Browsing by Author "Roy, Ranjan"

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    A study on socio economic conditions of women beedi workers in Tufanganj Subdivision of Koch Bihar District, West Bengal
    (University of North Bengal, 2023) Karmakar, Sangita; Roy, Ranjan
    Introduction Beedi industry is predominantly an unorganised sector in India. A large number of people belonging to poor socio-economic backgrounds have chosen beedi rolling as their occupation to support their families. In our country women make up nearly 90 percent of total employment in beedi industry. Thus the beedi industry has helped them to escape from the vicious cycle of poverty. But the contractual nature of employment, low wage rate and involvement of middlemen has made the industry more vulnerable. Women and children engaged in beedi industry face abuse, financial discrimination and health hazards. Workers involved in beedi rolling activity are at a high risk of tuberculosis, asthma and others. However, at the time of job uncertainty, many people don‟t consider these health hazards when making decisions about their livelihood. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the socio-economic factors which are responsible for the backwardness of such workers engaged in beedi industry. This thesis intends to focus on the livelihood status of women beedi workers in Tufanganj Subdivision of Koch Bihar district. Koch Bihar is a socio-economically backward district in West Bengal and predominantly an agricultural district. This study mainly concentrates on the social, economic and health condition of the women beedi workers in Tufanganj Subdivision as Tufanganj Subdivision is a special economic zone (SEZ) of beedi industry in Koch Bihar district. Objectives The main objectives of the study are: 1. To assess the socio-economic conditions of women beedi workers in Tufanganj Subdivision. 2. To assess the impact of beedi rolling on health condition of women beedi workers in the study area. 3. To evaluate the implementation status of legal provisions and schemes for the welfare of women beedi workers. 4. To find out their problems and suggest remedial measures for the upliftment of socio - economic status of women beedi workers. Hypothesis To fulfill the objectives following hypothesis have been taken: 1. Educational level of female beedi worker plays a key role in determining her number of child birth. 2. Level of income of women beedi worker has significant impact on family decision- making. 3. The health condition of women beedi workers is associated with hours of beedi rolling. Methodology This study is based on both primary and secondary data which are further analysed with the help of appropriate statistical tools and techniques. Tufanganj Subdivision has been selected as the study area and particularly women beedi workers were selected for the study as they are the best representative of the entire beedi worker community. A total number of 560 respondents were selected from various parts of Tufanganj Subdivision. Both rural and urban beedi workers were selected for the study to show the degree of deprivation of basic socio- economic opportunities among them. Findings Study has revealed that the socio-economic status of women beedi workers in both rural and urban areas is very low. Women engage themselves in beedi rolling at an early age. Workers below 20 years age and more than 60 years of age both have been found higher in rural areas than urban areas. It indicates that the rural young women are more vulnerable to engage in beedi rolling activity than urban women. Further, the literacy rate is very less among the women beedi workers in the study area and it has been discovered that in rural areas higher educated women have also opted beedi rolling as their occupation due to absence of alternate job opportunities. The quality of the dwelling places shows their poor economic condition. Only 5.71 percent households monthly income exceeds >15000 as most of the households do not have any fixed income. Even to insure their everyday expenses, the majority of households are in debt. Therefore, it is revealed that the beedi workers' poor financial situation has a negative impact on their standard of living in the study area. The piece rate system compels them to roll beedi for the entire day. Study shows that 43.57 percent workers are engaged in beedi rolling for 8 to 10 hours, in a single day. Workers are also deprived of getting wage rates as per government prescribed rate and only 20.54 percent have reported a wage rate of more than 150/-. The contractual nature of employment has made their monthly income more vulnerable as it is totally controlled by the middleman. Study has also revealed that both rural and urban beedi worker households have moderate income inequality and rural households have a little bit higher income inequality than urban households. The main reason behind this may be the intensity and incidence of poverty among beedi workers in rural areas is higher than in urban areas. Livelihood security index also shows that beedi workers from both the rural (0.3864) and urban areas (0.4686) are less