Geographical Paherns of Social Well-Being in West Bengal

GEOGRAPHICAL PAHERNS OF SOCIAL WELL-BEING IN WEST BENGAL

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Under the supervision of PROF. K. Z. AMANI

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AUGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH (INDIA) 1995 •Ss.,.

DS2807 PROF. K. Z. AMANI DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH-202 002 (INDIA)

Dated x 22.01.1996

CERTIFICATE

•nils is to certify that Mr. Ahmad Ali has completed

his dissertation entitled "Geographical Patterns of Social

Well-Being in West Bengal" for the award of the degree of

M.Phil, under my supervision.

\i m ( PROF. K.2. AMANI f Supervisor TO MY PARENTS CONTENTS

Page No

Ackn owl edg em en t s V viii List of Figures

List of Tables ix

Introduction ^

CHAPTER-I Social Welfare Approach in Human Geography 1-19

CHAPTER-II Social Well-Being and Causes of Inequality 20-52

CHAPTER-III Selection of Indicators 53-65

CHAPTER-IV work Done So far 66-78

CHAPTER-V The Study Area 79-127

(A) Historical Perspective 79

(B) Geographical Outline 82

CHAPTER-VI Mechanism of the Proposed Ph.D. Work. 128-141

Bibliography 142-161

**** -V-

ACKN OWLEDGEMENTS

Praise be to Allah, that I have succeeded in completing this work.

In the accomplishment of this work I have been extremely fortunate in having the strong support and encouragement of Prof, K.Z. Amani, my revered teacher and supervisor. I rather find words short to express my gratitude and thanks to him. His sympathy, knowledge, confidence and personal interests have enabled me to complete the task. His principle of "Hard work with honesty and dedication", has taught me something which I will never forget in my life.

Credit goes to my beloved parents whose sustained efforts, encouragement, affections, and their inclination towards higher education, enabled me to finish the work zeal ously. All my family members cultured me to carry out the task including my maternal uncle,

I am indebted to the inspiring as well as worthl>«flN&^ suggestions, guidance, and'moral support extended to me by my lifetime teacher, Sayyad A.R, Barkati. It would be injustice if I forget to remember and pay my heartfelt thanks to my only friend in Aligarh, Dr. Farocxj Ahmad Ba

I am very grateful to the Institute of Objective Studies New Delhi and the Coordinator of the Aligarh Chapter, Mr. M. Moqimuddin especially/ for the appreciation of my academic life and providing me with the scholarship facility.

My thanks are due to Prof. (Mrs.) A.L. Singh, Chair person of the department for her encouragement to complete the work on time. I am also thankful to Prof. Ali Mohammad for his valuable suggestions regarding the study. For helpful discussions I am grateful to Dr. Ghulam Nabi Itoo of JNU, Mr, S.M. Javed Akhtar of Economics department, Mr. Sayyad Ekram Rizvi of History department. It would be unjust mentions if I forget to thank my colleagues Messrs. M. Danish, Izhar Ahmad, Sajid, Sajjad, Aijaz Ahmad, Mahmood Ahmad Khan, Jameel Ahmad, Eqbal and Roshi for the motivation. I am greasly indebted to Mr. Mohammad Jamshed and Sayyad Pasih Raghib Gauhar, for the pains they took for proof reading in an excellent way. My special thanks are due to Mr, Munne Khan for preparing the various maps and figures superbly. The author also is very grateful to Mr. Najmud-^in, Librarian of the department for his greater contributions to the availability of study material timely, I am also thankful to the personnels of the National Library, Calcutta and Maulana Azad Library, Aligarh for being generous

and cooperative in nature for the work. -vii-

I thank all my well-wishers, for their affection, love, cooperation and constant encouragement.

Last but not the least, a special word of thanks to Mr.Ashraf, my younger brother and Mr. Zakir for their contribution to collect and get the material xeroxed.

1^ January, ,1996 (AHMAD ALI ) -viil-

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

1. West Bengal Administrative Divisions 83 2, West Bengal Gecgraphical Regions 93

111 5.1 Density of Population 1991 113 5.2 Distribution of Population 1991 115 5.3 Literacy rate 5.4 West Bengal Religions 1991 118 5.5 West Bengal Industry 125 -ix-

LIST OF TABLES

Page Nc

5.1 Population Growth 108

5.2 Population Density 109

5.3 Districtwise Population 1991 ^^2

5.4 Literacy Rate 1991 116

5.5 Sex Ratio 1991 120 -X-

INTRODUCTION

It is estimated that nearly half o£ the world popu lation is unable to fulfil the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing. Moreover, it is also observed that there are considerable reglcmal disparities with regard to the avail ability of the basic facilities for human survival. How the disparity be rainiinlsed if not eradicated totally, how the social justice be brought, how the spatial variations in life quality be removed and what ought to be the major welfare schemes to dieclc the menace of inequality, are some of the widely debated aspects of social well-being of the 1990s. In the present work, an attempt has been made to study the various aspects of social well-being.

From the mid 1950s and onwards, a movement revoluti onized geography, basically human geography. Ihis movement rapidly adopted the quantitative and theoretical approach which was hardly a continuation of traditional methods. But in the 1970s again a new revolution started, namely,'critical revolution*. It emerged as a consequence of the radical rea ction in opposition to the quantitative technique and model building emphasis of the 1960s, which was considered to be least concerned with contemporary social problems.

A movement in conteinporary human geography towards the welfare approach, in fact, was heralded by D.M. Smith -xi-

and P.L. Knox. Work on "The Geography of Social Well-Being in the United States" (1973) and the development of 'Welfare Geography* (1977) by Smith, impressed upon the responses of human geographers to the economic and social problems. Social well-being of any society over the globe bears cultural as well as technological implications. The advanced countries are far ahead in the level of material well-being owing to the early industrialization and rapid urbanization. The process of the same is rather slow and selective in a majority of the developing countries resulting in a very limited change in social facilities and yet the provision of providing basic needs of life such as food, clothing and shelter remain the priority in these countries.

Ihe term "social welfare' may be defined as sum of measures developed by a society to enable the derived sections of the population to compete for their legitimate share of the benefits of economic and social development. It also refers to the services oriented to the poor, the physically and the men tally handicapped, the socially maladjusted, and generally the vulnerable sections in society. Social well-being refers to the degree to which desires and needs of peqple are being met. An ideal society may be one in which all people have sufficient income to fulfil their basic needs, where all are treated with equal rights and dignity, tiiey have reasonable access to their -xii-

required range of services and where their views are considered and respected.

Ihe agenda 21 of Rio Summit 1992, the World popu lation conference held in Cairo (1994) and the world Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen (1995) and the Fourth world conference on Women (Beijing, (1995), all of these have stressed on the life quality and well being of world population. In the present wox3c an attempt has been made to study and understand the extent of disparity and innbalances in social well-being in the state of West Bengal. Ihis kind of work was initiated in the developed countries where the problem of looking after the social well-being of the people is not grave and the majority of people have a better quality of life. In the developing countries, it took rather long for social scientists to realise the significance of such studies. Exceptions apart, there is hardly any standard work dene by Indian geographers on the geography of social well-being in India. Ihe main thrusts have been in the field of agriculture, urban studies, population geography etc.

/ The present work entitled "Geographical Patterns of Social well-Being in West Bengal**, deals with the descriptive as well as the theoretical aspects of subject, and takes into account the related fields of social well-being in detail. To -xili-

a wider spectrum. It may be said that the present study is the prerequisite of the proposed Ph.D. work as well as inf- rastructural text for fuller understanding of the subject.

The ongoing work has been divided into six chapters. The first chapter* 'Social Welfare ^proach in Human Geography'« deals at length the meaning, definitions and the emergence of the field. The definition have been substantiated by the opinion of different social scientists and geographers. In it almost all the major developments in human geography, after the Second world. War, have been mentioned in a nutshell.

Chapter II is on 'Social Well-being and Causes of Ineq uality*. This cdiapter has two parts, one deals with various aspects of social well-being and the other part describes the important causes of inequality in an area. All a^ects of Social well-being have been taken into consideraticm and the main emphasis has been given to the 'quality of life', 'social justice' 'level of living' and 'welfare of society, etc. There is a grow ing concern regarding social security, throughout the world, and therefore it has been given due consideration. Some of the main life criteria and pfarameters of the quality of life, both the positive and negative, have also been listed in this chapter. The second part attempts to find out differ&it causes of inequ ality in society. How the inequality is related to various causes has been discussed here. -xiv-

• Selection of Indicators* is the topic of third chapter. Indicators have been defined in detail. Ehiphasis has been given to social indicators and the emerging int erest in social indicators for the assessment of social well-being has been discussed. What ought to be the main characteristics of the indicators, has been outlined pre cisely. Ihe important indicators which have been used hitherto and are still being preferred in social well-being research, have also been mentioned.

Chapter IV, 'Work done so far'# is a brief but com prehensive review of those works on social well-being which are noteworthy. The review clearly bringsout the fact that in India, where disparites in the social welfare are found at every level, the geographers have not paid the desired attention in this area.

The V chapter is devoted to 'The Study Area' and is divided into three sections namely: (a) Historical Perspec tive (b) Geographical CHitline (c) Socio-economic Facilities. The first part describes the concise history of the state and the second part, describes the geographical outline of West Bengal. It takes into consideration various aspects of phy sical, and social geography of the state because all these directly or indirectly also influence the levels of well-being. -XV-

In the third part a berlef analysis of socio-economic condi tions has been made. Data on socio-economic conditions have been given for health, education, agriculture and industry. Ihe concluding chapter includes details regarding the way the proposed Ph.D. work has to be undertaken, fecial emphasis has been placed on methodologies, data, source material and techniques to be employed in the proposed work. The proposed Ph.D. work will be based on the secondary sources of data as well as on the field studies. Here, the indicators, expected to be used by the author, have also been put forth, Ihe main effort of the author will be to obtain the result with the help of Human Development Index (HDI), developed and used exten sively by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). CHAPTER-I

SOCIAL WELFARE APPROACH IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Social welfare may be defined as any or all services organized and sponsored by an agency« as a municipality or a private group, for the benefit of the disadvantaged and the overall betterment of society. Social welfare, therefore. Is the Organized provisions of resources and services by the soci ety to deal with the social problems. These services may be provided by the state or voluntary organizations. The main obj ective being the tmprov«neit In the quality of life of the living In a certain area.

One of the well-defined consequences of the 'critical revolution* in the contemporary human geography was the emerg ence of welfare Geography In the 1970s. It Is an approach to human geography that lays emphasis on the questions of inequa lity and social Justice. Ihe welfare approach is an outcome of the radical reaction to the quantitative and model building preoccupations of the 1960s, v^ich were considered to be insuf ficiently concerned with contertqporary social problems. The 1970s witnessed a major reorientation of human geography towards such welfare problems as poverty, hunger, crime, racial discri mination and access to public services (e.g. health care and educatlcn). And this was quite in keying with a major shift in Sotrietalconcern, from narrow economic criteria of development to broader aspects of the quality of life*.

Traditionally, geography as a discipline was nore inclined towards the problems of goods and services as well as their distribution in space rather than the studies of social problems. Ihe question of spatial social Justice brings to a large extent an ethical and political Judgement which geographers have traditionally avoided. In the academic debate between •economic Justice* and 'social Justice' geographers usually sided with the former. The geographers could not remain oblivious of an ever growing public concern over social deri vation generated as a consequence of market oriented economic development. Now a growing number of geographers are taking up research in spatial variaticms of social conditions, highlight ing the conc^t of territorial social Justice. Social Justice is the concern of various disciplines, in particular moral philosophy. It is a very broad concept, attention is often focused on the distribution of income and other sources of need of satisfaction on which the material conditions of a population d^end. To Barry , it is inequality or unequal treatment that requires Justification. People's common humanity and capacity for pleasure and pain is a plausible starting point for egual- itarianism, with such individual differences as strength, skill, intellect, family, race or place of birth being regarded at* fortuitous and hence morally irrelevant to the way in which peo ple should be treated. However, it does not follow that there are no grounds where different and unequal treatment can be Justified. Some person may be considered to deserve more or less of what there is to distribute, for example, if they produce more than others or possess positions of important responsibility. A general point of entry into the question of vrtiat specific situations justify unequal treatment is to try to know an initial state of affairs which can be agreed to be Just, and to argue that any outcome will be Just provided that it emerges from a Just process, 2 Rawal's formulation that » "first principle* Each person is to have an equal right to the roost extensive total system of equal basis liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty to all; second principle social and economic inqualities are to be arranged so that they are both : (a) to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged, consistoit with the Just savings principle (required to respect the claims of future generations), and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under condltiois of feir equality of opportunity", represents a strengthening of the known principle that it is contribution to the common good of the poorest that m"atters.

Ihe new trend in Human Geography which started in the late 1960s and early 1970s was primarily a reaction against too much stress on the use of mathematical techniques, theorems and proofs to understand geographical systems. It has been termed 4

as the relevance inove«ent. This movement was used as a watchword to guage the degree to which geographers contri buted to the analysis and resolution of major economic, environmental and social problems.

H.C, Prince noted that : "Many geographers were deeply frustrated by a sense of failure* conscious that the knowledge they already possessed was not being put to good use# that much had been learned about ways and means of redu cing hunger, disease and poverty, but little had been achieved, that educated people had not been instrumental in stopping a barbarous war (in Vietnam) and that, witiiin their own univer sities, they had failed to bring about overdue reforms", A definite turning point to this was reached with the publica tion of David Harvey's 'Social justice and the city in 1973. Harvey noted certainly more pessimistically than Prince that: "the quantitative revolution has run its course, and diminis hing marginal returns are setting in'—- There is a clear disparity between the sophisticated theoritical and methodolog ical framework which we are using and our ability to say any thing really meaningful about events as they unfold around us. There are too many anomalies between that we purport to mani pulate and what actually happens. Ihere is an ec<^ogical problem^ an urban problem, an international trade problem, and yet, we seem incapable of saying anything in depth or profoundity about any of then". Radical geography which, in fact, paved the way for the development of welfare approach in human geography was introduced in the 1970s to elaborate the growing volume of geographical writing i«hich was critical to * spatial science* and also to 'Positivism' as the philosophy which dominated research trends in the discipline at that time. Its genesis can be traced to the concern in the late 1960s particularly In the United States of America, with three prevailing issues namely the Vietnam war, civil rights (especially of the blacks in America) and the pervasive poverty and inequality suffered by residtfits of urban Ghettos and deprived rural areas all of which were creating increased social unrest. "It began as a critique within the contemporary liberal concerns of society but later coalesced around a belief in the power of Marxian analysis'* •

In fact, the movement towards the welfare approach in the contemporary human geography was heralded by D.M. Sbiith and P.L. Knox. Until the mid 1950s human geography was more art than science. Facts often were established by causal observation in the field rather than by careful measurement-causal relation ship came from intuitive decision rather than from formal hypo thesis testing; and the huge regional synthesis towards which the geographers work was more of a literacy masterpiece on a particular territory than something frou' v^ere generalizations might emerge. The only theory to which observed location patt erns could be attributed was •enviraunental detenninism' and Its later variations such as 'possibilisin*^ relics of which still remain in few regional geography academic books. Applied human geography was complied with vague relations with to%m planning, conservation and resource inventory.

