Assessment of Socio-Economic Status of Tribal Households in Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal

Socio Economic Status is a widely used concept in Sociology. It is a measure of the social standing of an individual or a family in the society. Socio Economic Status (SES) is very important characteristics to categorise an individual, group, family or others for a certain period of time based on education, occupation and income. With the help of SES social and economic position is determined. It also helps to assess the health condition, mortality and nutrition status, occupancy of wealth, accessibility of resources and affordability of an individual. 70 percent of the total population of India lives in the rural area. The said percentage is slightly high in West Bengal (72%). Below Poverty level (BPL) population of West Bengal (27.5%) is slightly lower than that of the national scenario (29.5%). Central government as well as the state government have introduced various schemes for the development of the rural area since independence. The present study is an attempt to evaluate the Social and Economic status of rural people in the district of Jalpaiguri where majority of the tribal people exists from various tribal communities like Oraon, Munda, Santal, Mech and Rabha. B.G. Prasad Scale for measuring SES is more applicable to rural area and has been considered for this study. Both primary and secondary data have been used to reach the desire objectives. The study reveals that the SES of the selected tribal communities is not satisfactory enough. Their lifestyle is governed by their income and shows that their purchasing power is very meagre. It reflects the scenario of rural Indian society as a whole as money plays an important role for determining social status, accessibility to resources, possession of properties and agricultural land etc.