secure in terms of livelihood conditions and rural beedi workers are facing an extremely insecure livelihood status. Particularly, economic security is highly vulnerable situation in rural areas. Study has also revealed that beedi workers suffer from various health issues due to direct inhalation of tobacco and sitting in the same posture for long hours. Study has found that various types of respiratory and musculoskeletal problems are very much common among the respondents and severity of health hazards is higher in case of higher age, heavy workload and long years of beedi rolling. Various welfare programmes for beedi workers have been introduced by the state and central government but the utilization of these schemes is very minimal. Majority of the home based beedi workers are deprived of government welfare schemes because the employers consider them as self-employed as they work from their home. It indicates the existence of a wide gap between the policies for their development and their implementation. The level of awareness among beedi workers about various schemes is poor in the study area. 52.50 percent women workers were moderately aware of only the provisions of health under Beedi Worker Welfare Scheme. Study found that the workers with higher level of literacy and media exposure are comparatively more aware of various government welfare programs allotted for them. Exploitation by middlemen, inadequate supply of raw material, unhealthy working conditions, irregularities of wage payment, problems to access identity cards and heavy workload have been identified as major problems faced by women beedi workers in the study area. So, it can be said that mere development plans and policies are not sufficient for the development of such vulnerable people; rather emphasis should be given on their proper implementation.
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    Changing pattern in agriculture ; a case study of Koch Behar district
    (University of North Bengal, 2009) Roy, Ranjan; Sarkar, Subir
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    Forest cover health dynamics analysis overtime in and adjoining region of Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), India
    (University of North Bengal, 2022) Nad, Chiranjib; Basu Roy, Tamal; Roy, Ranjan
    The spatio-temporal analysis of forest cover change, forest health degradation and fragmentation could provide base line information for achieving sustainable forest conservation and management goal. In this present study we analyzed the forest health degradation and fragmentation dynamics analysis using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) in and adjoining region of Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), India. Data from Landsat TM 4 and 5 and Landsat 8 OLI of 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2019 were used. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were applied to estimates forest cover heath and post classification change detection techniques was performed and calculating the rate of change (RC) commonly used in forest degradation change studies. To validate it overall accuracy and Kappa statistics were calculated. It finds out -68.68% (217.04 km2) of dense forest cover decreased, while 49.88% (71.02 km2) of overstressed open forest cover, 12.65% (12.07 km2) of stressed degraded forest cover and 38.72% (115.05 km2) of tea plantation areas increased respectively. The result from pixel counting of forest fragmentation class map shows that there is continued decrease in the large core forest area while an increase in the perforated forest, patch and edge area took place within the period. The results of the present study could provide quantitative information which is essential for further management of this forest environment and for taking actions plan to mitigate the forest degradation and fragmentation.
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    Gender Disparity in literacy level among Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe Population – A case Study of Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India
    (University of North Bengal, 2022) Barman, Anindita; Roy, Ranjan
    Literacy is an important indicator of socio-cultural development of any region. Male-female gap in literacy is an important indicator of literacy. Gender disparity in literacy affects in all aspects of lives of women .Scheduled caste and Scheduled tribe peoples are always far behind in all social development aspects. The present paper aims to study the Gender disparity in literacy among schedule caste and scheduled tribe population in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal. The research work is based on secondary sources of data collected from the District Census Hand Book (2011) of Jalpaiguri district and State Statistical Handbook. Literacy rate has been computed for the population above 6 year and Sopher’s Disparity index modified by Kundu and Rao (1983) has been employed for measurement of male-female disparity among SC and ST population in literacy. The male female disparity in literacy is high in rural area than urban area.
