The findings of the study reveal that there is

tremendous lack of awareness about the development

programmes meant for the poor in the

backward villagers which make it difficult for

them to access the benefits of the programmes meant

for them.

231

Collaboration may be made with NGOs willing to work in

the backward villages and they may be provided a

budgetary support for this. Responsibility – P&RD

Deptt.

Extension of duration of the radio programme,

conducted by the P&RD Deptt, should focus on the

pro-poor programmes, such as PROFLAL, and the

methods of accessing them. Advertisements in

commercial radio channels need also to be made for

this purpose.

It may be considered to develop campaign strategies

keeping in mind the need of the clientele for which

the help of the specialists in the field may be

sought.

Steps need to be taken to mobilize the high schoolstudents to conduct

local campaigns about the schemes and their

guidelines. A collaboration between P&RD, Dept of

Education and SSA may be initiated for this

purpose.

It may be useful to involve the Gram Unnayan

Samity to deliver campaign material to every

household. Department of Information and Culture may

be given the responsibility of preparing the IEC

material. Responsibility for distribution may be given

to P&RD Deptt.

For awareness generation and campaign local media such

as local cable operators may be used for this

purpose. Responsibility – Nodal Officer for the

Backward Village.

SIPRD may be given the responsibility of training

232

Panchayat Members

on the backward villageissues.

Augmenting Food Security

All concerned districts must rigorouslyimplement Action Against

Hunger and Destitution (SAHAY). Responsibility –P&RD Deptt.

233

Arrangement has to be made for ensuring

display of the list of beneficiaries of AAY in

prominent place of the ration shop. Panchayat should

cross-check and make sure that it is done properly and

regularly. Responsibility – GP, PS, Deptt of Food and

Supplies.

The poor villagers need to be motivated todevelop kitchen gardens

wherever there is vacant space in the house site.

Seeds of vegetables, which require very little

space, need to be distributed onetime to the poor

villagers. P&RD may collaborate with expert NGOs in

this field. More numbers of ICDS centres are to be

set up in the backward villages to upgrade the

nutritional standards of the women and children.

There should also be adequate attention paid to the

quality of the services and interface between

supervisors and the community. Responsibility –

Women and Child Development Department.

GPs to prepare, under supervision of BDO, a list ofpersons who are not

getting two meals a day and are facing the risk of

severe malnutrition and give them support from their

own resource or seek resource from untied funds.

Responsibility – GP, BDO.

Enhancing LivelihoodOptions

The field data clearly show that the backward villagers are

not left with good livelihood options, one of the

234

consequences of which is migration of the backward

people from their ancestral places. Although the NREG

Scheme has opened some opportunities, the field findings

bring out its usual weaknesses.

Cottage and Small Scale Industries should be set

up to provide local employment and make use of

local natural resources. Efforts to be made

235

for skill development in this regard. P&RD may

collaborate with Cottage and Small Scale Industries

Department in this regard.

Paperwork regarding NREGS needs to be reduced

to ensure that payment can be made on a daily basis.

Responsibility – P&RD.

Special efforts are to be made to provide 100 days ofemployment under

NREGS to the people. Responsibility – DistrictMagistrate, P&RD.

Expert agencies need to be contracted to search for

feasible livelihood development plans for the Blocks.

They should help the BDO to develop a livelihood plan

for the Backward Villages. Responsibility – Deptt.

of Agriculture.

Collaboration needs to be developed withstate/national/international

research institutes to improve agricultural

productivity. Responsibility – Deptt. of Agriculture.

Since most of the people are dependant on

agriculture related works, food production has to be

increased either by crop rotation or by introducing

new high yielding variety of crops suitable for the

climate of that district. Advice from agricultural

scientists can be obtained. Responsibility – Deptt. of

Agriculture.

Irrigation facility has to be increased either by

creating new ponds or by increasing the water holding

capacity of the existing ones. In rocky areas like

Purulia, Bankura etc. suggestions from geologists

(like SWID) may be obtained regarding site

236

selection for digging new ponds.