Ihe relevance movement like the quantitative movement had its inevitable division betwe&i 'liberals' and 'radicals*, of which the former worked for Incremental change within the system, while the latter inspired by Marx, held that nothing short of revolutionary socialism could be able to provide with a Just society out of the inhumanity of the modern capitalist state. From the beginning of the 1970s the literature of social problems, and what may be loosely termed 'welfare issue* e;q>anded rapidly. Like other scholars, human geographers are creatures of their times reacting to the intellectual, social and political climate in which they live and observe the happenings. Ihe emer gence of the *new' social problems, together witti the continuing existence of the previous ones, implied that the late capitalist state needed more knowledge and insight about microlevel social processes as well as information on environmental problens at a macro-level. The different need became reflected in the division of labour within human geography and by the early 1970s we can distinguish the following pattern t (i) First of all a *roeta- process geography*, this used system theory to find 'optimum locations* and to study decision making processes on the macro- level in complex * spatial systems* . (ii) And finally * Social geography* looking at geographical welfare problems on the individual level, using explanatory theories from psychology, 7 sociology and economics •

Ihe word welfare is sometimes applied to a form of social security payments, and 'social welfare* to a set of social policy measures. "A distinction is some times made between economic welfare and general or social welfare, the former usually referring to vihat people get from the consuoqp- tion of goods and services purchased by money or available as a public provision, while the latter embraces all things a contributing to the quality of human existence".

Using the term welfare in a geographical perspective, raises extraordinary difficulties "It is occasionally employed to refer to the local or territorial level of something %«hic^ has to do with the standard of living, i.e. "welfare" as a spatially variable condition. However, the geographical dist ribution of things from which people derive satisfaction, like the Interpersonal distribution, is itself a part of welfare— 9 the stage of society at large*. 8

It may be defined as that which society attempts to maximise as utility. Ihe nature of utility or welfare rests entirely on the vague Judgement of individual or society con- cemed. As it is constituted by aggregate of goods and bads, yet domestic product or real income is given preference. The spatial distribution of income has direct bearing on the qua lity of life.

"Welfare embraces not only the state society but also policy iiistruments designed to alter the state". The condition of society can be distinguished by income or assemblage of goods and services. In a welfare society where income is adequate for the basic needs of food, clothings- shelter and a reasonable liv ing standard, people will never live in poverty.

"Ihe lack of access to infrastructure is a real welfare issue" 12 To a great extent, poor can be identified as those who are not capable of consuming a basic quantity of food, clean water and who are subject to unsanitary surroundings, with no choice at their disposal of mobility or ccmrounications boyond their Immediate settlement. Consequently they possess more health problems and fewer employment opportunities*

"The burgoening squatter communities surrounding most cities In developing countries typically lack formal infrastr ucture facilities, a condition arising from their nonpeimanoice of tenure. In India the proportion of the urban population living in slum areas grew during 1981-91, trfiile the share of population living In poverty (estimated using traditional poverty measures based on income and food consumption) declined".

Ihere ought to be a condition where individual may be able to participate in social, economic and political life and also may not be alienated on the basis of race, religion,ethnic origin and any other factors. "It is Important that "welfare" should not be used in this context however, for welfare con- 14 cerns not only the what but also who gets it where. Here the •v*io' refers to the population of the area under review—a city, region or nation, or even the whole world, subdivided into groups on the basis of class^race, gender or other relevant features. The *what' applies to the various.goods (and bads) enjoyed by the population, in the shape of commodities, services environ mental quality, social relations and so on. Ohe word 'where* reflects the truth that living standard differs according to area of residence. Though the word 'how* not included in smith's connotation may also be given due Importance and thus be defined as to the process whereby the observed differences emerge.

"The neo-classical or marginal1st school, in second half of the 19th century ai^rued that there was no unambiguous or direct relationship between economic goods or commodities, on the one hand, and welfare, well-being, on the other* Goods and commodities are only vehicles of values; "use values" and wel fare or well-being depend on the extent to tAilch people are able- 10

helped ox hindered by a variety of economic* social, and psy chological factors to realize or "absorb. ** these values".

Social factors that are likely to influence the distribution of goods* services and values are also to be carefully studied. Attention must be paid to several factors.(a)Demogra phic factorss family size and patterns* life cycle* sex* the healthy and the handicapped* occupational factors* place in the division of labour* full of part time Job* government* private sector or self employement^ (b) Geographical factors : rural-urban* centre-fringe* coast inland* distance from adequate transport* (c) Ethnic factors :tribe* race* language* religion* (d) Political factors t elite and non-elite power groups* political minorities, (e) Any other factors that* in a particular country* are likely to influence the way iirtiere social welfare is to be spread through out the society, "de "welfare" and the "well-being" of a commu nity are not new concepts: they are only relatively new teciinical terms to indicate notions that are probably as old as mankind. Communities* throughout history* have been concerned with the welfare and the well-being of their members". Vlhat is the goal of life? It is a single question to ask but difficult to answer quickly and unequivocally ev«i though the respondent may be will ing to answer. The goal has a positive and negative direction. One person may be desireous to have something %^ic}i is not currently available tfhile another may detest something and to remove it from his or her life* Life goals should* therefore* be considered to be bidirectional. 11

The concept of %fel£are provides a fiaroewoik o£ society. It consists in Identifying states of society as 'better* or 'worse*. It advocates spatial allocation of good and bads from which individuals derive their satisfaction. In short we can say that the term welfare includes to all things %(hich deter mines aggregate quality of life In different territories, "ihe term real income In broad sense adopted by Harvey can be used as a convenient surrogate welfare* provided this includes psy chic gains or losses from experience of externalities as well 17 as the value of conventional goods and services consumed**.

The status and dignity of the Individual will be given due respect* and he will be socially and economically mobile. Good quality of education and health services may be available for all* and their use will be reflected In a high level of physical and mental health as well as In an Informed populace may also be able to perform their societal roles in satisfac tory manner. People will live in decent houses* in proper neig hbourhood and will enjoy quite a good quality of physical envi ronment. They will have access to recreational facilities* Incl* uding cluture and arts* and sufficient leisure hours to avail these things upto a basic need at least. Society will show a minimum level of disintegration with four personal social path ologies* little deviant b^avlour* high public order and low crime and safety. The family will be a stable institution with few disintegrated hemes. 12

If we are going to atudy the condition of society we must look into various sources on whicdi it is d^endent. 'social well-being*, 'level of living', and 'quality of life'^ all of which seen incomplete unless they include every source 18 of human satisfaction, positive or negative* It may be emplo yment, real income, wealth, gross domestic product or govern ment policies Or programmes.

"During the 1960s, an increasing number of geographers have recognised the need for studying the social, as well as political, economic, and physical processes which affect spatial structure and interaction of human societies. Classical normative theories which rest on the assumf>tion that men organize themselve: and their activities in space to optimize maximize productivity from a given set of resources have been questioned. Investigation! are being carried on to determine the extent to lartiich nc»economic considerations influence the behaviour of individuals and aggreg- ates of individuals with similar goals". 19 Ihese researchers have put forth that behaviour reflects not only the objective alternatives which are available, but also man's awareness of these alternatives and the consequences of their outcomes, bis degree of aversion to r.isk and on fcertainity, and his system of social values. "Ihe welfare theme helps to clarify four basic task which have defined the scope of human geography for some time. ihese are descriptions, explanations, evaluation and prescrip- 20 tion" . Here, descriptions cover the empirical identificat ion of territorial levels of human W0ll-b«>incr. ExnianA«-icm 13

Involves identifying the cause-and effect links among the various activities undertaken in society, as they contribute to determine who gets what, %ihere« and how. Evaluation takes into consideration Judgements on the desirability of alter native geographical states* and the structures of society from v^ich they emerge. To say that one spatial pattern of human well-being is preferable to another is to note that a higher level of welfare is related to it. Such Judgements must be done with reference to equity, as well as to the efficiency criteria with which the geographer is quite familiar. With befitting rules, any spatial pattern of production and distribution can be Judged against criteria relating to social Justice. Geogra phical patterns of all kinds can. be Judged in relation with their contribution to human well-being, with the objective function of welfare maximization substituted for the more trad itional but less satisfactory optimizing criteria of profit maximization, cost minimization. Prescription needs the speci fication of alternative geographical states, as well as alter native societal structures. It involves answering the ethical question of who should get what where. Prescription is the process of spatial organization of human activity. And finally implementation is the process of substituting a state considered to be undesirable by something superior. It relates the question of how, once it has been decided who should get %^at %ihere. 14

Before making and pleading any policy for social change some considerations are necessary. The inost iinportant point whldi need attention are diagnostic of social ills, peoples aspiration and strategies for reform. According to Blower if our goal is fundamental social reform, we must consider values that r^resent our aspiration for social change. We can not diagnose real problem unless we have some idea of real choice and need of society which comes from values judgement. This approach will be very helpful for disadvantaged group and will bring about social reform or redistribution of real income based on notion of social justice. The whole questions of deprivation and inequality and its spatial perspective must be seen not only as the description and explanation of pattern but as the examination of process and structure. It is assumed that structure undergoing policy alter native is sound but needs minor adjustment. But some times thio 21 adjustment leads to greater problem and inequality.

"The best way to explain the welfare sgpproadi more spe cifically is to indicate the kind of real world problems that it is designed to tackle. In order to analyse than and possibly come up with some solutions, we rcKiuire a body of theory and devices suitable for evaluation and planning. 22

Welfare analysis takes into account economic, social, cultural and political considerations, whatever tiie spatial 15

level of enquiry. It also conslderes the physical environment* in so far as this is part of the resource constraint. Welfare is thus a natural integrating theme. A welfare focus provides a centripetal force to counter centrifugal tendencies in the analysis of geographical 'state*, human existence.

Smith, however, has distinguished the word 'welfare* and *social welfare*. The word 'welfare* is sometimes applied to a form of social security payments, and social welfare' to a set of social policy measures. The term * economic welfare* refers to what people get from the consumption of goods and services purchased by money or available as a public provision, while 'general or social welfare* embraces all things contri buting to t^e quality of human existence. The spatial concept of welfare incorporates everything differentiating one state of society from another. It includes all things from which human satisfaction is derived and their manner of distribution. Wel fare is not directly observable but can be determined by corap- risons.

The welfare approach fits in where the well-being of society as a spatially variable condition should be the focal point of geographical inquiry. Acc^ting this Is not an "activist* position. Indicating dedication to a particular political ideology. It merely needs identification of what is surely the self-evident fact that If human beings are the 16

tool of curiosity in human geography, then the quality of their lives is of utmost interest. '*The welfare approach does not stand or fall by its ability to effect imnediate reformulations of theory, however. It can play a vital part in the revitaliz- ation of description in human geography* including the convent ional regional synthesis. It is the prospect of opening eyes and minds to the realities of a world in which millions of people suffer an unnecessarily deprived existence that the benefits from the welfare approach are likely to arise. However, it could well be counter-developmental if we were merely led into another decade of abstract theorizing, model-bull ding and measurement, even with a welfare focus, if this did not have some fairly early practical pay offs in the creation of a more equal, world". 24

Demographic features, organization of space, economic activity, diffusion of innovations etc., tiiough not without interest among themselves, are in the long run important as things that contribute to the variation of territory with respect to the welfare of those who inhabit it. It follows from any of the traditional definitions of geogr^hy logically location analysis, sp'atial organization, areal differentiation and even man-environment relationships. All of these primarily involve human welfare.

"One of the major questions raised by the welfare approach is that of ethical neutrality, suspicion about the 17

introduction of personal values is at the root of much of opposition to a more socially activist or problemsolving geography. As long as we confine ourselves to such fields as geomorphology and quantitative methodology, we can probably avoid value Judgements upto the point of asking %«hether the project is worthii^ile. But as soon as we turn our attention to human welfare^ particularly to questions of distribution, ethical considerations cannot be avoided and 25 political controversy inevitably arises.

Social welfare attempts to make human geography more relevant to the contemporary social problem. It now has merged with other aspects of Inequiry within geography inclined towards the fundamental problems of inequality. It logically needs the holistic social science perspective, including economic, social and political factors, and consideration of the moral philosophy too %«hich substantiates the ideas of social Justice. There is renewed interest in the issues raised by this approach, where in this rapidly changing global scen ario new political as'well as economic institutional arrange ments can benefit populations. 18

REFERENCES

1. Barry, B. (1989) i theories of justice! Harvester Vlheatsheaf, London, (c.f.) J^nston, R.J., Gregory, D., and Sfnitii, D«M. (1994) > Ohe Dictionary of Human Geography, Third edition, Basil Blaclcwell, Oxford, p.564, 2. Rawls, J. (1971) t A Bieory of Justice; Harvard University Press, Cambridge (c.f.) Ibid,pp.564-5. 3. Prince, H.C. (1971): Questions of social relevance; Area 3tl50-3. 4. Harvey, D. (1973)» Social justice and the city, Edward Arnold, Lodon, p. 129. 5. Johnston, R.J., Gregory, D., a'nd Smith, D.M« (1994) t Utie Dictionary of Human Geography Ihird edition, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, p.479. 6. Berry, A.J.L. (1973) s "A Paradigm for Modern Geography" in Directions in Geography (Ed) Chorley, R.J., Methuen, London, p. 11. 7. Smith, D.M. (1977) t Human Geography! A welfare Approach Edward Arnold, London, p.6. 8. Ibid., pp.7-8. 9. Ibid., p.8. 10. Smith, D.M. (1975) t On the concept of Welfare, Area 7i33. 11. Warld Development Report (1990)i Poverty; Published for the world Bank, Oxford University Press, New York. 19

12. Ibid, (1994): p.20. 13. Ibid. 14. smith/ op. clt. p.8. 15. Quality of li£ei Problems o£ Assessment and measurement (1983) I UNESCO/ Paris, p. 12. 16. Ibid., p.ll. 17. Chisholm/ M. et. al. (ed) (1971): Regional Forecasting , Butter worth/ London/ pp. 270-300. 18. Smith/ op. cit./ p.35. 19. Kohn/ C.F. (1970) s Ihe 1960 *s t A Decade of Progress in Geographical Research and Institution. Annals of the Association of American Geographers/ 60i 216-17. 20. Smith/ pp. cit./ p.9. 21. EyleS/ J. (1973) i Geography and Relevance/Area, 5tl59. 22. smith/ op. cit./ p. 16. 23. Ibid./ pp. 7-16. 24. Ibid./ pp. 363. 25. Ibid./ p.364. CHAPTER-II

SOCIAL WELL-BEING AND CAUSES OF INEOJALITY

Social well-being means the condition of prosperity* happiness and good healtii of the people in society. It includes various other aspects such as 'level of living'* 'quality of life', 'welfare of society', and 'level of satisfaction". Bie phenomena of social well-being consider both the objective and subjective realities, measurable and non-measurable aspects of human living.

Geography of social well-being is the analysis of social patterns and processes arising from the distribution, and access to, scarce resources. Ihe 'quality of life', which is one of the main components of social well-being needs elab oration. It may be termed as human well-being, standard of living and welfare of a community. It may also be described as one of the component parts of a dynamic system which has three sub-systems: the economic, the social and the human.

Ihe cartographic representation of the geography of social well-being started in the 1970s, after it was realized that there was ^e need to take into considerati

regional variations in the quality of life. Ohe level of social well-being in a particular area can be differentiated from those living in other parts by talcing into consideration the various social indicators which in its broadest sense 2 includes physical health, and state of mind. Well-being refers to the satisfaction of the needs and desires of the population. Like poverty, need is a relative term. For each aspect of well- being like housing, health etc., attempt can be made to define minimum quantities and qualities that can be equated with needs. Ihese minima will vary as per the prevailing norms and values. The needs of a people living in a region can be ascertained by consulting the experts such as physicians, public health insp ectors, social workers and voluntary organizations, etc. Oien experience and Judgement can be relied upon for specifying the minimums that define need in specific areas. Its emphasis goes beyond income distribution, and establishes the distribution of wealth, land and other capital goods, of wealth services and education, as well as that of mobility of negative and positive externalities, of human dignity and civic liberties, of the access to government services, social security benefits, to transport and shopping facilities.