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    Geographical analysis of urban growth in Siliguri planning area, West Bengal
    (University of North Bengal, 2023) Saha, Arjun; Roy, Ranjan
    Title: A Geospatial Analysis of Urban Growth in Siliguri Planning Area, West Bengal Introduction: Urban growth is a universal phenomenon. It takes place in almost all the cities in the world. In developed countries, this growth had taken place much before than the developing and underdeveloped countries respectively. In developed countries, this has been taken place in a planned and efficient way, whereas in the developing and underdeveloped countries, it does not follow any rules and regulations, though in maximum cities of developing world there has some certain rules. Due to this unplanned nature of growth of urban built-up features, several productive lands that surround the city are going to extinct which creates an adverse effect on that city. India is a country which falls still in the developing world is facing this same situation in many cities. Some megacities which lie at the top of the table are comparatively follow better regulations and extending themselves in a sustainable way, but maximum cities which have an great economic importance in the country does not follow those rules. Growths in these cities are taking place due to the excessive increase of population mainly for the migration from rural areas primarily for better economic opportunities. Siliguri is a city that lies in the northern part of West Bengal is facing this same problem after its formation. From the beginning this area had been exploited for different purposes and besides this, as this urban centre playing a role of primate city for the entire North Bengal after independence, maximum people had shifted to this place for better livelihood, which makes the growth in a faster rate comparing to other. This faster growth of population and simultaneously urban built-up often captures the productive lands, like forests and agricultural land that surround this city in all sides. So, for this reason, this city with its surrounding area, known as Siliguri Planning Area (SPA) that demarcated by Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) has been taken to find out the land use and land cover changes from 1992 to 2021, to identify the growth of urban built-up in this region, to identify the sustainably suitable places for new development, to analyze the relation between infrastructural development and urban growth and lastly to identify and analyze the possible problems that are occurring in this area due to unplanned and limitless urban growth. Database and Methodology: For this entire work, researcher has used different secondary data that are openly available in different repositories. For the analysis of land use and land cover and to analyze the urban built-up growth from 1992 to 2021, land surface temperature, vegetation index, Landsat satellite images for the year 1992, 2001, 2011 and 2021 have been used in this work. Beside this, for the identification of suitable places for new built-up development and for the analyze of infrastructural development, Census data of 2001 and 2011, Google earth data, data from different government sources, like department of food supply and distribution, department of mass education extension and library services, govt. of West Bengal, department of posts, govt. of India, Bank master data for West Bengal, etc. have been considered. Primary data has also been collected for the analysis of water quality of major two rivers of this region, Mahananda and Balason from total 17 sites. Beside these, some ground verification data has also been collected from using handheld Global Positioning System. First objective that is land use and land cover change analysis from 1992 to 2021 has been performed by using maximum likelihood classification technique after different processing of images in the GIS platform. Urban growth pattern has been analyzed by taking Shannon’s entropy in two ways; first by direction-wise and second by distance-wise and beside this, trends of urban growth and its speed of expansion has been identified by urban density analysis and Urban Expansion Intensity Index (UEII). Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been taken for the identification of new preferable built-up locations. To analyze the relation between different infrastructural facilities and urban built-up growth Borda rule has been used in this work. Unplanned urban growth has some negative impacts on the natural surroundings. For this, in this work, impacts on river water, vegetation and in local temperature have been calculated and identified. Water Quality Index (WQI) has been used to monitor the river water quality, Vegetation index, such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been performed for the vegetation density analysis and Land Surface Temperature (LST) has been used for analysing temperature fluctuation from 1992 to 2021. Different correlations have been performed for the analysis of relation between different indices and parameters. Brief Outline of the Study: This whole work has been completed by making total seven chapters. First chapter has been divided into two sections. Section A mainly deals with the overview of the whole thesis, problem of the statement, objectives that are taken, hypotheses that has been framed, rigorous literature surveys, about the study area, chapter details, scopes and etc. and Section B describes the general characteristics of the study area, like its different socio-physical characteristics. Second chapter is about the land use and land cover (LULC) dynamics in this study area and it has been done from the year 1992 with a ten year interval and up to 2021. Third chapter is the heart of this thesis that deals with the pattern, trends and speed of urban built-up growth in this region. Urban built-up growth has been calculated by using the extracted built-up features from the satellite images from 1992 with a ten