The socio economic status of various communities: An empirical study on Sikkim Himalaya

Sikkim, the tiny hill state, is located in the lap of Eastern Himalaya. It is a beautiful landscape where the indigenous tribes like Sherpa, Bhutia lives. Initially they were totally ignorant about cultivation, but the immigrant Nepali community started the terrace cultivation. This small state which was ruled by independent kings came under the Indian territory in 1975. But, at the outset even before that merger, the people of Sikkim were mainly dependent on cultivation. But, gradually the importance of cultivation decreased and many other livelihood options came out. The per capita land decreases and the productivity increases but the constraints of hills have compelled the dwellers to think for other livelihood options. When the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe populations are regarded as most vulnerable sections in Indian Society, the status of the Scheduled Tribes are living in most favourable conditions in Sikkim. The most important agroforestry practice is cardamom plantation, which is mostly possessed by the ST people. Even the higher officials in the Sikkim's administration are largely from ST community, which is also unusual in Indian context. This paper tries to sketch the socio-economic aspect of these communities and their comparative analysis has been done in the perspective of Indian context.