Three fundamental questions today arise s what is more desirable quality of life and by what criteria do we decide 22

and what parameters can be devised for the neasureinent of quality of llfe# may thus be denoted as philosophical mensural and operational•

PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATION t It is knotm that excessive consumption of alcohal leads to deterioration of the (quality of life* But prohibition or the %fholesale elimination of the manufacture of and trade In alcoholic beverages (except for medicinal or exceptional use) is an infri ngement on human freedom and thus prohibition also leads to dete rioration of the quality of life. It is obvious that the quality of life can be consequence of state planning alone. Ihere are personal choices, group choices, religious influences, cultural factors including educational choices, all of which can affect tile quality of life. The philosophical questl(»i about quality is the profoundest question in human existence. For the definition of quality inevitably leads to the philoscphical-ethical ques tion about the nature of good, which is a perennially recurrent and basically unmeasured question in the history of human existence.

MENSURABILITY PROBLEMS :

How can the good be measured in terms of utility, pleasure, need satisfaction? Not everything related to the quality of life can be quantified. 23

OPERATIONAL PROBLEMS t Without subscribing to any convergence theory one can believe that structured relations are becoming more and more decisive in human life everywhere. In many socialist and market economy societies as well* there is a growing suspicion that both the machinary of the state and the machinary of industrial production are badly alienated from the people*

The quality of life thus means that x each inhabi tant receives adequate amount of food# energy# air, and water of high quality; adequate raw material to permit him to make all the things and advices he needs; sufficient medical care« recreational facilities and cultural outlets etc.

Gregorios (1993) has offered the list merely as the provisional attempt to denote some areas and aspects of social development^ ^stice# peace* participation and environmental sustainability will be observed to be involved in almost all of the ten categories.given below t

1. Quality of Goods and Services Produced (a) Production of basic-need elements to luxury goods. Ihe criteria for distinguishing between these groins will vary from society to society* but some primary elements are food* clothing* housing* transportation* healtii* education and culture for the masses^ thoiiah in each af 24

these fields luxury Is difficult to keqp away from need.

(b)Quality of education or health care is more difficult to

quantify* but parameters can be devised, which may enable

to promote quality in ducation and health care.

2. Distribution Pattern

(a) Average income per capita

(b) Protein consumption per capita

3. Ihe Employment Pattern •Bie proportion of the population that is either unemp loyed or under-employed is an open parameter of the quality of life.

4. The Environment Impact Though pollution volume is a negative indicator of the quality of life, tile proportion of pollution control and prevention expenditure to volume of pollution can be a posi tive parameter.

5. Hie Dependence Pattern To what degree the pattern of development is increasing self-reliance on part of the nation as a whole a.id on the part of groups wittiin the nation in relation to each otiier? 25

6. the participation Pattern Ihe extent to which participation of the people in major decision making in affairs of production, distribution and government has been maximdsed# seems to be quantifiable criterion* and can be used in positive sense as a quality of life parameter.

7. Orientation Towards Social Motivation The quality of human behaviour is the toighest to measure, but basic to the quality of life. Selfishness, greed, acquisitiveness, e^q^loitation and domination of ethers—these are certainly negative indicators of quality. LOve, service^mindedness, willingness to contribute one's labour for welfare of others, all these seem to be essen tial elements in human quality.

8. Human Rights and Human Freedom . Ihe right to dignified labour and to a life worthy of man seem to be fundamental to some societies, where personal rights of dissent and protest are given only seccmd position. Only an agreed scale of priorities can permit the formati

9, Cultural Freedoro and Creativity Factors like investment per capita in culture, variety and international recognition are not altogether reliable, helpful hitherto to evaluate cultural quality. Scientific and technological creativity can also be considered as aspect of cultural creativity. Many societies which may be far behind in industrial development may be ahead of others in cultural variety and quality.

10, some Negative Parameters

Ihe scale of quantitication for development can include

even certain negative parameters namely t

(a) Prevalence of contagious diseases

(b) Prevalence of mental disease, cancer and cardie ailments. (c) Accident rate

(d) Crime rate (e) Suicide rate (f) Number of alcoholics per thousand (g) Number of drug addicts per thousand (h) Number of people in Jail per thousand (i) Prevalence of bribery and corruption (j) Estimates of black marketing and smuggling.

Social well-being is used as a generic term for the family of overlapping ideas vhidti includes level of living, the 27

quality of llfe» social welfare* social satisfaction, and standard of living. As an aggregate expression of well-being, all are in convnon use* but few people have faced up to the problem of defining and measuring them. Indeed* difficulties of definition have been recognized at least since the time of Aristotle* who observed that both the general run of man and people of superior refinement say that (the highest of all available goods ) is happiness (later translated as well-being).

The spatial outcome of public policies will increa singly be Judged in terms of Improvements of the overall well- being of the residents of neighbourhood* cities and regions* rather than just in terms of economic activity and efficiency. The aim of inproving local well-being may not only be in rela tion to industrial location* landuse* and transportation* but also in relation to health* education* and social welfare. Ihe most obvious explanation of the reorientation of policy is in the development of thinking on derived areas* which for a long time have been defined and tackled in terms of adequate physical conditions.

The notion of the quality of life is also a broad expression of well-being * but generally suggests an emphasis on the amount of and distribution of public goods* such as 28

health care^ education and welfare services, protection against crime, the regulation of pollution and the preservation of fine 7 landscapes and historic totmscapes.

Social well-being of any society across the globe has cultural as well as technological overtones, Disparties are noted obviously at an international level in various aspects, for instance, a person's chance of attaining the age of seventy are clearly much greater in an advanced western country than in one of the less developed countries. Disparties are also obvious at an individual level—people who are overweight and who work in sedentary occupations are less likely to be seventy than their slim active compatriots.

Level of living is very much more closely dQ>endent upon urbanization and industrialization in the development of regions than in the core areas of the country, where a high degree of living can be achieved in a wide variety of environ ments. Including rural environments, and where the deficiencies in the quality of life consist of those problems endemic to urban areas and industrial communities. In the less developed regions the problems in the quality of life are also typical of far away rural areas, where the spatial structures are dis torted ao as to hinder normal social relationships and self- realization. 29

Social well*belng Is reasonably defined in terms of human needs also. Well-being is achieved when people's needs are satisfied. One may speak, in fact, of the satisfaction of two quantitatively separate types of needs* 'level of living' and A quality of life. The first of these is concerned largely with material resources at the individual's disposal, his income, health, education, employment opportunities, accommodation, mob ility, etc. while the latter involves his relations with other people, with society and with nature including matters of self realization, mental security and personality development. Natur ally there are obvious dependency relations existing between these two, with the individual's personal values, goals and needs and his life style forming a set of intermediary mechanisms. Ihus the Interactions are extremely complex.

"Social well-being is a multifaceted phenomena which means welfare in goieral and health prosperity in particular". Ihe phenomena of social well-being is an aggregation of an indiv idual's level of welfare which takes into account the following broad aspects t

(a) Physical well-being < Environmental conditions such at climatic variations^ physical density, physical and mental health. 30

(b) Material well-being» Household assets including the modern electrical and electronic gadgets, other means of conveyance and communication;

(S) Economic well-being » Etiployment opportunities, level of income and savings and purchasing power, consumption of goods and services;

(e) Percepticm of well-being i Attitude towards external living and nonliving things, individual/social traits, experiences of real world situations and an element of subjectivity, and

(f) Spiritual well-being x Religious beliefs, practices, taboos and various appro- 12 aches to seek eternal truth and happiness. Here the spiritual values are of paramount Importance which become more significant in attaining social well-being particularly where religious bel iefs and practices govern the societies. Ihe old traditional culture especially art, literature, music, drama and dance ; occupation, meditation, yoga and medicine play a vital role in social satisfaction and quality of life in a majority of the Ihird World countries and specifically so in India. 31

By using the framework provided by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) to define and measure the levels of living at the International Scale (UNRISD, 1966 a, 1966b, 1970) ^, it is possible to list some basic components of social well-being namely, (c) Nutrition, (ii) Shelter (iii) Education, (iv) Health (v) Leisure, (vi) Social Stability, (vii) Surplus Income, (viii) Physical Environ ment and, (ix) Security.

(i) Nutrition Energy requirement for the body is measured in calories. It has been estimated that on an average a man needs 2^400 calories per day to lead to normal life. The critical minimum limit for a man is 1^00 calories a day, if calory intake is less than this, man cannot survive. Calory intake for different age groups and ways of life vary. Calory requirement is only one aspect of nutrition. A normal human body needs about 40 different types of element in different quantity and lack of any one of them will affect growth and working of our body. It is rather a reality that some 50 some per.cent deaths in one or the other way is caused by malnutrition. Except Sahelian countries no other part of world is e;q)eriencing drought and famine like condition but malnutrition is found in every country even in developed count ries of America and Europe. One of the most serious and widespread of dietary lacks is protein deficiency. 32

(11) Shelter Shelter Is not only important from the point of view of man's fundamental need to live under the roof of a house but housing conditions are directly related to the satisfaction of various other needs and for this they must be regarded as a major parameter of social well-being. Housing quality encir cles with it a wide range of utilities besides shelter. Tliese include t(a) an area of defensible space*, which helps satisfy both the occupants need for privacy and their basic territorial Instincts, (b) a relative location that has social and symbolic status, and (c) a means of storing the enhancing wealth. At the Individual level, poor housing conditions have been shown to lead to increase in the incidence of Infant mortality rates, stress, mental ill-health, and morbidity from the infectious diseases.

(11) Education Education is also an Important parameter for measuring the standard of living In any society* In it several aspects are specified such as : (a) Primary school enrolment data are estimates of the ratio of children of all ages enrolled in pri mary school to the country's population of school-age children. Although many coantrles consider primary school age to be 6 to 11 years, others do not. Por soro« countrle'' with universal primary education, the gross enrolment ratios may exceed 100 percent because some pupils are younger or older than the ccxintry's standard primary school-age (b) Secondary school 33

enrolment age is most commonly considered to be 12 to 17 years, (c) The tertiary enrolment ratio is calculated by dividing the number of pupils enrolled In all post-secondary schools and universities by population in the 20-24 age group. The youth population-^hat is, 20 years—-has been adopted by UNESCO as the denominator, since it represents an average tertiary level cohort even though pe<^le above and below this age group may be registered in tertiary institutions, (d) Primary net enrolment is the percentage of school age children who are enrolled in school. Ihis indicator gives a much clear picture that how many children in the age group are actually enrolled in school without the numbers being inflated by over or under children.(e) The Primary pupil-children ratio is the number of pupils enrolled in school in a country divided by the number of teacher in the education system. 16

(iv) Health One of the significant components of social well-being is the health quality of the people residing in a particular area. Without having been provided with tiie adequate health facilities to the masses it may not be possible to achieve social well-being for that particular society or section of population. Besides various other health schemes, following aspects are also noteworthy for ground reality of well-being of the people. 34

(a) Low blrthwelght babies are children born weighing less than 2«500 grains. Low blrthwelght Is frequently associated with maternal malnutrition. It tends to raise the risk of Infant mortality and lead to poor growth In Infancy and chll- dhood« thus Increasing the Incidence of other forms of related development.

(b) Prevalence of malnutrition measures the percentage of children under 5 with a deficiency or an excess of nutrients that interfere with their health and genetic potential for growth. (c) Mortality rate at two stages are to be checked, at first stage-the number of infants who die before reaching one year of age# per thousand live births In a given year and at the second stage—the under-5 mortality rate which shows the pro bability that a newborn baby will die before reaching the age of 5.

(v) Leisure 18 According to Drewnowskl (1974) , leisure time Is defined as the amount of time free from work, excluding any time spent in travel to and from work, any time spent on domestic chores, and the estimated ten hours a day spent In slewing, eating and dressing.

In the matter of social well-being, leisure should also be considered in terms of accessibility to cultural and 35

recreational facilities and amenities, for without these the benefits of leisure time are limited. In western societies it would at least be commonly accepted that these include provi sion for sport and physical exercise, entertainment, reading, art and travel for pleasure. Ihese facilities clearly have implications for other components of social well-being—health and education, for example^and all of which depend on the avail ability of 'surplus income*, either in hard cash or in the form 19 of public funds,

(vi) Social Stability Most would agree that economic stability (in the form of freedom from industrial strife) and social stability (in the form of freedom from high levels of prejudice, discrimination, family background, etc.) are good things but we must also cons ider the importance of the right to challenge dominant moral codes, to strike, to protest and in some circumstances to promote social revolution.

Stability-— although good relations with ot^er members of society are felt to be a fundamental human need (Drewnowski, 20 1974), this is the most ambiguous, as well as culturally rela tive component of social well-being. 36

(vii) Surplus Income : Income, which is surplus to the satisfaction of basic human needs, is the key mechanism for the satisfaction of 'higher' needs and aspirations. It facilitates the consumption of all 'kinds of luxury* goods and services. More commonly it determines the absolute levels of many other aspects of social well-being.

(viii) Physical Environment x "The broader physical environment includes ait and water quality, noise, odour, and other aspects of pollution". 21

Infrastructure provision results from the efforts of individuals and communities to modify their physical surroundings or habitat in order to improve their comfort, productivity and protection from the elements and to conquer distance. Each sector- water, power, transport, sanitation, irrigation—raise issues concerning the interaction between man-made structures and the natural environment. Environment-friendly infrastructure services are essential for improving living standards and offering public health protection. With sufficient care, providing the infrast ructure necessary for growth and poverty reduction can be consis tent with concern for natural resources and the global environment 22 ( the "green" agenda ).

(ix) Security t The concQ>t of security has for long been interpretcKi 37

narrowly t as security of territory from external aggression, or protection of national Interests in foreign policy or as global security from the threat of a nuclear holocaust. It has been related more to natlon«>states than to people. The super powers were locked in an Ideological struggle. The developing nations, having won their independence only recently, were sens itive to any real or perceived threats to their fragile national identities. Forgotten were the legitimate concerns of ordinary people who sought security in their dally lives. For many of them, security protection from the threat of disease, hunger, unemployment, crime, social conflict, political repression and environmental hazards.

For most people, a feeling of insecurity arises more frcm worries about daily life than fron the dread of a catacly smic world event. Will they and their families have enough to eat? Will they lose their jobs? Will their streets and neigh bourhoods be safe from crime? Will they become a victim of violence because of their gender? Will their religion or ethnic Origin target them for persecution?

In the ultimate analysis human security is a child who did not die, a disease that did not spread, a Job that was not cut, an ethnic tension that did not esqplode in viol ence, a dissident vrtio was not silenced. Human security is not 38

concerned with weapons—-It Is a concern with human life and dignity.

A consideration of the basic concept of human security must focus on four of its essential features i

(a) Human security is a universal concern. It is relevant to people everywhere, in rich nations and poor. Ihere are many threats that are common to all people—such as unemployment, drugs, crime, pollution and human rights violations.

(b) The components of human security are independent. When the security of people is endangered anywhere in the world, all nations are likely to get involved'. Famine, disease, pollution, drug trafficking, terrorism, ethnic disputes and social disin tegration are no longer isolated events, confined within natio nal borders. Their consequences travel the globe.

(c) hbiman security is easier to ensure through early prevention than later intervention. It is less costly to meet these threats upstream than downstream. For example, the direct and indirect cost of HIV/AIDS was roughly $240 billion during the 1980s. Even a few billion dollars invested in primary health care and family planning education, could have helped contain the spread of this deadly disease.

(d) Human security is people—centered. It is concerned with how 39

people live and breathe In a society, how freely they exercise their many choices, how much access they have to market and social opportunities-*-and whether they live in conflict or in peace.

Thus hijinan security means that peqple can exercise their wider range of choices safely and freely—and that they can be relatively confident that the opportunities they have today are not totally lost tomorrow. Ihe list of threats to human security can be considered under several main categories:

(i) Economic security (ii) Pood security (iii)Health Security (iv) Environmental Security (v) Community Security (vi) Personal Security (vii)Political Security.^"^ 40

CAUSES OF INEOJALITY

Inequality refers to those over %4hlch moral questions of right or wrong can arise. In general, it is recognized that seme differences among individuals do not raise moral questions ( for example, their height or free choice of leisure activities)« whereas references to their wealth or educational qualifications could be described asinequality. Regional vari- 24 ations in income or health would be inequality.