year interval and up to 2021. Like this the trend and speed also has been analyzed and calculated from 1992 to 2021. Fourth chapter has tried to identify the perfect or suitable patches of land for new urban built-up area. This has been done using the data for the year 2021. Fifth chapter is about to study the relation between different infrastructural developments that has taken place in this region with population growth. This study has been carried out for the two years due to the availability of the data and these are, 2001 and 2011. Sixth chapter has tried to identify the problems or negative impacts on different parts of the environment due to the unplanned and fast built-up development. Negative impacts on river water, local temperature and on vegetation have been analyzed by using primary and secondary sources. Lastly, seventh chapter has summarized the major findings of this work and also put some remedial suggestions with concluding remarks to overcome different problems that this area has been facing. Major Findings: This study area lies in the piedmont of Darjeeling Himalaya and that is why the overall gradient maintains from the north and north-west to the south and south-eastern portion with an average height is about more than 150 metres. Connectivity is good in this region with three major railway stations and one airport and some national and international highways are also present here. Population growth due to the natural and migration is huge in this whole region. As this area lies in the piedmont of the Darjeeling Himalaya and Terai tract, so this area from very beginning is dominated by different forest cover and as this area was facing huge population growth due to its locational importance, so drastic positive and negative changes in different categories of LULC has been seen. Vegetation cover has been lost about 56 sq. km. from 1992 to 2021. Agricultural land has been changed into built-up land in Chandmuni tea estate area. Built up land has occupied the core zone of this study area almost entirely. A significant growth of built up land has seen along the highways that radiated from the core city centre. In case of built-up pattern, the whole area from the 1992 is showing dispersed pattern of development instead of compact one. Though in the last calculated year, it is moving towards the compact pattern just because for the restrain of available lands. In first three years, Shannon’s entropy value lies close to the logn value and for that it can be said that this area has experienced an urban sprawl that destructs different productive lands. The analysis revealed that the urban growth in Siliguri Planning Area follow a regular radial pattern. Ribbon pattern of sprawl is observed along the highways and leapfrog pattern towards southern and northern direction due to working opportunities, educational facility and because of tea planted areas of the study area. This study has identified that the maximum suitable area for new built-up development has seen in between the 5 km. to 9 km. from the core of the city and after this, suitable area decreases. Very little amount of lands has been identified as highly suitable area that is 4.58 sq. km. that denotes this study area presently stays at its well condition in case of built-up categories. Further construction will harm the nature. This study area is mainly dominated by medium suitable area and mostly lies along the accessible roads. Maximum areas of highly suitable area and moderate suitable areas come from wasteland and the vegetated land has been preserved. The core area that is Siliguri city is highly dominated by different infrastructural facilities with the highest score in both two years from the beginning as this area holds more than half of the population of the total study area. Other old centres like Bagdogra, Bairatisal also shows comparatively better infrastructural condition in this region. Dabgram and Binnaguri that are very close to Siliguri city have shown a higher score of infrastructural facilities. Analysis of water quality reveals that Balason River is much better than the river Mahananda as Balason mainly flows from the outer periphery of the core area and population pressure is much lower than that of river Mahananda. Water quality is worst in the Airview sampling site of Mahananda in both seasons due to the pressure of population and their different activities. It has been seen that, a significant change of river water quality between upstream and urban and also urban and downstream. In the southern portion of the study area a fresh water canal has mixed up with river Mahananda which makes is better quality in the downstream portion. Land surface temperature has been calculated for the year 1992 and 2021 and it has been seen that about 0.5⁰C temperature has risen in the highest temperature. Maximum temperature has been recorded in the core of the study area and this is due to the highest density of population, maximum traffic movements, absence of thick vegetation cover etc. Vegetation density has also been analyzed in this region from 1992 to 2021 by using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index or NDVI. Results reveal that highest value of NDVI was 0.75 in the year 1992 which has reduced in to 0.43 in the year 2021 due to the expansion of impervious surfaces on the study area. Values of NDVI also suggest that in the year 1992, high dense vegetation was there which has come in the medium dense category in the year 2021. Conclusion: Development and destruction goes in the similar way. If any area has seen any major developmental projects then it is obvious that, same place has faced some kind of destruction in the natural environment. Urban built-up growth and successive population growth is now a natural phenomenon and this will happen and increase its magnitude in near future. Developed countries has faced this situation much before than present developing and underdeveloped countries and that is why they had faced different problems in earlier and now they