A Case Study on:Socio-Economic Condition of the Bhumijs Tribal Communities in a Village of Sundarban, West Bengal

In India, all sections of society share economic and social prosperity. It is widely acknowledged that a large section of the population, especially the tribal communities are still economically and socially backward .so I decided to work on tribal communities at the bhumij village in the Nafarganj Island of sundarban south 24 Parganas, west Bengal. A special attention is given to study the recent migration of the bhumij from their residences for a temporary period under the present economic hardship faced by them. The women and men of the village were found to be engaged in a variety of occupations, like cultivation, forest products collection, petty business and agricultural as well as non-agricultural works. The same person or family was also found to be engaged in more than one occupation and the challenging visit to forests and risky rivers and creeks were also found to be taken up by the womenfolk. A closer look at the age composition of the villagers vis-a-vis occupation revealed that the younger generation of bhumij showed a higher preference to engage themselves as migrant workers outside the village, some time crossing the boundaries of the district and the state. we concluded that the real economic and social condition of the bhumijs of koloni para was their poverty and land lessness, coupled with the risks of visiting the forest as a subsistence strategy.