Equality is the easiest criterion to apply to the evalu ation of distributions. It is also strong emotive appeal, with undertones of moral rectitude associated with the egalitarian Ideals of much western philosophy, Judeo-Christian ethics. Islamic socialism and the rhetoric of democracy.

The argument for equality of treatment is generally based on the acceptance of certain "rights" ( and responsibili ties ) held by all people by virtue of their common humanity. Attempts to deprive certain groups of people of such basic rights as electoral participation or free choice of sex part ner are often accompanied by efforts to portray tiiose concer ned as sub-human or possessed of animal characteristics (Kuper, 1974, 11-14)^^.

We can say that unequal distribution never means nece ssarily unjust. If a person gets according to his needs it is 41

not unjust. Justice means to give everything its due share or position it deserves. If one person or a group who deserves little receives little^ %^ile another person or group who deserves much receives accordingly, then Justice is manifested in this differential treatment of the two and lies in the fact that the proportion of reward to what is deserved is the same in both cases.

"Equal allocation of resources can produce inequalities in living standards. Ihis suggests two alternative views of equality: perfect equality of treatment in the sense of the same quantity of benefits and penalties going to all, and equality of treatment in the same circumstances can justify different quantities. Ihis is, in fact, Aristotle*s distinc tion between 'arithmetic equality' and 'proportional equality'. While recognizing the arithmetic equality might be the "democratic''ideal, justice is commonly associated with people getting what they deserve"..« '2 6

The causes of inequality in society may form an inexh austible list, but certain glaring causes of disparities may be cited as under t

Physical causes of Inequality Prosperity, happiness, as well as backwardness of a region to some extent depends upon its physical factors of 42

environment. As It is noted that the areas v^ich have good climate with long growing season, abundance of sun light and rainfall, fertile soil and plain are very rich, prosp erous, and agriculturally more developed. Areas where there is rugged topography, climatic extremity and poor soils are generally inhospitable for human inhabitation. And there is limited scope especially for agriculture. For example the desert, the polar and the equatorial regions of the world are very backward because of their environmental constraints, whereas river basins of the world are very developed and have been the foci of great human civilizations.

It will be equally difficult if not impossible to construct anything anywhere which would benefit every citizen of a cointry. The world's resoirces are generally unevenly distributed and their exploitation in certain cases is diff icult.

Social problems have often been subjected to purely physical solutions, on the assumption that in the "right* physical environment human behaviour will take on desired forms. Some benefits certainly cone fran urban renewal and express way construction, for example, but they do not necessarily flow in the direction of residents whose needs 43

awareness in contemporary planning that all physical devel opment has a potential Income-redlstrlbutive Impact. Geog raphical distance and accessibility alone mean that some will be (literally) better placed to enjoy the advantages or disadvantages, whether the structure Is a hospital, concert 27 hall, motorway, factory or sewage worJcs,

Development Ihe distribution of development fruits has been uneven throughout the world. Various aspects and avenues of develop ment have also caused inequality.

Poor nations cannot—- and should not Imitate the pro duction and consumption patterns of rich nations. That may not. In any case, be entirely possible, despite advances In technolo gy or entirely desirable. Replicating the patterns of the North in the South would require ten times the present amount of fossil fuels and roughly 200 times as much mineral wealth. And in another 40 years, tiiese requirements would double again as the world population doubles.

The life styles of the rich nations will clearly have to change. The North has roughly one-fifth of the world's population and two-fifths of its income, and it consumes 10% of the world's energy, 75X of its metals and 85% of its wood. 44

If the ecosphere were fully priced* not free« such consum ption patterns could not continue. If the environment were correctly priced and tradable permits were issued to all nations (50% on the basis of population)» the rich nations might have to transfer as much as 5% of their combined GDP to the poor nations. Development patterns that perpetuate today's inequalities are neighter sustainable nor worth sustaining. Ihat is why sustainable human development is a more inclusive 28 concept than sustainable development.

Historical causes t The history of colonization of various countries by European powers is one of the major factors of inequality In society. The system gave everlasting impacts to the society. The policies of the Britishers at the time of colonization were to extract the economic surplus from the low level econ omy and take it to their own native land.

R.C. Dutt at a meeting of the Fabian Society in London on 28th June 1901 said, "In the words of one of England's grea test philosophers and economists* JOhn Stuart Mill, the govern ment of a people by itself has a meaning and a reality, but such a thing as government of one people by another does not and cannot exist. One people may ke^ another for its own use, a place to make money in, a human cattle-farm to be worked for the profit of its own habitants." 45

"During the colonial era the cores acted as centres of power for the white elite. Biey were also intermediate stores for the wealth of surplus value extracted by the commercial agricultural sector In the rural periphery, on its way back to Britain^ Portugal^ or wherever the source of investment capital happened to be*.

Colonial expoltation was one of the important causes of inequality in India, Its ugly Impact is seen even in present day scenario. It had created and maintained both regional as well as social inequality. IXiring the period fanners were under immense pressure of land revenue. Ihey had to pay one«>half of their gross produce of which nine-> tenth or ten-eleventh to landlords as net rent. More than 50% of their produce was taken by government and landlords. Poor farmers had to bear all the e;q>enses of seeds, fertili zers, irrigation etc. out of vAiich the remaining produce at their hands which was much less. Consequently poor farmers were tightly bound in the chain of debt.

Ihus it seems that the British nile and tiie economic arrangements on which it rested had not merely given rise to a new kind of supressive and deadening inequality—social, economic and political but had also compounded and accentuated internal socio-economic disparity. 46

Racial/ Ethnic and Social Discrimination Racial segregation is one of the basic causes of inequality* especially in the case of Africans* and to a large extent in India. In Africa it is the 'colour bar* problem while in India it is the 'untouchability* probl&n. Other cases of discrimination substantially restricted by the accident of birth* such as French manual workers born in Algeria or Soviet dissidents have been noted by Michael LiT *p ^ton .3 2

Economic causes t The Marxists view that inequality is inherent in capi talist mode of production. It is inevitably produced during the normal operation of capitalist economics. It operates through the mechanism of wage system, mechanisation of pro duction and creation of surplus labour.

According to Marx wages must cover not only basic subsistence to maintain the body but also some socially defined wants to keep the workers relatively content and to fuel eco nomic growth. In addition wages contain the cost of raising and educating children* that is development of future labou ring power through education and acquisition of skills, A different type of labours require different level of education and skill* so wages must differ between various categories of workers. As a first result* therefore* income inequality is 47

necessary by varlcTus levels of multitude of different economic activities. Secondly^by allocating the cost of social production through the wage mechanism by allo wing 'each of race of workers* to produce its replacement, the capitalist system ensures inequality of access to the skill hierarchy within the working class. TSiirdly^ inequality of access to education and skill allows groups of wage and income earners to exaggerate the income differences inherent in skill hierarchy by partially monopolizing and thus restricting the labour siqpply into levels of labour hierarchy. Inequalities of income and opportunity within

the class and wage earners are thus built into the wages system. 33

Political causes of Inequality t Policies play vital role in promoting regional ineq uality. It appears in the form of territorial differences in allocation of resources, subsidies, taxation and many other facilities provided for the development of different areas. Representation of some areas are dominated in policy arena. They mould policies in favour of their respective consti tuencies to please the voters. As a result, some areas selec ted under special schemes and programmes even if they do not deserve such favour, Ihus inequality in socio-economic 48 development Is also greatly Influenced by representation and participation in the decision making process. "Reward- ding constituencies for their past or expected votes is widely knovm as 'Pork-barrel * politics and is practised in many countries. Even United representation may some times hold the balance of power which in bargaining process enables profit and resource to be attracted to their regions". 34

Some political systems of the world encourage inequ ality. For instance, there is federal form of government in India. All states are autonomous in some fields but they are under control of the central government. Ihe central govern ment is bias in allocation of funds to various states. This leads to uneven development of the country. Itiere is also considerable spatial disparity in the industrial development due to preferential policies of the government. It encourages the establishments of industries in some areas and imposes restriction in other. For example* the British government offered inducement to a private car assembly plant in Scotland and protected it when it was threatened by closure in late 1976. The government was prepared to ball out this plant by putting in more than $150 million only due to electoral reasons.

Ohis is a good exatnple of spatial consequences of a political decision. 35

Thus finally it may be concluded Hiat inequality is attributable to various other physical, economic, social as well as political causes. 49

REFERENCES

1. Johnston* R.J., Gregory* D., and Smith, D.M. (1994) t Ihe Dlcticmary of Human Geography* Ihird edition* Basil Blackwell* Oxford* p. 568. 2. Smith* D.M. (1973a) x The Geography of Social Well> being in the United States i An Introduction to Territorial Social Indicators. McGraw-Hill* New York* p. 7. 3. Grigorios* P.M. (1993)» "Ihe Quality of Life—Questicns Old and New * .Contemporary India Opportunities And Challenges* A Festschrift in honour of Prof. Bneritus Dr. M.V. Pylee* editor Prof. T.P. Sankaran- Icunthy Nair* Cochin* pp. 265-72, 4. Ibid.* pp. 269-72. 5. Coates, B.E.* Johnston, R.J,* et al (1977) : Geography and Inequality* Oxford University Press* Oxford* p.9. 6. Knox* P.L. (1975) : Social Well-being t A Spatial Perspective* Oxford University Press* London* p.l. 7. Hall* P.G. (1972) x Forecasting the quality of life in Urban Europe* Geographical Paper* 20.* In Coates* op. cit,, 1977, 8. Siirila* S. (1984) x ^atial Structure and Social Well- being. Fennia* 162x 117-26. 50

9. Allordt, E. (1976) t Dimensions of Welfare in a Comparative Scandinavian study. Acta Sociologlca 19»227-239, (c.f.) Ibid., p.117. 10. Milbrath, L.W. (1980): Values, Lifestyles and basic beliefs as influences on perceived quality of life. UNESCO; Analytical and Methodological Studies SS/CS/Li/80/5 46 pp. Paris, (c.f.) Ibid, p. 118. 11. Kulkarni, K.M. (1990) t Geographical patterns of Social Well-being (with special Reference to Gujarat); Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, p. 12, 12. Ibid., pp.12-13. 13. UNRISD (1966a)J Social and economic factors in develop ment. Report No.3, Geneva (c.f.) Coates, op. cit, p.10. (1966s) t The level of living index. Report No,4 Geneva (c.f.) Ibid. (1970) : Studies in the measurement of levels of living and welfare. Report No, UNRISD 170/C 20, Geneva (c,f.) Ibid,

14. Sharma, R.C. (1992): Readings in General Geography and Geography of India, Jawahar Publishers and Distri butors, New Delhi, p.166. 15. Martin, A.E. (1967) : Environment, housing and health. Urban Studies, 4:1-21. 51

16. world Development Report (1994) t Infrastructure for

Development, Published for the World Bank,

Oxford University Press, New York, p.243.

17. Ibid, pp. 242-3.

18. Drevmowski, J. (1974) t On Measuring and planning the

Quality of Life, (c.f.) Coates, op, cit, pp. 13-14. 19. Coates, op. clt. pp. 13-14.

20. Drewnowski, op. cit.

21. Smith, D.M. (1977) I Human Geography* A Welfare ^proach,

Edward Arnold, London, p.269.

22. world Development Report (1994): op. cit., p.20.

23. Human Development Report (1994) i Published for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Oxford

University Press, New Delhi, pp.22-38.

24. Johnston, Gregory, and Smith, op., cit,, pp. 285-6.

25. Kuper, L. (1974) : Race, class and Power : Ideology

and Revolutionary change in Plural Societies. Duc

kworth, London (c.f.) Shiith, D.M. (1977) : Human

Geography t A Welfare ^proach, Edward Arnold,London,

p. 132.

26. smith, D.M. (1977) J Human Geography : A Welfare Approach.

Edward Arnold, London, p.133.

27. Ibid., p.23.

28. Human Development Report (1994), op. cit, pp. 18-19.

29. Ganguli, 3.N. (1975) t Concept of Equality- The Nineteenth Century Indian Debate; Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, p.33. 52

30. Smith, D.M. (1977), op. clt., p. 19. 31. Ganguli, B.M. (1975), op. cit, p. 29, 32. Lipton, M. (1981)t Why Poor People Stay Poor, A Study of Urban Bias in World Development. Heritage Publishers, Delhi, p. 165. 33. Marx, K. (1933) : Wage-Labour and Capital, New York International Publishers, p.27. 34. Gradus, Y, (1983) t The role of Politics in regional inequality : The Israeli case ; Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 73: 396. 35. Coates, B,E,, et al, (1977): Geography and Inequality. Oxford University Press, Oxford pp. 214-15, CHAPTER-III

SELECTION OF INDICATORS

The term 'indicator* has been in frequent use for statistical literature but has not been defined in a precise way. Economic and social indicators are not simply statistics, and statistics are not 'ipso-facto indicators* unless some theory or assumption makes them so by relating the indicator variable to a phenomenon that is what it directly and fully measures. In scientific literature the terra indicator has a wider connotation. It may be defined as measure vrfiich shows by its variations the change over time and space. The term also implies measuring of a quantity or estimating the level of a 2 single characteristic of population.

Unesco's definition of indicators are as follows : Economic indicators monitor economic processes. Ihey are based on data supplied by institutions such as banks, firms, customs offices, fiscal institutions, ministries, market research inst itutes, etc. Ihey serve to analyse the economic conditions of social welfare. Social indicators monitor social processes, macro-social processes in the first place. Iheir data, at the present stage of development, are based on social statistics, and to a lesser degree on surveys. Itiey serve to analyse the objective conditions of social welfare and well-being and-^with 54

the aid of flash-back indicators— the objective consequences as well. Quality of life indicators monitor the subjective reactions of men and women to economic and social processes, both affective and cognitive, that is their attitudes, beha viour patterns and assessments. Iheir sources are individual themselves, or smalle<^ Or larger groups. Ihe tools used to obtain them include surveys as well as other sociological, socio-psychological, and anthrc^ological methods.

Raymond A. Baur, who is regarded as the father of social indicator movement, points out that the purpose of social indicator is not primarily to record historical events 4 but to provide with the basis of planning for future. Accor ding to the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare a social indicator in all cases is a direct measure of welfare and in subject to interpretation that if it changes in the right directions, v^ile other things remain equal, things have gotten better or people are better off, Ihus statistics on the numbers of doctors or policemen could not be social indica- 5 tors whereas figure on. health or crime rates could be. In general one can say that indicators are yardsticks used for the measurement of spatio-temporal variation in socio economic condition of society. They are aggregate or composite 55

measures of well-being, Ihey are of paramount linportance for academics, policy makers and planners. Planners use the term as a tool to Identify the areas of relatively low or how level of well-being be so that a rational and balanced strategy for the removal of disparties can be formulated. Decision makers take advantage of it to formulate policy on the basis of information obtained from different measurement and to assess the various programmes at territorial level. But one faces a lot of difficulties while selecting an appropriate indicator for a given purpose.

History "Much of the recent interest in social indicators has been connected with the proposal for a regular national social

report. This idea is generally said to have begun in 1929, with

President Hoover's Committee on Social Trends", Although work on social indicators has its intellectual origins research on 7 social trend dating from the 1920s and 1930s . Use of the phrase 'social indicators' became widespread following the publication of a book by that title in 1966, edited by Raymond Q Bauer,

Hie pioneering work on the use of indicators, was carried out by the UNO, one of its aims is to increase level of living of the member countries. The use of indicators for 56

the measurement of levels of living was sugqested by the UN Committee of Experts in its Report on International Defini- 9 tion and Measurement of Standards and Levels of Living. Ihe Committee differentiated between 'standard of living' and level of living'— the latter refers to the actual conditions of life* as distinct from the former representing aspiratic»i or ideas of what ought to be. It attempted to describe the 'level of living' in terms of a series of components, repre senting accepted values and recommended measurement of the vari ous components in terms of a series of indicators.