are in a stable condition due to low and even zero population growth. India falls on the developing one and that is why most of the cities in this country are facing tremendous population growth, unplanned urban built-up growth, shortages of suitable lands for new built-up places, and also problems on different parts of natural environment. Siliguri Planning Area is also facing this same problem mainly after the partition at the time of independence. That is why this work has tried to identify the built-up growth, urban sprawling, and different problems of this growth on natural environment, like on water, forest, and also in the local temperature. Overall study in this region reveals that unplanned and haphazard built-up growth and urban sprawling and huge population growth has taken place and due to this local temperature has risen in this area, high dense and thick vegetation cover has almost lost in thirty years, water quality degrades when river enters in the core urban and highly populated area. Outcomes and findings of this study will help to the locals, planners, government officials, policy makers to take necessary and suitable steps for the proper planning and betterment for this area
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    Impact of hydrological changes and adaptation practices of the rural people in the lower teesta river basin of West Bengal, India
    (University of North Bengal, 2023) Das, Dipankar; Roy, Ranjan
    The Teesta River, which is regarded as a source of sustenance in the landscape, is situated in the Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan region and has hydrological characteristics that are frequently significantly altering. In this regard, morphometric analysis has been created for the Teesta River basin area, and different morphometric data have been produced utilizing topographical maps released by the Survey of India as well as Remote Sensing and GIS platforms. The examination of physical characteristics and human interference allows for the identification of numerous hydrological changes. Anthropogenic activities have created adjustments along the Teesta, which change the hydro-morphological properties across the basin area. These changes are manifested in a variety of dangerous circumstances, primarily flooding across the concerned river's flood plain, while concurrently, for most portions of the basin, agriculture denotes a leading role in this regard. Agriculture in the study area has advanced significantly in recent years. But lately, it has been struggling with issues including tiny land holdings, traditional agriculture with poor infrastructure, a lack of surface water, and rising climatic and hydrological variability. The River Teesta's flood plain is a significant source of natural resources that provide high economic and livelihood values to the locals who live along the river's banks in the study region. Local rural residents are currently dealing with a different kind of issue as a result of hydrological and hydro-morphological changes. Due to the high demand for agricultural products, smart agriculture and appropriate adaptation strategies are required to ensure agricultural output. As a result, this is a reform of the agricultural system to increase productivity and reduce its impact on the environment. An effort has been made to uncover some little-known information about the restoration, conservation, and management of the floodplain through sustainable agricultural adaptation practices that closely resemble hydrological changes, which are more beneficial to socioeconomic development as well as serve to lower the risk of human habitation and promote sustainable use of the land in the nearby riparian areas. The current research aims to conduct an in-depth analysis of the Teesta River's hydrological processes, including any changes or issues they may have, and to add value to assessments of the socioeconomic resilience of the areas around the channels by offering some suggestions for long-term adaptation and management and The supposition of this research is that the adoption of climate-smart agriculture results in increased agricultural output as well as field-level water and energy savings. Smart agriculture is one example of an adaptation practice that can lessen many of the negative effects of hydrological variability and hydrological change. These practices can also improve socioeconomic situations and many other advantages. The peasants are less vulnerable due to inadequate infrastructure, scarce economic resources, insufficient water supply, and traditional agriculture. However, adaptation techniques like mulching, zero tillage, solar-powered irrigation pumps (SPIP), etc. tend to benefit the villages on several levels, including energy and water savings, as well as production increases. Our research demonstrates that smart agriculture is a framework to integrate its use at the national, state, and local level strategies for wide-scale and long-term support of it in developing nations, such as India. Overall, adaptation practices such as smart agriculture play a key role in preserving agricultural sustainability in the face of increasing hydrological risk and variability. The methods employed in this study are to evaluate a conceptual framework of vulnerability and adaptability in agriculture using various indicators related to the study's central issue. It is based on the integration of numerous climate risks and hazards, environmental elements, and socioeconomic aspects that generate evaluations using the multi-criteria decision-making technique and the association between hydrological, socioeconomic, economic governance, biophysical, and coping mechanisms of locals in the research area was examined using the binary logistic regression model. Consequently, it suggests that policymakers incorporate smart agriculture into their development planning which is essential for lowering agricultural susceptibility to the hydrological risk and flood occurrences that have a devastating impact.