Responsibility – Deptt. of Minor Irrigation.

237

Improving Credit Facility for the Poor

Regular consultation needs to be held with Banks

and NABARD so that a feasible plan for providing

institutional credit to the villagers may be

drafted. Responsibility – District Magistrate.

Care has to be taken to prepare a strategyfor providing doorstep

credit to the villagers for which the

Government may consider sending a team to

Bangladesh to explore the model of Grameen Bank.

Responsibility – Deptt. of SHG and P&RD.

Campaign has to be organized for extending the net

of the SHGs to all backward households.

Responsibility - Deptt of SHG and P&RD. There are

Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies in some

of the backward villages. Initiative has to be

taken to make them work more effective.

Responsibility – Deptt. of Agriculture.

A new legislation may be initiated by which all

moneylenders will be forced to register

themselves at the GP office and would not be

allowed to charge more than a stipulated amount.

Responsibility – Chief Secretary.

Special Drive for Literacy and Educational Opportunity

In view of the large number of drop-outs it is

necessary to look into the question seriously and the

238

P&RD may interact with the SSA in the backward

villages under study. More SSKs need to be opened to

address the problem of out-of-school children in

the backward villages. The

opening of more SSKs may also be useful for

addressing the problem. SHG/NGO/local club support

may be solicited in taking the children to school.

Responsibility – P&RD, SSA.

239

Greater interaction between P&RD Department,

Mass Education Department and Department of Primary

Education may be ensured. Incidentally, there is a

representative of the P&RD in the West Bengal State

Literacy Mission Authority. Care has to be taken to

ensure the attendance of the representative in all the

meetings of the SLMA with a specific note in hand

depicting the field situation in respect of the

literacy programmes in the backward villages.

Responsibility – Chief Secretary.

Since VECs are mostly nonfunctioning, each GP membermay be given

the task of looking after all the education related

matter of his/her constituency and report it monthly

to the Shiksha Upasamity. This will in turn increase

the activity of the members. Responsibility – GP.

Since most of the children are first generation

learner, they cannot cope up with the speed of the

teaching in the classroom and thus become dropout.

Field study indicates necessity of some extra

support in learning which can be organized by

using the preraks/ sanchalaks of CECs or by

utilizing the civil societies like local clubs/ NGOs.

Responsibility – GP.

Enhancing Health Facility for the Poor

Health Department may initiate a detailed but time

bound enquiry into the health status of the

people of the backward villages, the existing

240

services available and initiate remedial measures.

Quack doctors and midwives should be properly trained

to ensure better treatment and child delivery. For

this purpose the health department at the block level

with the support of the concerned standing

committee has to prepare a list of quack doctors and

untrained midwives. The task

241

of conducting the training may be assigned to the

doctors and NGOs like Voluntary Blood Donors

Association. Responsibility – Deptt. of Health. The

PRDD should interact with the Public

Health Engineering Department for the purpose of

providing safe drinking water to the backward

villages. Responsibility – PHE Deptt.

Sustained campaign has to be initiated fortackling the menace of

alcoholism as it adversely affects their

livelihood and health. As it is rooted in the

cultural tradition of some of the people of the

backward villages, multi-pronged attack has to be

launched. The mothers’ clubs, wherever they exist, or

the SHGs, where they have been formed, may be used for

this purpose. Responsibility – GP.

Since diarrhea and fever are the main diseases in notonly the backward

villages but also in the entire rural Bengal, common

medicines to fight these diseases are to be kept

with the health workers in sufficient number.

Responsibility – Deptt. of Health, GP.

Attention of the PHE Department must be drawn towards

engaging officials to undertake periodic inspections

of the conditions of the tube wells in the backward

villages. Raised platforms to be constructed at the

base of the tube wells and they need to be repaired as

and when required to prevent contamination. Also, used

water near the source needs to be drained through

proper channel to prevent percolation at the base.

Responsibility – Deptt. of PHE.