Bie 'social indicators movement' began in the United States of America in the mid 1960s and it has since then spread across botti the Atlantic and the Pacific, Since 1969, a consi derable number of literature has appeared on the subject of social indicators. In Britain and France most of the in¥)etus have come from statistician in government in addition to the Social Science Research Council.

Situation in India Much of the wprk on indicators in India is tione under the auspices of the planning commission, the Central Statis tical Organization, the Indian Council of social Science Rese arch and the Indian Statistical Institute. 57

The Central Statistical Organization, which forms an Integral part of the ministry of Planning and closely linked with the activities of the Planning Commission, is in most convenient position to undertake the preparation and publication of the indicators. Ttie National Sample Survey, began over three decades earlier and conceived of as a multipurpose survey system, has provided with the wealth of information on different aspects of national life. Various ministries also collect and provide data pertaining to their departments such as health, labour, welfare, human resource development, industry, agriculture etc.

While much of the basic information needed for the compilation of indicators for regional development and plann ing may thus be available, no coordinated effort has been made hitherto in India to gather, compile and analyse the primary data and to prepare and publish the indicators on a regular interval.

Features of Indicators 1. Indicators should be precise and serve as *Key' indicators. 2. Indicators should at least be the composite of two variables. 3. They should be of current significance. 4. ihey should be in the form of derived figures than basic data. 58

5. Indicators should be designed to measure the effects of policies, planSf progranmes and major goals of economic and social development. 6. Ihey shouli be development oriented, 7. They should be available at an equal interval. 8. They should easily be disaggregated by geographical areas. 9. They should relate to public policy goals such as equal opportunity, public order and safety. 10. Tliey should indicate recent trends and be relevant for the current analysis.

Very few indicators are able to fulfil all these criteria, since they are still very much in their infancy. Moreover, the goals of public^'policy are often inexplicit and sometimes controversial, wlitle the necessary data remain unsatisfactory or incomplete.

Select Indicators of Social Well-being The rapidly changing social values in modern society have direct relevance" to the technological advancement at local, regional or national level in industrial, urbanized and agricultural sectors of economy. There, the choice of indicators or weighing of indicators is based on the dominant activity of the region. Drewnowski, and Scott have incorporated 59

in their study of some selected countries the following components of levels of livingx Physical, Nutrition, Shelter, Health, Cultural, Education, Leisure, Security 12 and Higher Surplus Incane.

Knox has used 53 variables for deriving the opera tional definition of level of living for the countries and county boroughs in England and Wales. The components of his study are Housing, Health, Education, Social Status, Ehiploy- ment. Affluence, Leisure, Social Security, Social Stability, Demographic Structure, General Physical Environment and Demo cratic Participation, Smith, while measuring social well- being in the United States, used certain criteria such as. Income, wealth and employment (income and wealth; employment status; and income supplements ); The living environment (housing, the neighbourhood; the physical environment) ; Education (achievement;duration and quality); Social Order (or disorganization) (Personal Pathologies; family breakdown; crime and delinquency; public order and safety); Social Belong ing (Alienation and participation; democratic participation; criminal justice* segregation); and Recreation and leisure (recreation facilities ; culture and arts ; leisure available).1 4

Income, wealth and employment are vital sources of access not only to material goods but also to such things as health and education. Employment status possesses importance 60

because this affects income and also an individual's status. Income supplements paid in the form of pensions or social security benefits can be important additions to or substitutes for earned income, as well as accumulated wealth.

The living environment may be seem at different spatial scale. Housing is important as a mean of shelter, comfort and social status. Neighbourhood quality covers questions like whether the immediate environment outside the home is attract ive or ugly, threatening or safe. Ihe physical environment broadly includes air, quality of water, odour, noise and other aspects of pollution.

Health is undoubtedly basic criterion of human well- being. Ihe sub-division into physical and mental is not clearly based on clinical sense, but recognizes a distinction between conditions related to physical performance and those with peace of mind and the functioning of intellectual faculties. Food intake and diet are included under this. Education, like health is of paramount importance in Itself as an aid to enjoyment of certain recreational pursuits; It is important to eirployment opportunity, social mobility, as well as to political power.

Social belonging seeks to attain the degree to which people are able to play their full chosen role in society. Equality of treatment under the law and lack of discrimination on the basis of race, caste, colour, creed, sex, religion and 61

SO on would be Indicative of good performance. Exclusion from participation can lead to alievation, undesirable in itself and also conducive to behaviour that endangers social stability.

Recreation and leisure attempt to recognize the importance of non-work activity along with access to oppo rtunities and liberty to enjoy them. In practical sense, this is difficult to measure, not only because actual access in a geographical sense is hard to build but also it is perhaps in recreation and leisure pursuits that people possess greatest capacity to show varied personal tastes,

Ilbery has presented effectively the cor^eriphery contrasts in European social well-being by using altogether twenty seven indicators, seven of which are major constituents such as : Housing; Health; Education; Economic Growth; National Well-being; Leisure and Recreation, MacCracken in his study on dimensions of social well-being within seven alternative spatial frames of New Zealand has selected indicators like: Male and Female income earners, Qnployment ( male and female), Age-standarized Mortality Ratio, Level of Education and House holds with telephone connections and telivision sets,

Kulkarni, in his study— Geographical Patterns of social Well-being ( with Special Reference to Gujarat ) has considered twenty four constituents of social well-being namely: 62

A, General Physical Environment

1. Density of Population per sq.km. 2. Percentage of urban population.

B, Housing

3. Ratio of house to households.

C, Employment 4. Percentage of male and female workers 5. Percentage of cultivators, agricultural labourers, households and manufacturing workers, others and marginal workers, 6. Dependency ratio,

D, Health 7. Number of beds per health unit, 8. Number of doctors per health unit.

E, Education 9. Number of Students per primary school, 10, Number of Students per high school. 11, Number of students per college. 12, Number of teachers per primary school, 13, Number of teachers per high school, 14, Number of teachers per college. 15, Teacher-student ratio at different levels. 16, Percentage of male and female literacy. 63

F, Affluence 17. Savings per hous^old in Rs.

G. Leisure 18. Percentage of cinema goers 19. Population per cinema hall

H. social Security 20. Population per police station.

I. Social Facilities 21. Number of electrified villages 22. Population per post office 23. Population per telegraph office 24. Population per post box.

But his emphasis is mainly on health, education, employment, recreation, social facilities and security 17 measures for identifying the levels of social well-being.

Besides these, various other studies have been carried out including those of the U.N, and the World Bank on the levels of development and social well-beings in different parts of the globe selecting different sets of indicators most suitable to the region. 64

REFERENCES

1. Rao, M, V, S, (1977) I "Socio-Economic Indicators for development. National Seminar on Social Statistics, C. S.0., Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 1:169. 2. Husen, H. (ed.), (1985) : The International Encyclopaedia of Education. Pergamon Press, 5x 2433-34, 3. Quality of life (1983) ; Problems of Assessment and Measurenent; UNESCO, Paris, p. 15. 4. Baur, R.A. (ed) (1966) ; Social Indicators, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. 5. Rao, M.V.S., et al (1978) i Indicators of Human and Social Development; Report on the state of the Art, Ihe United Nations University, p.78. 6. Smith, D.M. (1973a) : Ihe Geography of Social Well-being in the United States: An Introduction to Territorial Social Indicators; McGraw-Hill, New York, p.53. 7. President's Research Committee on Social Trends, Recent social Trends in U.S. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1933). 8. Baur, op. cit. 9. U.N's E/CN 3/179, E/a: S/299 Of March 1954, Sales No.,1954, IV, V, Ihe committee was sponsored by the UN and seme of the specialised agencies, 10. Knox, P.L. (1975) : Social Well-being : A ^atial Perspe ctive. Iheory and Practice in Geography; Oxford Uni versity Press, London, pp.8-9, 65

11, Ibid., p.9. 12, Drewnowski, J, (1970): Measuring the Level of Living, Paper delivered to the Town and country Planning Summer School^ Swansea, - and Scott, W. (1968): "Ihe level of living index*, Ekistics, 25:266-75. 13, Knox, P.L., op. cit, pp. 26-35. 14, Smith, op., cit, p.70. 15, Ilbery, B.W. (1984): Core-Periphery Contrasts in European Social Well-being; Geography, 69; 289-302. 16, McCrackeD, K.W.J, (1983): Dimensions of Social Well-being_ Implications of Alternative Spatial Frames, Environment and Planning, A-1983, 15:579-92. 17, Kulkarni, K.M. (1990) : Geographical Patterns of Social Well- being (with special Reference to Gujarat); Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, pp. 14-16. CHAPTER-IV

WORK DONE SO FAR

Bossard's book entitled "Problems of Social Weil- Being " is probably the first work on social well-being. He has related social well-being with three conponents. These are income in its wider sense# physical health and state of mind. However, social well-being became an area of 2 major concern since 1970, In 1970 Lowry presented a scholarly paper entitled "Race and Socio Economic well-being: A Geogra phical Analysis of the Mississippi Case**. In the work some beginning has been made to cut the ice as the discipline of social well-being has almost been entirely neglacted. Smith's article "Towards a Geography of Social Well- 3 Being" which appeared in 'Antipode Social Geography Monograph* in 1972 may be considered as the first systematic work to understand social well-being in the spatial context. Smith made an attempt to identify areal variations in social well- being at the inter-state level. It has been pointed out that the similarity between the results of criteria indicators and between the general indicator with weighted or unweighted data is an outcome of the relationships between individual variables. The use of full matrix of coefficients has extensively been done. The study also indicates that most of the variables related to affluence, i.e,, income, occupational status, education and 67

housing tend to provide a similar general inpression on the one hand and the states perform in a markedly different way on most of the social disorganization variable on the other hand, 4 Robert J. Gray in 1972 in his study of social well- being in Tampa has attempted to work out intra-city indica tors. Attempt has been made to identify the structure of interrelationships between social conditions in Tampa with the help of a factor analysis method. To examine social well- being in Tampa the study takes into consideration the following variables. Economic status — (i) income» (ii) employment and welfare; Environment— (i) housing, (ii) streets and sewers, (iii) air pollution, (iv) open space; Social disorganization— (i) personal pathologies, (ii) family breakdown, (iii) over crowding (iv) public order and safety, and (v) delinquency ; Health—(i) general mortality and, (ii) chronic diseases; Education — (i) duration and participation and equality (i) demoratic participation and (ii) equality. Smith (1973) has presented broader aspects of lif-^ that would be desirable for the society. Ihis is the more detailed and comprehensive work on social well-being over put by any one. This is an important treatise on social well-being in the sense that prior to this study geographers had shown little professional 68

interest In contemporary social problems, "Hiis study has estbalished an operational definition of social well-being , to compile data necessary to determine the degree and regularity of spatial variations. These observations have also been analysed in numerical and cartographic form,The work has also been benefited from sociological perception but the approach is geographical. The research is almost entirely descriptive in nature. He suggests seven criteria of social well-being which can be adopted as a framework. These criteria are; (i) Income, wealth and employment, (ii) The living environment, (iii) Health (iv) Education, (v) Social order (vi) Social Belonging (alienation and participation) (vii) Recreation and leisure,

Knox's work entitled "Level of Living : A conceptual Framework for Monitoring Regional Variations in Well-Being " published in 1974 may also be termed as an important direction in the field of social well-being. Various dimensions of regi onal variations in social well-being have been defined. Knox has suggested that level of living provides the best conceptual framework for the development of social indicators. He also has pointed out that geographers are necessarily concerned with social indicators which are applied in different situations as per the purpose and disposition of the author, Knox (1975) 69

once again came out with an important work on social well- being. His work introduces the study of local social well- being within the social sciences framework supported by the social indicator movement. In spite of its being brief and limited, the study reveals and helps in illuminating the disparate and unjust patterns of prosperity, welfare and opportunity within Britain, It also illustrates the concep tual and methodological difficulties involved in monitoring such variations. Attention has also been paid to the develop ment of descriptive measures of local well-being with refere nce to public policies and decision-making in Britain. He has used 53 variables to measure the existing patterns of social well-being.

g Smith in 1975 came with an idea of mapping human well-being. It has been stated in the study that each of the different sub-fields of human geography is related to specific variables contributing to the patterns of spatial distribution of the resources of well-being among the various population g groups. Andrews and Withey also attempted in 1976 to measure social well-being by formulating the social indicators, Ihe social indicators movement of the 1960s sought increasingly sophisticated social indicators such as^economic and social for roonitorino impacts of the growing imbalances, dissatisfa ction, social disbenefite and emerging social needs of society. 70

Kevin McCracken in the year 1977 presented his view to the 9th New Zealand Geography conference on social well-being in a comprehensive and integrated way. The aim was to present a detailed as well as comprehensive view of social well-being within the country. It has been pointed out that with any study dealing with social well-being, there is no general model of society to serve as a guide to what condit - ions should be measured. McCracken chose 27 indicators of social well-being and of which 6 of the 7 general criteria were the same as identified by Shiith in 1973.

Another work by Smith appeared in 1977, Here the focus is more to a descriptive approach. It has been empha sized that descriptions of the geography of well-being or development/ if considered* are generally far from complete. Point has been made that in any pluralistic society with conflicting sub-group aspirations, there will be differences on many matters pertaining to who should get what and where. It has also been elaborated that the United States provides a suitable case with well developed official data and other sources of information, anith has also stated that we do not assume societal consensus on the priorities to be attached to the conditions of the ingredients of the good life as well as the normative interpretation, so the weighting adopted for the purpose of aggregation of data into a single social 71 indicator is arbitrary. He has revealed that there is more basic reason than racial pluralism for not anticipating radical social change in America. This is that the working class, black as well as white are often supporters of the capitalist system. He once again selected the similar indicators which he had taken in 1973 for measuring the social well-being condition.

Mccracken (1983)^^, and Ilbery (1984)^^ have studied the various dimensions of social well-being including the core-peripheral contrasts by using the territorial indicators traditionally used by earlier workers. Out of these studies two important aspects emerge as sensitive and crucial because they influence significantly the pattern of social well-being. They are first, the selection of appropriate indicators refl ecting the totality of social well-being and, secondly, the selection of appropriate geographical units for the purpose of a detailed study as well as for attaining the desired level of generalization.

Siirila (1984) made a rapid stride in the field of social well-being by producing his scholarly article entitled "Spatial Structure and Social Well-being". The purpose of the work has been to examine the nature of spatial structure and analyse the relationships between this and areal differences in social well-being. Comparison has been made between regions 72

of Finland which differ in their physical conditions and cultural history as well. His artice puts emphasis that regional differentiation is the consequence of the diffe rences in physical conditions and in cultural history* and beyond these in the closely associated phenomenon of the regional division of labour. Siirila assumed that: (i) the fundamental elements of spatial structure were laid down to a significant extent in pre-industrial times, (ii) the areal division of labour means that the spatial structures of the regions will inevitably be different, and (iil) the connections between the basic structures of the areas and their well-being consequently vary.

15 Kane and Wards (1989) have worked on social well- being in the New Zealand in a more lucid way. Ihey have taken into account six criteria and variables of social well- being. The study seeks to analyse that there is task to identify the mechanisms responsible for the disparity between reality and the Just ideal so that more Just spatial order may be achieved and created as well. He is of the opinion that the spatial perspective offered by geographers is a worthy cont ribution to the measurement of social- well-being. It has also been mentioned that as social well-being and patterns of deprivation become central theme, heightened interest by geog raphers in issues of urban social problems and social Justice 73

ensure that the spatial component and areal variation of such Issues will be aims £or much research to come. Stress has also been laid on the requirement for further research for additional subjective data on the quality of life for supplementing the objective data. This idea has been exemp lified as nothing that it is useful to assess the satis faction and psychological well-being of those whose objective social well-being is being measured.