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    Spatio –Temporal Analysis of Changing Tribal Population Density, Concentration and Sex Composition in Jhargram District, West Bengal
    (University of North Bengal, 2022) Bera, Ananda Nanda; Roy, Ranjan
    Demographical study helps us to know the changing pattern of population in any region over time and space. To understand changing pattern of population we must consider social, cultural and economic environment of any region. It is also closely related with population density, concentration and sex composition. . In India approximately 698 schedule tribes consists of 8.6% or 104 million of the total population (Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 2013). Newly form Jhargram district is one of the largest tribal concentrated district of West Bengal (April 4, 2017). According to 2011 census report 333848 tribal people was lived in Jha gram district out of total population 1135748. Six major tribal groups construct 29.37% tribal people of Jhargram district which was highest percentage of tribal people of in West Bengal (Census of India,2011). Jhargram is drought prone district and environmentally fragile also. It has two state boundary, on the East Singbhum district of Jharkhand state and on the south west by Orisha state. In this backdrop the study tries to focus on spatio-temporal change of tribal population density, tribal population concentration and tribal sex composition in the different blocks of Jhargram district. We are considering both dimension spatial and temporal change of tribal population in the different blocks of Jhargram district explicitly and implicitly. Population density is the concentration of people within a particular time and space. It is one of the finest tool with which all other demographic attributes are directly or indirectly associated. Population growth determines density distribution pattern and composition of population (Ghosh, 1985). It is one of the simplest methods to establish relationship between population and natural resources. K. Sita (1986) uses this tool to discuss about pattern of schedule tribe in Maharashtra in relation to population growth and distribution. We can use population data to quantify demographic information, evaluate relationship with ecosystem, human health, livability and infrastructure. Account of tribal population density may useful for understanding spatial aspects of demographic pattern as well as overall development of the tribal people. An attempt has been made to study of the spato-temporal pattern of tribal population density and sex composition in Jhargram district, to throw light on the decadal...
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    A Study on Household Industry in Mathabhanga Municipality with Special Reference to Bamboo Based Industry
    (University of North Bengal, 2022) Saha, Arjun; Debnath, Tapan; Roy, Ranjan
    Household Industries play a vital role in the development of a developing economy like India. These industries not only raise the per capita income and standard of living of the people by providing employment opportunities but also reduce the disparities in the economic structure. A wide variety of household industries can be seen in India. The industries that are seen in rural India are mostly different that found in urban India. But some of industries can be seen both in rural and urban parts of India based on availability of raw materials. Bamboo based industry is one of the household industry which mainly seen in the eastern part of India and can be found in small towns and maximum rural parts. Mathabhanga is a small town in the northern part of West Bengal which has ample resources for bamboo based industries. A large number of people have engaged in this work for their livelihood and they rely on local markets and weekly hats to sell their products. A total of 50 units of this industry have taken for this work which is taken from different wards of this town and data are collected from each house by field survey. A total of nine parameters have been taken to find out the most important factors that effect on income generation of this industry. Multiple linear regressions have been used here to find out the result. Result shows that out of nine parameters, seven have an impact on generation of income in this study area.
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    Study on status of socio-Economic conditions of Dakshin Dinajpur District: Geographical analysis
    (University of North Bengal, 2019) Sarkar, Ranjan; Roy, Ranjan