242

Addressing Inadequate Information Base

On the basis of the Rural Household Survey and a

format for survey of facilities available to the

villagers the Block Office may be instructed to build

a database of the backward villages in the Block

and share the

243

relevant portion with the GPs. The GPs

may in turn share the information with the

people through wall-writing etc . Responsibility –

BDO.

There should be tie-ups with reputed academic

institutions for the purpose of evaluation of

progress of the development work in the villages.

Inducing People’s Participation

Steps should be taken to ensure that the date,

time and venue of the Gram Sansad meetings are

communicated to the villagers well in advance.

Periodic checks in this regard should be

undertaken by the Block office. It may be considered

if the services of the officials from the other

districts can be drafted. It might be a sort of

learning experience for the officials. There should be

reporting of what is happening in the GS meetings in a

well – designed format which will help consolidating

the reports of the whole district. The time of

the GS meeting should be revised and set in the

late afternoon so that people can attend it after the

day’s work. Responsibility – P&RD Deptt.

Select number of NGOs with high credentials should be

encouraged to initiate and intensify community

mobilization in the backward villages. Responsibility

– P&RD Deptt.

All Gram Unnayan Samities to be madefunctional by opening of

244

account, election of Secretary and devolution of funds

and specific functions to them. Responsibility – P&RD

Deptt.

245

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225

Annex 1B ack w ard V illages of W es t Ben gal: A Su rvey

DistrictBlockGramPanchayatSamsadMouzaParaHousehold No.Surveyor’sName:

Profile of the Respondent1) Religion

(i) Hindu (ii) Muslim(iii) Christian(iv) Other

2)

Caste(i)SC(ii)ST(iii) OBC (iv) Other

3) Gender(i) Male(ii) Female

226

4) Education Qualification(i) Cannot read and not able to sign(ii) Can read and able to sign(iii) Completed primary education(iv) Completed Class VIII(v) Completed Madhyamik Pariksha(vi) Appeared in Madhyamik but failed

227

(vii)Other

5) Occupation(i)Farmer(ii)Sharecropper(iii) MarginalFarmer(iv) Agri Labourer (with land) (v) Agri Labourer (landless) (vi) Domestic Help(vii) Owner ofsmall shop(viii) Works in stonequary/khadan/crusher(ix)Housewife

(x)Other

6) Age(i) 18-25 (ii)26-35(iii)36-45(iv)46-60(v) 60+

House hold related information

7) Total number of Family Members(i)5(ii)6(iii) 7(iv)

228

8(v)Other

8) Number of adult female(18+) (i) 1(ii) 2(iii) 3 (iv)4(v)Other

9) Number of women who can read and sign their names(i)0(ii)1(iii) 2(iv)3

229

(v)Other

10) Number of children less than 18 years ? (i) 0(ii)1(iii) 2(iv)3(v)Other

11) Number of girls less than 18 years of age ? (i) 0(ii) 1(iii) 2 (iv)3(v)Other

12) Number of persons more than 60 years of age ? (i) 0(ii) 1(iii) 2(iv)3(v)4(vi)Other

13) How many earning members in the family ? (i) Male :(ii) Female : (iii) Children :(iv) Senior

230

Citizen :

14) Do you possess patta of your land ? (i) Yes(ii)No(iii)Other

15) How much cultivation land do you have ? (i) 0(ii) 0-0.4 bigha (iii)0.5-1 bigha(iv) 1-2 bigha (v) 2-5 bigha (vi) Other

16) Do you get irrigation facility ?

f :

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

231

(i) Yes(ii) No

17) Is the irrigation water that you get sufficient for you ? (i) Yes(ii) No

18) What is the nature of the source of irrigation water ? (i) Government(ii) Private(iii) Both

19) Do you have to purchase water for irrigation ? (i) Yes(ii) No

20) What is the total cultivable land ? (i) Pre-khari(ii) Kharif(iii) Rabi

21) What arecrops ?