Position in India India being a welfare state should have initiated the task along with the developed countries but she could not keep pace with the development of the discipline of social well-being. The geography of social well-being in India hitherto waits its due place among the other fields and sub- fields of human geography. Unfortunately, geographers here have not done the required work in this field and hence it has been rather neglected one. Till now sane sporadic researches have been carried out by professional geographers in India.

R.S. Dube (1982) published a valuable paper on social well-being of Madhya Pradesh. He has studied the various comp onents of social well-being considering territorial variables. His work is a land mark in the beginning of the researches in the field of social well-being amongst Indian geographers. 74

17 Kulkarni (1984) in his work "Levels of Crowding and Social Well-being in Intra-urban Environments ••, emphasized the phenomena of social well-being through various other indica tors. Here stress has been laid on the density of population and its impact on the patterns of social well-being. It has been described that in urban areas, the high density of popu lation reflects among different aspects the accessibility to various social amenities such as school, market, hospital, post and telegraph, parks, office, bus and railway station and playgrounds etc. contribute to better level of well-being in Ahmadabad city than the peripheral areas. Kulkarni produced another piece of work on the patterns of social well-being in 1987 18 , The study area taken into acccwnt is of Gujarat on the basis of micro regions. It has been viewed as to how different kinds of social well-being patterns exist in the state.

19 Kulkarni (1990) has selected 24 indicators showing the resource making qualities of population and the socio economic conditions of society. The study c(»itributes to the understanding of the spatial variations in the levels of social well-being in Gujarat," He has divided the state for the pur pose into inter-taluka, inter-district and inter-regional units. On the basis of composite index value and the population size of each of the talukas of seven micro-regions. Pour significant 75

levels of social well-being have been identified namely—— very High, High, Moderate and Low, The study has made an attempt to find out more explicitly the patterns of inequ alities in the levels of well-being in the state on the basis of certain selective demographic and socio-economic variables. The core-peripheral contrast in the levels of well-being in Gujarat appears not due to the theoretical advantages of economic advancement in the core areas but because of the topographical, climatic, soil and water condi tions along with the matters of historical development. It has also been clarified by Kulkarni that on the other hand the spatial disparities in social' well-being may perhaps be better understood in the light of the differentiation in the social aspirations, social values, social needs and social attainments as they are dictated by the general patt ern of education, occupation, religion, caste# age-sex compo sition, family size, income and rural-urban composition. Mention here has also been made that the phenomenon of social well-being is most dynamic at all levels of society. 76

REFERENCES

1,- Bossard, J.H. S, (1927) t Problems of Social Well-Being, Harper & Brothers, New York and London, C.f. Ihe Geography of Social Well-Being In the United Statesx An Introduction to Territorial Social Indicators, D.M. anith, 1973, McGraw-Hill, New York, p.7.

2. Lowry, M. (1970): "Race and Socio Economic Well-Being: A Geographical Analysis of the Mississippi Case" Geographical Review, 60, pp.511-528. 3. Smith, D.M. (1972): "Towards a Geography of Social Well- Being : Inter-state Variations in the United States, "in R. Peet, ed. Geographical Perspectives on American Poverty, Antipode Monographs in Social Geography, No, 1, Worcestor, Mass, pp.17-46. 4. Gray, R.J. (1972) : Social Well-being in Tampa: A Case Study in the use of Social Indicators at the Intra-city Level, unpublished MA thesis, Dept, of Geography, University of Florida, c.f. The Geography, of Social well-being in the United States: An Introduction to Territorial Social Indicators, D.M. Smith, 1973, McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 120-134. 5. Smith, D.M. (1973) : The Geography of Social Well-being in the United States : An Introduction to Territorial Social Indicators, McGraw-Hill, New York. 77

6. Knox, P.L. (1974)I Level of Living t A Conceptual Framework for Monitoring Regional Variations in Well-Being, Regional Studies, 8, pp. 11-19, 7. Knox, P.L. (1975) I Social Well-being i A ^atial Perspective, University Press, Oxford. 8. Smith, D.M. (1975b) I Mapping Human Well-being, Inter national Social Sciences Journal, 27, pp. 364-71. 9. Andrews, P.M. and Withey, S.B. (1976) » Social Indicators of Well-being ; America's perceptions of life quality. Plenum Press, New York. 10. Mccracken, K.W.J. (1977) t Social Well-being within the New Zealand Urban System, Proceedings 9th New Zealand Geography Conference, pp. 26-32. 11. Smith, D.M. (1977) : Ihe Geography of Social Well-beingx Ihe case of the USA. Human Geography: A Welfare /^proach, Edward Arnold, London, pp. 268-299. 12. Mccracken, K.W.J. (1983) : Dimensions of Social Well-being: Implications of Alternative ^ati«al Frames, Environ ment and Planning, A 1983, Vol.15, pp.579-592. 13. Ilbery, B.W. (1984) : Core-Periphery Contrasts in European Social Well-being, Geography, 69, pp. 289-302. 14. Silrila, S. (1984) : S^patial Structure and Social Well being, Pennia, 162, pp. 117-126. 15. Kane, S. and Wards, S. (1989) : Social Well-being In the New Zealand Urban System i Inter-and Intra-Urban Contrasts, Proceedings of 15th New ZeMa^^J* QeiOgfa- phical Society^, pp. 123-127. / - ^^_ ^^^

'\ '"^,. 78

16. Dube, R.S. (1982)t Social Well-being in Madhya Pradesh, Trans, Inst, of Indian Geographers, 4,pp. 169-174, 17, Kulkarnl, K.M. (1984)t Levels of Crowding and Social Well-being in Intra-urban Environments, Annals of the NAGI, vol. IV, N0.2 (December ) , pp. 41-48. 18. Kulkarni, K.M. (1987)t Patterns of Social Well-being in Micro Regions of Gujarat— A Regional Analysis. Itie Indian Journal of Social Work, vol. XLVII, No.4 (January), pp. 389-398. 19, Kulkarni, K.M, (1990) i Geographical patterns of Social Weil-Being (with special Reference to Gujarat), Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi. CHAPTER-V

THE STUDY AREA

(A) HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Ttie State of West Bengal as it appears nowadays is not the same as it used to be earlier in its shape, size and location.

Suba Banqla West Bengal, as the name indicates, is the western segment of a larger regional entity called Bengal. Precisely it is the area left out from Bengal Province in undivided India, after East Pakistan (Present Bangaldesh) was carved out of it. West Bengal has been -called a problem state. Many of its problems flow from the division.

Looking back at the past "Suba Bangla" , when first formed by the British,was a large area including Bihar and Orissa. It continued spreading westwards up to Agra. In 1863, however, the area of Suba Bangla was reduced by the detachment of Agra, but Assam was included in it after the first Burmese war. At that time the area of Bengal was nearly 500,000 sq.kms, and the population was nearly 80 million. Each census showed a steady and sometimes a remarkable incre ase in population . 80

Assam up to 1874, was administered as a part of Bengal, but in that very year it was constituted as a separate province. At the beginning of this century, Bengal consisted of the Bengal of 1946, including entire Bihar and part of Orissa and Cuttack added to it.

The First Partition- In October, 1905, during the second period of the rule of Lord Curzon, Bengal was partitioned for the first time. This incidence was not merely crucial for the state itself, but even for the whole of India as well as her freedom struggle. Ihere was a feeling that perhaps the motive behind it was to crush the intelligentia of Bengal who had begun to think of freeing the motherland from the foreign yoke. The trouble could only be stopped when king George the V announced the decision of reunifi cation of Bengal in 1911 4n the Royal Darbar held in Delhi, Another change announced in the Darbar was the shifting of the India's capital from Calcutta to Delhi,

Bengal thus formed, neither included Assam nor Bihar and Orissa. It was prot)ably very closely linked with the linguistic region where the Bengali language prevailed. This boundary remained the same till Pakistan with its two wings was carved out of India. The area of Bengal from 1911 81

to 1946 remained almost constant of 200,570 sq.km. But population rose gradually to over 60 million.

Second Partition

West Bengal emerged as a new state of Indian Republic, when India got independence in 1947, Its area sharank to 78,000 sq.kms. The Radcliff award which carved out Pakistan from India was quite controversial. Many leaders were of the view that several area which should have formed part of west Bengal were handed over to East Pakistan. For example, the three mother districts namely, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar—were separated from the rest of west Bengal and they along with the rest of the Indian territory, including Assam, to their west, were connected with India by a barely 15 kms wide neck near Naxal Bari. Biis was done by giving a large portion of Dinajpur and small chunk of Jalpaiguri to East Pakistan (Present Bangladesh) on the basis of Local Muslim minority. 82

(B) GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE Location and Area West Bengal extends between latitudes 21*38'N and 27*10'N and longitudes 85*3e'E and 89'50'E. It is bounded in the north by Sikkim and Bhutan, east by Assam and Bang ladesh, south by the Bay of Bengal and Orissa, west by Bihar and north-west by Nepal (Fig.l), The total area of 2 West Bengal is 88,752 sq.kins. As regards its shape, the state is compact in its southern part and tapers towards the north and is connected with three compact districts of the north through a narrow corrider known as Naxal Bari Neck (Fig.2).

Physical Features West Bengal is essentially a flat as well as feature less alluvial plain. A large portion of the state is a part of the delta of river Ganga. Merely 1% of its area is moun tainous lying in the far north of the state, Ihe plateau fringe and the Purulia triangle of upland along her western border possesses about 6% of the total area. Following phy sical feature are to be noted (Fig. 2) s

RELIEF AND DRAINAGE I The Northern Mountains- In the north is the Great Himalayan Range. Instead of 8 3

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of being small, it Is a part of world's loftiest mountain range. The Himalaya, which rises to eternal snows in Slkkim north of Darjeeling is dominated by Kanchanjanga and five of her satellite peaks namely-Jano, Kabru, Pandim, Narsim and Siniolchu.The lofty range of Singalila rises along the Nepal border to the west of the town and is covered by rhododendron forests. Steep slopes, knife-edged ridges, very often concave and deep gorges are canmon.

The region is cut into two portions by the deep gorge of river Tista which is only 200 to 400 metres above sea level. Ihe gorge runs north-south. To its west are the hills of Darjeeling, which rise to the Tiger Hill peak, 2,600 metres high, while to the east Durbin Dara near kalimpong rises to 1,800 metres. Here a few other small tributaries of the Tista have cut deep incisions into the mountains. The main tributaries of the Tista is the Rangit, It forms a part of the northern boundary of the district. Prom Tiger Hill, a spur descends northwards to the junction of the Tista and the Rangit, Fran Tiger Hill another spur runs westwards through Ghoom to Sukiapokhri and Simanabasti on the Nepal borde

The snow covered portions of the Himalaya are known as "Himals" by the Nepalis and the Kanchanjanga> group of snow 85

peaks is called Kumbhakarna Himal. From Sandakphu which is

situated on the Singalila range/ one can have a full view

of Mahalangur Himal to the west in which the Mt, Everest is

situated. It can also be seen from Tiger Hill.

The valley of the Mechi river is separated by the Mechi river. The Balason river which descends from the

Ghoom ridge and flows southwards in a very de^ gorge below

Kurseong, The town of Darjeeling sprawls over the northern

spur of Tiger Hill is not exposed to rain bearing winds from

the plains, Ihere is a deep gorge between the Darjeeling spur,

the Ghoom ridge and the Singalila range. Tea gardens are

situated on its slopes. At the bottom of the gorge the waters

of the Kagjhora and other small streams are harnessed to

produce electricity at Chhidrapong.

The Plateau Fringe

Ttiis is a rolling upland with small isolated hills stand ing here and there, disconnecting the continuity of the flat-

tish landscape. The greater part of this region is occupied by schists, gneisses and crystalline granitic rocks of the Archean Era. In the west, a 64 km wide strip of land running in the north-south direction along the Bihar Orissa Plateau

is composed of old alluvium deposited by the streams coming from the west. This strip of land is low undulating plateau. The soil is commonly red. 86

This physical region of the state Includes the western borders of the districts of Birhbum, Burdawan, Bankura and Midnapur and slight more rugged triangle piece of upland consisting of the Purulia district. The highest part of the Purulia Upland lies in the western portion between the valleys of the Subaranarekha and Kansabati. It is an elongated hilly area about 20 kilometres long and 10 metres wide. Its highest point is Gorgaburu, Gorgaburu is also the highest point in the plateau fringe. Ihese hills are locally known as Ajodhya Pahar. To the west of it the border extends to the river Subarnarekha, and to the north up to the Gowai, a tribu tary of the river Damodar. The rest of the Purulia upland is about 300 to 100 metres high and gradually slopes towards the south-east. It is cut up by Kansabati and its many small tributaries including the Kumari, some of which take their rise in the Ajodhya Hills. Near its eastern edge the rivers Silai and Dwarkeshwar take their rise.

The southern corner of the Purulia triangle is called Barabhum. Towards the east the Purulia upland extends into the Bankura district. Hence the Susunia Hill, though the height is only 440 metres, seems to be quite bold and sugged, because this is the last hill of any note. Around it spreads 87

a low rocky upland along the northern border of which flows the river Damodar. The river Ajay is also an important stream, A very small stream the Nonia flows through this

tract, south of the Ajay there is another small valley of

river kunur, a tributary of the Ajay. It flows through very badly eroded lateritic swells of land. A few kilometres from here is the last rennant of the plateau, a small forested mound, named Bhalki,

The Duars and Plains of the North

This region occupies the districts of cooch Behar,

Jalpaiguri and the southern half" of Darjeeling. Ihey slope

downwards from the foothills, and slowly flatten out to

continue up to the sea. Their upper parts are often called

Duars. The swift flowing Himalayan rivers bring down enormous

eroded material in the shape of boulders, sand, pebbles, silt

and even a little clay, Ttie rivers are broad expanses of

turbulent muddy water during the rainy season, rushing madly

southwards destroying whatever comes in their way. In dry

season they are expanses of sand and pebbles, with braided

channels of shimmering blue water here and there. Even small

rivulets like Lish and Gish are one or two kilometres broad.

The larfest and most destructive of these rivers is Tista.

It is fed by many a glacier of north Sikkim, including 86

Zemu glacier. It comes out of its mountain gorge at Sevok, and partically shoots out in a straight line towards the south-east. Other smaller rivers of a similar nature are Jaldhaka, Torsha, Sankosh and Raidak.

Mahananda Carridor t This name has been given to the narrow strip of Land, which connects the northern portion of west Bengal with the Maldah Pouch, Ihe main stream of the Mahananda flows through it only at its northern and southern ends but its tributaries flow through it, Mahananda is constituted by three Himalayan rivets namely, Balson, Mechi and'Mahanadi. All these rivers rise south of the Ghoom ridge. Nagar is a small tributary of Mahananda, and it rises in the plain and flows along the eastern edge of the corridor. Mahananda flows in a braided course and has many shifting channels. Its valley is generally safe from the fury of floods as compared to the valleys of Tista to its east and Kosi to its west.

The Maldah Plain This region is triangular in shape. Through this flow a number of rivers from north to south. All of which, except the Mahananda rise in the plains. They are fed mainly by seepages from old alluvial banks. Usually they possess highly 89

meandeilng courses, slightly incised in the old alluvial deposits. Tanga and Punarbhaba rivers join each other and then flow into Mahananda. Atrai flows further east directly into the Padma. Wie Southern boundary of this region is the broad as well as braided bed of the Ganga-Padma .

Hie Western Plains Itiese plains lie between the plateau fringe and the river Bhagirathi-Hooghly, A number of rivers which rise from the adjacent plateau flow through them eastwards and join the Bhagirathi, or Hooghly as it is called further south, Bhagirathi is the westermost distributary of the Ganaa. Ttie river has highly mandering course throu ghout. Along its western bank a belt of raised land has been formed for considerable distances by natural silting Behind the natural levee, marshes and shallow lakes have been formed.

The northermost of the Western tributaries is the Mayurakshi and her tributaries Brahmani, Dwarka, Bakreswar and Kopai, As they flow further east, they form intricate meanders, Mayurakshi joins the Bhagirathi about 20 kilomess north of Katwa. South of Mayurakshi is the valley of river 90

Ajay which rises in Bihar and flows through the plateau fringe, the boundary between Birbhum and Burdawan.

Khari# Banka and Behula are the three small streams which flow south of Ajay. At one time these rivers in turn carried the waters of the Damodar. In the case of

Khari, the past broad bed can be recognised. "Itie lower parts of the valleys are marshy.

River Damodar runs practically in a straight line in West Bengal, until it makes a sharp turn near Saktigarh below Burdawan to the south. Ihe stretch of river between

Panagarh and Saktigarh about 70 Kilometres in length is a broad sandy bed, which has been a potential flood maker.

Ihe triangular area between the Hooghly and the Damodar is a land of dead and dying rivers.

West of the Damodar is the river Rupnarain, Its big breadth is not commensurate with its small catchment in the plateau fringe. It is because of tidal action. Up to

Kolaghat it is more or less a tidal estuary. The river is formed by the junction of rivers Dwarkeshwar and Silai.

The tract is very low as well as there are many marshes. 91

Further vert is the valley of river Kangsabati or Kasai. In the plains of Midnapur district, its tributary Kalia - ghai drain the tract south of Kharagpur, which is again very low flat and marshy.

Plains of the Moribund Delta The plains lie between the Bhagirathi-Hooghly and the Bangladesh border which more or less is demarcated by rivers, especially in the south, such as Jamuna and Kalinadi. As the waters of the Ganga have gradually shifted their flow towards the east such as Garai-Madhumati and Padma, The western part of the delta has, therefore been designated as moribund. Jalangi and Churni are decaying rivers. They flow through the Nadia district. Besides the meanderings of the Nadiarivers, this tract is full of many abandoned meanders an3 bils. Marshes and bils increase and become large towards the south.

The Sundarbans l^e network of tidal Creeks becomes very dense near the sea. The land is covered by dense mangrove forests.If a straight line is drawn from the southern tip of Sagar Island situated east of the mouth of Hooghly to a point 92

70 kilometres BOrth of the sea on the Bangladesh border, a triangular region is got with one of its sides as this straight line, the other as the sea coast and the third as the Bangladesh border. Ihis triangle gives the extent of Sundarbans today. It, of course, spreads further east into Bangladesh. Silts usually are deposited where flow tides come up along two channels meeting point. The building up of new land is slow, as the supply of silt from the land is limited. The channels, however, are very broad near the sea. Ttie broadest is estuary of river Hooghly, being nearly 20 kilometres west of the southern tip of Sagar Island. Many new islands are forming in this channel, and there are many shoals and sand banks. During the full moon in J'lly, August and September tidal bores sweep up the Hooghly upto Chandan Nagar,

Kanthi coastal Strip

The topography of this strip of land is related to the sea. Though there are salt marshes here and there, there is a long stretch of firm sandy beach. Ihe coast line is more or less a smooth convex curve, broken cmly by the mouths of small streams like Rasulpur and Pichabani. Between these 93

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two streams there are considerable sand dunes. At places off-shore sand bars are forming,The beach at Digha is unusually firm,

CLIMATE;

Ihe climate of West Bengal is transitional between humid sub-tropical in the north and tropical savanna in the southern portions. Except in the northern mountains where the altitude becomes the controlling factor, the state has generally tropical, hot and bumid monsoon type of climate. While summers are sticky in the plains, and uncomfortable to the utmost, they are pleasant in the hills of Darjeeling, though humidity is high, winters are quite pleasant all over the state, though a bit too severe for the plains pec^le in the mountains,

TYPE OF CLIMATE :

The climate of West Bengal Traditionally has six seasons but it can best be described under the four seasons recognised by Meteorological Department, Government of India, These four seasons of Meteorological Department 3 are :

(a) Ihe hot season, (b) The advance of the monsoon (c)

The retreat of the monsoon and (d) Ihe cold season. 95

4 The six traditional seasons are:

(a) Vasant, (b) Greeshma, (c) Varsha, (d) Sharat, (e)Hemanta and (f) Sheet.

Ihe Hot Season In the state of West Benaal this season roughly covers the period between 1st March and 10th June, the normal date of the arrival of the monsoon. In the summer months, the sun is directly overhead in the Northern Hemisphere and on June 21 it is exactly over the tropic of cancer. Practica lly the whole of West Bengal receives vertical rays of the sun during this season and the landmass gets heated very much. In these hot months of the summer the thunderstorms called Nor* Westers, are frequently e;q)erienced. Ihese are violent cyclonic storms, which approach from the north-west and occur mainly in the afternoons. The Nor Westers are accompanied by strong winds and torrential rains. Ihese bring down the temperature for a short vAiile and the Sigh pf relief to the people in the hot summer evening.

Advance of the Monsoon By the 15th of June the whole of West Bengal is under the influence of the monsoon current. Heavy rains begin all over the state of West Bengal, from the advancing rolls of 96 dark, low nimbus clouds. There is little thunder. Ihe burstinq of the monsoon is more vigorous in the hills, where the rising currents of moist air produce much more rain, Ihe mist hangs on for days, cutting down visibility to zero, while continaousheavy rain falls incessantly.

The Retreat of the Monsoon (Autumn) In the beginning of October the weather in the state improves, Ihe monsoon starts retreating from northern India in the last week of September, and by the mid October it leaves West Bengal. Ihe days of discomfort are soon over. Ihe autumn season is a season of festivities in West Bengal, The night soon becomes cool, as the day's heat is radiated out fast through the, starry night skies. There is much dew in the morning. Morning fogs are also frequent. In the Darjee- ling hills the weather is quite attractive.

The cold Season- Officially winter in West Bengal begins on 15th Novanber^. This cold, in fact, is very mild. The minimum temperature at night is always above 15"C. Itis merely after a couple of weeks that the cold is felt somehow. The sun is still bright and hot due to the clear skies and is somewhat not telerable. 97

Ihe winds are light and variable. One of its manifestations is the rise of the uncomfortable north wind, which is chilly and dry.

AN OVER VIEW OF TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL I

Normal Monthly And Annual Temperature

Though the temperature appears less inconsistent from year to year that the rainfall, it is however, related to the rainfall Inversely. The northwestern parts comprising

Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum and Kednipur have higher tempe rature than the other parts of the state, where the rainfall is less. In hilly areas temperature varies with the altitude and the slope, which are controlling factors for the nature and distribution of temperature. The northern Himalayan and

Sub-Himalayan region has warm and hot moist condition. Most of the Gangetic/Bhaglrathi plain areas are under the hot and moist condition.

The temperature is below 24"C in the districts of

Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri and adjoining areas of northern

Cooch Behar. Ihis region represents lower temperature and thus cooler climatic condition prevails here than any other part of the state. The districts of West Dlnajt>ur,

Maldah and Southern portions of Cooch Behar and Jalpalguri fall in the range of 24*C-25*C. Ihe range of 25*-26"C extends 98

Over the areas of Purulla, north-western Bankura, Murshidabad, Birbhurr, Bardawan, Nadia, Hooghly and the southern portion of West Dinajpur, Ihe south«western regions of the state, copri- sing the districts of Mednipur, portion of Bankura, Howrah and Calcutta have on the otherhand, a higher temperature of above 26°C,

The distribution of monthly temperature in the state is found high in the months of April, May and June during which no rainfall to very little rainfall is experienced. A s result it is very hot and dry in this part of the year. The months of March, July, August, September and October have more or less the same temperature, marginally a little lower than the first spell. The lower temperature on the other hand is found in the months of November, December, January and beginning of February of the year. The lowest average temperature (20.2"*C) is seen in the month of January and the highest !(31,2*C) in the month of May.

Normal Monthly And Annual Rainfall Ihe climate of West Bengal is associated with the monsoon and therefore, depends mostly on the amount of annual rainfall it gets. The rainfall is fairly wide spread and more or less evenly distributed in the state. Ihe south-west monsoon gener ating from the Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal causes heavy rainfall in the summer months of June-September. Ihe average annual rainfall in the state is about 1,800 millimetres. 99

The state is divided into two broad rainfall zones, viz., (a) The Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan North consisting the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar and a little northern area of West Dinajpur and (b) the rest zone of the state comparising the Central Deltaic plains and the western districts which form the eastern fringe of the Chhotanagpur Plateau. The first mentioned region has a heavy rainfall of 2,000 mm and above while the latter region comprising the districts of North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, eastern coastal areas of Medinipur and West Dinajpur receive 1,800-2,000 mm rainfall. The average annual rainfall varies from 1,400 to 1,600 mm in Maldah, north-eastern areas of Murshidabad and eastern Birbhum and Burdawan, and almost the whole districts of Hooghly, Nadia and Medinipur. Ihe districts of Purulia and north-western Bankura, Burdawan, Murshidabad and Birbhum on the other hand experience rather low annual rainfall which is about 1,400 mm only.

NATURAL VEGETATION 7 Forests occupy about one-eighth of the total land, and the region as a whole has a rich and distinguished plant life. In West Bengal forests of four distinct areas exist. These are (i) mountain temperate forests, (ii) tropical forests of Duars, (iii) the deciduous forests of the plateau fringe and (iv) the mangrove forests of Sundarbans. Of these the most important are the northern forests. 100

Forests of the Darjeelinq Hills These are related to altitude. Below 1000 metres there exist tropical evergreen forests. Between 1,000 and 1,500 metres we find sub-tropical forests. The important species are Terminalia, Cedrela, various laurels and Michelia. Bamboos are also available in this belt.

Temperate forests are found from 1,500 to 3,000 metres. Ttiey possess some varieties of oaks and conifers. Magnolia Campbelli and large rhododendrons tree are also found in this region. Much of these forests areas have been cleared for tea gardens around Darjeeling and Kurseong. Birch are found in many areas. Conifers are found in slightly higher situations. There are dense forests of deoders. Beeches are available all round Darjeeling. In Tiger Hill and Ghoom ridge large plantations of g Criptomeria Japonica have been raised. Above 3,000 metres. Silver fir is quite familier.

Tropical Mixed Evergreen Forests of the Foot Hills ; In this part some of the most dense forests of the state are found, and most of them are protected. They are generally well managed and properly exploited. Much of this forest is moist deciduous. Sal is the most cotnmOTi and valuable variety. Other commo' varieties are champa, ehilauni, khair, gamer and 101

toon. There is much bamboo also.

A broad belt of these forests spread along the whole length of the northern districts. It is voider towards the east in the Duars, Among the shrubs which need mention may be Rauwolfia serpentina, which Is used for its medicinal properties. There is much undergrowth of shrubs and bushes. Wild animals abound in the jungles which include the rare one-horned Indian rhinoceros, the elephant and the tiger.

Deciduous Forests of the Plateau Fringe Once upon a time there used to be dense sal forests but nowadays they are reduc>^d to coppice. Large full grown sals are limited. Other trees found in these forests are palash also in the form of coppice and glades of fully mature mahua. Other trees are simal, haldu and harra. Bamboos are also found. Lantantamara. , a wide extent of common bush all over India, is also found here.

Mangrove Vegetation of the Sundarbans The vegation of this region has to face different sort of environment for adaptation and survival as well. Firstly, the water is salty which does not permit ordinary plants here to grow. Secondly, the vegetation must adapt Itself to 102

the rise and fall of tides. Ihirdly, there is little firm ground for trees to stand. The root systems of mangrove plants are usually very large to let them stand in deep mud. In many cases such as Keya or Kewra, the roots branch out from above the ground, and provide stilts to the plant so that it dOes not fall easily. Some plants germinate from their seeds while still on the tree. While the little plant grows up it develops a long stab like root below, while still attached to its mother tree, and still in the air.

A very common scene in the Sundarbans is a forest of spikes jutting out of the muddy ground. The most common of salt-loving trees which is found here is sundri. Other trees are goran, bean, gewa and dhundal, A dwarf variety of palm known as nipa palm occurs widely along the edge of the salt water.

Natural Vegetation of the Plains Almost all the natural vegetation of the plains has been cleared for farming purpose, and most of the trees are planted. The two grand trees of the plains are the Batav- riksha and Pipal, They grow all over the plains. The biggest, the best and the oldest of the bats is the Great Banyan tree well preserved in the Calcutta Botanical Garden. Data plams grow naturally along embankments, in groves or on 103

barren land. Babul grows in dry situations and on embankment Bamboos grow all over the plains. Many types of grasses grown in the plains are economically useful. Ihe roost common is Kash. Another type of grass is ULU khar which is used for thatching. Sabai grass useful for paper making is found in the plains of Madinipur. A grass called Madur Kati provides straw for making high quality mats, is found in Midinipur. It is also used for making hats and handbags.

Among the marshes and shallow lakes also grow many kinds of water-loving plants. A common of them is "Pana", Other water-loving plants are sources of food such as paniphal or water chestnut, which is cultivated. coastal Vegetation Tall grasses, bamboo groves, small date palms and coconuts grow here and there. But the landscape is dominated 9 by casuarina plantations spread along the coast. Ihe most common vegetation is Kewra bushes. Ihe saline marshes are covered by mass like vegetation and water creepers.

SOILS; Vegetation, temperature, altitude and moisture are greatly responsible for various types of soils found in West Bengal. Following are the important soil types of the state : 104

Mountain Soils In the tropical belt the soils are rich in bumusr , but the ste^ slopes which are found in this area, force the soils to slip downwards by gravitation force. Mai forest manaqement aided by heavy rain has also led to frequent landslides. Thus well developed soil is lost. In the temp erate belt very good brown forest soils are found. In damp conditions the soils are dark and peaty. In the conif erous forests podzols are available, which are acidic and poor in nitrogen content. On very high ridges above 3,000 metres the soils are quite acidic. Ihey also are immature due to very low prevailing temperatures and alow chemical action.

« In Ghoom soil erosion is very high due to overgrazing. In mountains where slopes are steep, forest cover should be about 70%.Ihe extensive tea gardens have made this percen tage much lower. In any abandoned tea garden area, soil erosion and landslides are bound to occur.

Red Soils of the Plateau The soils which are found in the plateau fringe are generally lateritic. Very often they are red loams. 105

Hieir fertility is medium. They are residual soils. Ihey, if properly managed yield good crops. Their major drawback is that they are easily eroded. Defores tation has added a lot in making soil erosion a meance in this region. There are badly gullied lands at many places.

Soils of the Plains There does not exist a different variety of the soils of the plains. All of them are alluviums transported by rivers. The two main types are old and new alluviums,

(i) Old Alluvium A belt of this type is found all along the outer edge of the plateau fringe. This transported soil has lost its original fertility due to leaching. Besides the belt of old alluvium on the border of the plateau fringe, a big patch of this soil is there in west Dinajpur district* Here this soil is often covered by scrub jungle,

(ii) New Alluvium New alluviums are found near the rivers. They are divided into sand, silt, loam or clay as per texture. 106

It depends upon the type of alluvial matter brought by the incrusion of flood water. However, there is more sand near the river beds, and more clay further apart. Loams are the most common soils, and they are also most fertile.

Coastal soils

The coastal soils are the outcome of the interaction of rivers and tides and have developed in the districts of 24 parganas and Medinipur. Ihe most common soils of this region are muds impregnated with salt. At some places nearer to the sea, sand is deposited near the beaches. Ihe dense vegetative cover naturally provides decayed vegeta- tional matter to the soil. But "too much heat oxides much of it, and, there is little peast formation. The soils are saline and alkaline and contain deposits rich in calcium and magnesium as well as half decomposed organic matter.

POPULATION

According to the 1991 Census the population of West Bengal is 67,982,732 showing an increase of 24,55% since 1981 . West Bengal has displaced Kerala as the most densely populated state in the country. It is the fourth most populous state after Uttar Pradesh, Bihar^ Maharashtra, 107

Occupying 2,77% of India's total area, the state now accommodates about 8,06% of the ccxintry's populace and has a population density of 766 persons per square kilo metre, 27.4% people live in urban areas. Sex rario is below the national average and it stands at 917. 57,72% people of the state are literate. Males and females lite racy rates, which are 67,24% and 47,15% respectively, show a bit gap in level of literacy between male and female of the state.