(i) Prekharif

(ii) Kharif

(iii) Rabi

22) Is there any vacant land next to your house ? (i) Yes :(ii) No :

23) If yes, then is that land used ? (i) Yes :(ii) No :

24) Has your house ever been destroyed by river erosion ? (i) Yes :(ii) No :

25) What material is the roof of the house made of?

232

(i) Straw(ii) Tin(iii) Cement(iv) Other

26) What material is used for fuel while cooking ? (i) Cow-dung(ii) Dry leaves(iii) Wood(iv) Kerosene(v) Other

27) How many full meals do the family members set in a day ? (i) 0(ii) 1(iii) 2(iv) Other

Education:

28) How many children go to school ? (i) Boys :(ii) Girls :

29) What kind of school do they go to ?

Boy Girl(i) Government(ii NGO(iii)

ChristianMissionary

(iv)

SSK(v) MSK(vi)

Madrasa(vii)

Other

30) How many have stopped going to school ? (i) Boys :(ii) Girls:

233

31) If any child has stopped going to school then what is the reaction ? (i) School is far off(ii) Cannot understand language(iii) Cannot pay for it(iv) Teacher behaves badly(v) The child has to work at home(vi) The child has to earn(vii) No point in sending to school(viii) Other

32) Is there any adult education centre inyour village ? (i) Yes(ii) No

33) Does it open regularly? (i) Yes(ii) No

34) If a child in your family has never been to school than what is the reason?

(i) School is far away(ii) Cannot pay for education(iii) The child has to work at home(iv) The child has to earn(v) No point in sending to school(vi) Other

35) Do the children get any private tution ? (i) Yes(ii) No(iii) No but would like to provide them(vi) Only the boys get it(v) Other

36) Have you ever seen the school where your children go ? (i) Yes(ii) No

37) Does the V.E.C. work actively ? (i) Yes(ii) No(iii) Do not know

234

38) Have you heard of Shiksha O Swasthya Upasamity ? (i) Yes(ii)No

39) Do the children of your village get mid-day meal ? (i) Yes(ii)No(iii) Don’tknow

40) Is there any corruption related to mid-day meal in your village ? (i) Yes(ii)No(iii) Don’tknow

Health41) What is the source of drinking water for

your family ? (i) Deep tubewell(ii)Pond(iii)Well(iv)Other

42) How much time is required to fetch water ? (i) 10-15 min(ii) 15-20min (iii)20-30 min(iv) 30-45min (v)45-60 min(vi) Other

43) What are the various diseases your family has suffered from in the last one year ?

(i)Fever(ii)

235

Diorrhoea(iii)T.B.(iv)Malaria(v)Other

44) What is the most common disease among children in your family who are less than 5 years of age ?

(i)Diorrhoea(ii)Measles

236

(iii) Breathing trouble(iv) Other

45) What is the most common disease in your village ? (i) Fever(ii)Diarrhoca(iii)Phileria(iv)Malaria(v) Other

46) If a member of the family falls ill to whom do you go for treatment ?

(i) PHC(ii) Sub-centre(iii) Gramin Hospital(iv) Sub-divisional Hospital(v) District Hospital(vi) MBBS degree holding private doctor(vii) Quack doctor(viii) Doctor brought inby NGO (xi) Self treatment(x) Other

47) During child birth whose helping is takenfor delivery? (i) Mid wife(ii) Trained midwife(iii) Neighbour(iv) Family member(v) ANM(vi) Other

48) Before the birth of the last child did the mother get the following services?

Service P /x(i) 2 Tetanus Toxoid

(ii) 100 iron tablets(iii)

3 check-up duringpregnancy

237

(vi) 1 check up during delivery

Yes NoYes NoYes NoYes No

238

(v) All of them(vi) None

49) How far is the health centre fromthe village ?

(i) 0-2km (ii)2-5 km(iii) 5-7 km(iv) 7 +km

50) How much do you spend every month on health ? (i) Rs. 0-50(ii) Rs.50-100 (iii) Rs.100-200 (iv) Rs.200+

51) What is the biggest problem regardingtreatment ?

(i) Sub centre does not have medicine(ii) PHC does not havedoctor (iii) Cannot afford medicines (iv) Doctors cannot diagnose(v) Doctors/Nurses be have badly(vi) Other

52) Did the last child in the family receive the following vaccines ? (i) BCG & Polio Zero(ii) DPT1,Polio1 (iii)DPT2, Polio 2(iv) DPT3,Polio3(v) Measles,Vitamine, Dose1

53) Has any child in your family received pulse polio ?

(i) Yes

239

(ii) No(iii) Not relevant

Income &Expenditure

54) What is the main source of family’s income ? (i) Agriculture

240

(ii) Wage ofagricultural worker(iii) Sharecroppers share(iv) Salary from Governmentservice(v) Salary from working asdomestic help(vi)Other

55) What are the secondary sources of income ? (i) Cottage industry(ii) Smallshop(iii) Money sent by family memberfrom outside(iv)Other

56) What is the total family income per month ? (i) 500-1000(ii)1000-1500(iii)1500-2000(iv) 2000-2500 (v)Other

57) What is the total family

expenditure ? (i) 500-1000(ii)1000-1500(iii)1500-2000(iv) 2000-2500 (v)Other

58) Is your family involved in any cottage industry ? (i) Yes(ii)No

241

59) If yes, then what ? (i) Biri making(ii) Idolmaking(iii)Pottery(iv) Making caneproducts(v) Products fromsaal leaves(vi)Handloom(vii)Other

60) How many persons are fully unemployed ? (i) Male(ii)Female

242

61) How many family members are partly unemployed ?

(i) Male(ii) Female

62) Has anyone in the family received job card for NREGS ? (i) Yes(ii) No

63) Has any one received work ? (i) Yes(ii) No

64) If any members has received work than what has beenthe problems ? (i)No problems(ii) List of work(iii) Little money, Delay in payment(iv) Other

65) Does anyone in the family migrate elsewhere for work ? (i) Yes(ii) No

66) If yes then would he/she prefer to work outside or

work for NREGS ? (i) Prefer NREGA(ii) Prefer to migrate

67) If prefer to migrate then why ? (i) More income(ii) Relation with GP not good(iii) Long standing practice(iv) Working outside is more fun(v) Other

68) Has your family expenditure gone up in the past two years ? (i) Yes(ii) No

69) If yes, them expenditure on what has gone up ? (i) Agriculturalinput(ii) Health(iii) Education

243

(iv) Money – interest rate(v) All of these(vi) Other

70) If your family income increases by Rs. 500 then what would your spend it on ?

(i) Education for children(ii) Repay debt (iii) Buy goat (iv) Other

Credit & Savings

71) What is the interest rate charged by the money leader in your village ?

(i) 20-30% (ii)30-40%(iii)40-50%(iv) 50%+(v) Don’t know

72) From whom do you take loan ? (i) Money leader(ii) Bank(iii) Credit Cooperative Society(iv) SHG(v) Chit Fund(vi) Other

73) Is any member of your family member ofan SHG ? (i) Yes(ii) No

74) What work does the SHGdo ? (i) Goat rearing(ii) Rice Husking(iii) Poultry(iv) Other

244

75) What natural resource is there inthe village ? (i) Bamboo(ii) Cane

245

(iii) Babuigrass (iv)Saal leaves(v) Other

76) What problems are there as members of SHG ? (i) Meeting not heldregularly(ii) Quarrel regarding who shall get loan(iii) Cannot always repay on time(iv) Interest rate very high(v) All of these (vi) No problem (v) Other

77) Where does your family save money ? (i) No money tosave(ii) SHG (iii) Bank(iv) Money leader(v) Other

78) What are the reasons for taking loan ? (i) To buy agricultural inputs(ii) Build/repair house(iii) Dowry(iv) Marriage ceremony(v) Purchase land(vi) Other

Food security79) Do you have a ration

card ? (i) Yes(ii) No

80) How many days a week does the ration shop remain open ? (i) Once a week(ii) Twice a week

246

(iii) Three a week(iv) Four times a week(v) 4 +(vi) Remains closed

247

81) Have you heard of Annapurna & Antodyaya Yojana ? (i) Yes(ii) No

82) If yes then do you – who can benefit fromthe schemes ? (i) Yes(ii) No

83) Have you heard of NOAPS – an old age pension scheme ? (i) Yes(ii) No

84) If yes, then do you know who can benefit from the scheme ? (i) Yes(ii) No

85) Have you heart of Indira AwasYojana? (i) Yes(ii) No

86) If yes, then do you know who can set – benefit from this scheme ? (i) Yes(ii) No

87) Have you heard of PROFLAL, a provident fund for agriculture labourers?

(i) Yes(ii) No

88) If yes, then do you know who can get the benefits ? (i) Yes(ii) No

89) Do you know that there are several schemes for thepoor which are implemented by the GP ?

(i) Yes(ii) No

90) Is there any NGO in your village ? (i) Yes(ii) No(iii) Don’t know

248

91) If yes, then what do they do ? (i) Education(ii) Health(iii) Agriculture(iv) SHG (v)Other

92) Is there any Christian organization inyour village ? (i) Yes(ii) No(iii) Don’t know

93) If yes, then what do they do ? (i) Education(ii) Health(iii) Vocational Training(iv) Other

94) Is there any ICDS Centre in your village ? (i) Yes(ii) No

95) If yes, then does the ICDS worker comeregularly ? (i) Yes(ii) No(iii) Don’t know

96) If for some reason you are unable to find any food then whom would you turn to ?

(i) B.D.O.(ii) Pradhan/Member/Local leader(iii) NGO(iv) Political Party(v) Other

P o l i ti c a l A w a r e n e ss 97) Do you know the name of your

Pradhan ? (i) Yes(ii) No

98) Have you ever seen your

249

Pradhan ? (i) Yes

250

(ii) No

99) Do you know which political party Pradhan belongs to ? (i) CPI (M)(ii) RSP (iii) CPI(iv) Forward Block(v) Pradesh Congress(vi) TMC(vii) BJP (viii) Other(xi) Don’t know

100) Do you ever meet your Pradhan ? (i) Yes(ii) No

101) If No, then why ?(i) Pradhan behaves badly(ii) Can’t find him in office(iii) He/she is not from our party(iv) Other

102) How many times a year does Gram Sansad

happen in a year ? (i) 1(ii) 2(iii) 3 (iv)4(v) Other

103) Does anyone from your family attend Samsad Meetings ? (i) Yes(ii) No

104) If no, then why ?(i) Not interested(ii) Can’t under the discussions

s

251

(iii) No interest in politic(iv) No one listens to our demands(v) Other

105) Have you heard of Gram Unnayan Samity ?

252

(i) Yes(ii) No

106) Have you noted in the last Legislative Assembly election ? (i) Yes(ii) No

107) If no, then why ?(i) Not interested in politics(ii) Do not trust electoral system(iii) I was ill(iv) Other

108) Do you know the name of your MLA ? (i) Yes(ii) No

109) Which party does your MLA belongs ? (i) CPI (M)(ii) RSP (iii) CPI(iv) Forward Block(v) INC (vi) TMC(vii) BJP (viii) Other(xi) Don’t know

110) Are your afraid of political parties ? (i) Yes(ii) No(iii) No, but do not like them

(iv) Other

Relationship with the State111) Have you ever been to the GP

Office ? (i) Yes(ii) No

253

112) If no then why ?

254

(i) Pradhan behaves badly(ii) Not from our party(iii) Pradhan only listens to his own party(iv) Pradhan does not listen to us(v) Other

113) Has any officer from the Block visit you village in the last year ?(i) Yes(ii) No

114) Have you ever been to a block office ? (i) Yes(ii) No

115) Are you afraid of going to the block office ? (i) Yes(ii) No(iii) No, but do not like to go there

116) Whom do you trust more block or GP ? (i) Block(ii) GP(iii) Both (iv) None

117) Have you ever been to the local Thana ? (i) Yes(ii) No

118) Do you think that the police will protect your ifthere is dacoity in the village ?

(i) Yes(ii) No(iii) Don’t know(iv) Other

255

Comments from the Surveyor :District :Block :Gram

Samsad :Mouza :Para :Household No. :Surveyor’s :name

Signature of the Surveyor (with date)

----------------------------------------------------

Signature of the Coordinator (with date)

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256

Annex 2List of Selected Blocks and Villages

BIRBHUM

Block Village1 Murari I Mukundapur2 Murari II Gopnandigram3 Rampurhat I Kitibpur4 Mohammadbazar Porabali5 Rajnagar Azimnagar6 Suri I Muruliachak7 Bolpur Patharghata8 Dubrajpur Khosbaspur9 Khoyrasol Amlakuri

MURSHIDABAD

Block Village1 Kandi Bhabanandapu2 Berhampore Hajidanga3 Khargram Sankarpur4 Bharatpur I Haranandapur5 Suti I Lalupur6 Samserganj Adwaitanagar7 Farakka Bahadurpur8 Raghunathgan

jI

Gadaipur

9 Suti II Ichhlampur10 Murshidabad

JiagunjMatijhil

11 Sagardighi DakshinKalikapur

257

DAKSHIN DINAJPUR

Block Village1 Balurghat Chakkhetab2 Bansihari Chotakhidirp

ur3 Gangarampur Akchha4 Harirampur Godal5 Kushmundi Sarala6 Tapan Sulapanipur

UTTAR DINAJPUR

Block Village1 Chopra Dakshin

Damodarpur2 Goalpokhar I Bhagabanpur3 Goalpokhar

IIPurbaKamarshal

4 Islampur Daulatpur5 Itahar Ranapur6 Kaliaganj Dhondarpail7 Karandighi Bilaspur8 Raiganj Parial

BANKURA

Block Village1 Bankura I Paharia2 Bankura II Baramasiya3 Barjora Joytunga4 Chhatna Khudra

Banagram5 Gangajalghat Dhabani6 Hirbandh Jhatpukhuria7 Indpur Deulbhira8 Jaypur Shiberdanga9 Khatra Dakai

258

10 Mejhia Telenda11 Onda Mathura12 Petrasayer Balananda13 Raipur Madhupur14 Ranibundh Makhnu15 Saltora Madhabpur16 Sarenga Phulberia17 Simlapal Barakhulia18 Sonamukhi Brojanathpur19 Vishnupur Chakuparsol

PASCHIM MEDINIPUR

Block Village1 Binpur I Chhota

Radhidanga2 Binpur II Barsol3 Chandrakona Shripur4 Garbeta I Phulbanipur5 Garbeta II Naya Bankati6 Garbeta III Simulia7 Gopiballavpu

rGuhiasol

8 GopiballavpurII

PaschimNayagan

9 Jamboni Amtala10 Jhargram Khalsiyali11 Keshiary Chhatrar12 Keshpur Chandkhali13 Kharagpur I Kankuria14 Kharagpur II Dakshin

Markundapur15 Midnapore Khaldangi16 Narayangarh Laljhuri17 Nayagram Barajharia18 Salbani Shyamchak19 Sankrail Kendugari

259

PURULIABlock Village

1 Arsha Lachhamanpur2 Bagmundi Simali3 Balarampur Kadamdih4 Barabazar Raidih5 Bundwan Dabladih6 Hura Shyamnagar7 Jaipur Silphor8 Jhaldah I Telidi9 Jhaldah II Shyampur10 Kashipur Guhagara11 Manbazar I Bari12 Manbazar II Jamunaband13 Neturia Ankduara14 Para Kinisayar15 Puncha Chakaltagora16 Purulia I Doldanri17 Purulia II Palanja

(P) (New J.L. 6)18 Raghunathpu

r- I

Shyamsundarpur

19 RaghunathpurII

Kewabathan

20 Santuri Kalikapur