There has been a continous increase in the population of West Bengal, the only exception being the decade 1911-1921, In 1901 the population of the state was 16,941,873 and now it stands at 67,982,732, In the last ninety years popu lation has guadrupled,After adjusting the figures as close a possible to the present area of the state the total po ulation after each decade during the present century and its percentage variation is given below : 108

TABLE 5.1

POPULATION GROWm

Year Population Percentage Variation/ decade

1901 16,941,873

1911 17,998,769 +6,25

1921 17,474,348 -2.91

1931 18,897,036 +8.14

1941 23,229,552 +22.93

1951 26,299,980 - +13.22

1961 34,926,279 +32.79

1971 44,312,910 +21.18

1981 54,580,647 +23.17

1991 67,982,732 +24.55

Ihe table 5.1 clearly shows that it took almost

six decades to get-the population doubled from 1901

to 1961. After 1961 it has doubled in only three decade up to 1991. In the year 1921 not only in west Bengal

but throughout India negative growth rate in population was witnessed. In the state of West Bengal growth rate

was -2.91% that is quite higher than that of India's

rate which was -0.3%. The obvious reason behind this 109

decline was the severe outbreak of plague throughout the Bengal. Famine was also in evidence in the state causing the negative growth rate of population. Another setback in population growth of West Bengal was witnessed in the year 1951. In 1941 there had been 22.93% growth rate of popul- 1 at ion but the same declined up to an aamazing figure of 13.2 2% in 1951 owing to the exodus of Muslims to the newly created Pakistan.

When the area of a region and its constituent units is fixed over time* population growth will increase the popu lation density. If the population growth is uniform,density will increase uniformly, but a-differential pattern of pop ulation growth in constituent units will cause fluctuations in population densities. It is noteworthy that Kerala, which has been the most densely populated state in the country with a density of 655 persons per sq.km, in 1981 gave that distinction to West Bengal in 1991 with a density of 766 per sons per sq,km, as against 746 of Kerala. Table 5,2 indicates the changing pattern of population density in West Bengal from 1941 to 1991, TABLE 5,2 POPULATICa^r DENSlTy Year Density (Person per sq.km.)Percentage variation/ _,. decade 1941 264 1951 299 +13.25 1961 398 +33.11 1971 504 +26.63 1981 615 +22.02 1991 766 +24.55 110

Table 5.2 shows that from 1941 to 1991 the state has been continuously facing an increase in density of popul ation. The percentage variation for the decade of 1960s has been the highest i.e., 33.11 and the lowest one was of the 1950s i.e, 13.25%.

Figure 5.1 has been drawn to show the density of popu lation of west Bengal according to the 1991 census districtwise. Five indices have been taken for the cartography pur pose. Districts have been put under the categories of very high, high, medium, low and very low corresponding the number of persons per sq.km. such as 2150-2600, 1700-2150, 1250-1700, 800-1250 and 300-800 respectively. Under the very high categ ory only Howrah district falls. North 24 Parqanas comes under the category of high population district of the state. Hooghly has the medium category of density. Four districts are such which are having the low density of population as indicates figure 5.1 that is, from 800 to 1250 persons per sq.km. These districts are Calcutta, Nadia, Murshidabad and Bardhaman, Remaining districts have the very low category of density. These districts are also such which possess the density below the average density of the state ie; 766. Purulia district possesses the lowest density of population in West Bengal which i.*^ 354 persons a sq.km. Howarh district has the highest density of population of the state accommodating as many as 2,535 persons per sq.km. Ill

86 1-. 'y,^\^y^89 ° r-ih: U WEST BENGAL 27 -27 ':>h-:\ N DENSITY OF POPULATION Yyf^ '•.>\^''%-,

•4 -26 PERSONS PER KM' V..- ••.^. 2150-2600 rf S".l 1700-2150 s/ • 1250-1700 1 25°- -25" 800-1250 iJJ ^ 300 - 800

.-.•.')/•//// /A \ .• .r/ ////// A M' g^-L -Zt* J-

.Vx //^>x/.-.-.-. •(/''<:/^ ''A .•J •.".• .V/'/''////^/"f''^''7 ' ^/ / / / / / /V / / •V / / / / / X '

23- -23"

22- -22°

FIG-Bl 112

Following table (5,3) indicates the distribution of population over the districts of the stdtc.

TABLE 5.3

DISTRICTWISE POPULATION 1991

District Population

Kooch Bihar 2,158,169 Jalpaiguri 2,789,827 Darjeeling 1,335,618 West Dinajpur 3,132,374 Maldah 2,633,942 Murshidabad . 4,734,278 Nadia 3,848,247 North 24 Parganas 7,280,261 South 24 Parganas 5,708,260 Calcutta 4,388,262 Haora 3,718,911 Hugli 4,352,660 Medinipur 8,349,890 Bankura 2,799,455 Puruliya 2,217,423 Barddhaman 5,979,050 Birbhum 2,556,105 The above table shows that the district of Medinipur has the highest population of all districts of the state, and Darjeeling has the lowest population.Figure 5.2 has 113

87 86^ / S I K K I M ^^ ®^

^ o WEST BENGAL 27 H -27 (•T. / <^. fi DISTRIBUTION4 OOFF POPULATION)'.-( 1991 . • • ' \

,0 ONE DOT REPRESENTS Or < •> 'NA-.J \,^ 26. - -20 60,000 PERSONS

HUGLI -ri ', NADIA v.. •••..-.: 25- •25° HA OR A ,^\\ s.:-. •••:-.i

^^^ SOUTH '"^-J TTWENTY FOUR) \PARGANA \

I .. .•. • • •i\! V 2^- -Ik" ..•• •. v-".-/ 9? '.• • • '••.y.'c''

i\ f • • ' 1 • . N' .•.•:.••••• • • y. • -.:>,

. . * ' • • ^ •. • . • . • I . • • ^

23- -23' <••'•• -• •^•.••^•^•^:•:••••••:••:^:^W

<:<^^-,;:•.••.^::^V.;Ai::.•:^.•••••^

-22

FIG.5-2 114

been drawn to demarcate the population distribution of the state at district level. Here one dot represents 60,000 persons.

Figure 5,3 indicates the rate of literacy in the state in percentage. Five types of indices have been used to show the level of literacy, Calcutta falls in the cate gory ofr.very high level of literacy rate i.e., between 65-75% , Four districts namely, Medinipur, Hoara, , Hugli and the North 24 Parganas are having high literacy rate which varies from 55% to 65%. Only three districts such as the south 24 parganas, Bardhaman, and Darjeeling fall under the medium category of literacy rate that is, from 45% to 55% Six districts namely, Kooch Bihar, Jalpaiguri, Nadia, Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia have the low level of literacy rate ranging from 35% to 45%, Ihe remaining three districts, attached to each other i.e.. West Dinajpur, Maldah, and Murshidabad, fall under the very low level of literacy rate's category, varying from 25% to 35%, Table 5,4 repre sents the districtwise total literacy rate as well as the literacy rate among males females in percentage. U5

1? If I s r K K r M,'^ ^^

-27 WEST BENGAL LITERACY RATE(»/o) 1991

-26~ INDEX 65 -75

55 -65

A5 - 55 ^ ^ -25" ^ ' ' ^ 35 - A5 f f /^ 25 -35

2<»^ -2^" 4

L (3 23°-

^ Z

^^ "^ 22°-

^^ CO WAL 8?°

FIG.5-3 116

TABLE 5,4

LITERACY RATE 1991 (IN PERCENTAGE)^^

District Persons Males Females

Kooch Bihar 37.60 46.83 27.71

Jalpaiguri 37.50 46.67 27.61

Darjeeling 51.16 56.46 45.42

West Dinajpur 32.10 40.21 23.37

Maldah 28.52 36.49 20.02

Murshidabad 30.50 37.00 23.63

Nadia 43.90 50.36 37.02

Horth 24 pa rg anas 55.58 62.39 48,09

South 24 parganas 44.77 55.95 32.74

Calcutta 70.70 75.15 65.13

Ha Or a 57,62 64.81 49.43

Hugli 57.51 65.41 48.90

Medinipur 57.64 67.35 47.36

Bankura 42.95 54.45 30.82

Puruliya 35,76 50.86 19.79

Barddhaman 52.26 60.04 43.61

Birbhum 39.29 47.87 30.21

Table 5,4 shows that Calcutta dominates in overall literacy performance. It got the highest literacy rates of all districts 117

of the state related to male and female education. After Calcutta it is Medinipur, Barddhaman, Hugli, Haora, North 24 Parganas which are having the male literacy rate more than 60%. Maldah district possesses the lowest male literacy rate which is 36.49% ; and after that come Murshidabad with 37,00% and the West Dinajpur 40,2%.Among the males the highest and the lowest literacy rates are 75,15% and 36.49 respectively. Amongst the finale the highest percentage of literacy rate is 65.13 and the lowest one is 19.79. TTie highest female literacy rate is found in Calcutta and the lowest rate in the district of Puruliya. Except Calcutta's female literacy rate which is 65.13% no other districts of the state could cross the level of 50% female literacy rate as it is shown in table 5.4. Five districts namely* Kooch Bihar, Jalpaiguri, West Dinajpur, Maldah, Murshidabad are the such districts where female literacy rate varies from 20% to 30% range. Only North 24 Parganas, Haora, Hugli, Medinipur and B rddhaman are the districts which have qual ified the 40% mark, of female literacy in the state.

Figure 5,4 illustrates the different religious groups and their numbers in the state. There are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists and other religious sects in West Bengal. The figure has been drawn on the basis 118

FIG.54 119

of data available in 'Census of India 1991, Series-1, Religion,* In the state, more than three-fourths of the total population are Hindus, In terms of percentage it works out to 76.96, The Muslims are also in sizeable nu-nber and they constitute 21,52% , Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs and other religion not stated together from less than 2%, At the district levlel , the highest percentage of Hindus is noticed in Puruliya followed by Bankura, Ihe lowest in this connection is recorded in Murshidabad, where the highest proportion of the popula tion is of Muslims followed by the Maldah district. Ihe lowest percentage of Muslims is found in Darjeeling, The Christians and the Buddhists are mainly concentrated in the districts of Jalpaiguri arid Darjeeling, Rest of the religions are insignificant. Following is the table (5,5) indicating the sex ratio at district level in West Bengal, 1Z.\J

TBALE 5.5

SEX RATIO 1991^^

District Sex Ratio (F^nales/1,000 Males)

Kooch Bihar 934 Jalpaiguri 928 Darjeeling 923 West Dinajpur 930 Maldah 938 Murshidabad 945 Nadia 938 North 24 Parganas 909 South 24 Parganas 929 Calcutta 797 Haora 878 Hugli 917 Medinipur 944 Bankura 948 Puruliya 946 Barddhaman 898 Birbhum 946 121 llie state has the sex ratio below the national average. India's sex ratio is 929 and that of West Bengal 917. As per the table 5.5 the highest sex ratio of any dist ricts in the state is of Bankura which possesses 948 females per thousand males. This figure is satisfactory in the sense only that it exceeds the national as well as the state level mark of sex ratio. The lowest sex ratio is of Calcutta i.e., 797, This is dismal rate as conpared to the national and state level averages. There is one such district in the state which is having the same sex ratio as it is at India level. Ihis district is South 24 Parganas. Ihere is also one such district of West Bengal which has the same number of females for a thousand males at the state level, for example, Huguli—917. There are nine districts where average sex ratio is more than the national sex ratio. These districts are Kooch Bihar, West Dinajpur, Maldah, Murshidabad, Nadia, Medinipur, Bankura, Puruliya, and Birbhum. Twelve districts are such where sex ratio is more than the state's average. Four districts, namely. North 24 Parganas, Calcutta, Haora and Barddhaman are having the sex ratio lying below the average of West Bengal's sex ratio. They have the ratio of 909, 797, 878 and 898 respectively. Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North 24 parganas, Calcutta, Haora, Hugli and Barddhaman— these seven districts out of seventeen districts of the state, have the sex ratio below the national average. 122

(C) SOCIO-ECONCMIC FACILITIES Social Welfare A social welfare directorate coordinates different welfare schemes dealing with orphans, destitute persons. Vagrants, the physically and mentally handicapped/ and child offenders. The government's social-welfare enterprises are supplemented by the NGOs, of which the most prominent is the Ramkrishna Mission, and the Order of Missionaries of Charity (1948), founded by Mother Teresa.

Education According to 1991 Census report, there are 32,119 ,340 (57.72%) persons literate out of which 62.16% are in urban areas and 37.84% in rural areas, 12,665,922 females are literate to which 31.39% are rural and 60,01% are of urban populace. In 1988-89 there were 50,827 primary schools with 9,274,121 students, 4,179 junior high schools with 2,742,767 students and 6,804 high and higher secondary schools with 1,598,616 students. Education is free up to higher secondary level. Ihe state has 10 degree-granting universities, as well as engineering and medical colleges. More than 5,000 adult education centres are there for training in literacy. The disparity rate of literacy in the state between men and women is less than the national average.

Health Ihere were (1989)410 hospitals, 1,177 Clinics, 1,194 health centres and 551 dispensaries. 17 Family planning services 123 are available in district bureaus, as well as in the urban and varal centres. An employee's state insurance scheme provides factory workers with health, safety, employment and maternity insurance and also provides a free medical facility.

Economy West Bengal, in spite of its smaller size, accounts for about one-sixth of India's net domestic product.

Agriculture In West Bengal the share of cultivated land to the total area and the contribution of agriculture in the over all economy of the state is about 65%. About 11 million hectare land were under ricepaddy in 1989-90. Total food grain production in 89-90 was 11.86 million tonnes of which rice 10.9 million tonnes, wheat 569,000 tonnes; pulses 181,000 tonnes, jute 5 million bales. Pice in grown in grown in every district except Darjeeling. The yield of rice is high and this is attributable to both the intensive crop tending and relatively heavy application of fertili zers. Fisheries are also the most important occupation in the state. In 1989^90, 601,000 tonnes were produced. The state is the largest inland fish producer in the country. Wheat and potatoes are grown as winter crops throughout the southern districtis. High quality tea is produced in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri. Mango, jack fruit and bananas are produced widely in southern and central parts of the 124 state. Darjeeling also produces organes, apples, pineapple, cardamom and ginger.

Industry West Bengal is one of the leading industrialised states of the country. A corridor, extending from Calcutta some 48 kilometres north and 19 kilometres south along the Hooghly River, contribute to the region's oppressive atmospheric pollution owing to the dense concentration of industries there. The key to industrial development of Hooghly side is its location, less than 322 kilometres east of the world class coal, iron ore and limestone deposits in the Chota Nagpur region of Bihar. The total number of registered factories in 1989 was 8,746 (excluding defence factories). Average daily employment in public sector industries in 1988 was 2,1 million. The coal mining industry in 1988 had 114 units with average daily employment of 98,000. Durgapur Steel Plant is also noteworthy. Besides these, small scale industries including silk industry are also important. 337,941 units were registered on 31 March, 1990 with esti mated employment 2,280,857. Farther South on the west bank of the Hooghly is Haldia, the terminus of the oil pipeline from Assam and the site of the largest oil refinery of eastern India. Other significant industries like auto mobile, ship building, chemical and fertilizer production are operating in the state at large scale. Figure 5.5 indica tes the different types of industries of the state for an overview. 125

5? r / S I K K I M / WEST BENGAL BHUTAN INDUSTRY f \

y *;^^^D A ItJ^I LIN G ^"v..

ASSAM -26 INDEX /.-

• ••• TIMBER «^ ^. :-.*-:HALblA SILK LAC SUGAR HALDIA \ REFINERY AHM/XOPUf^.-. \ -2U (^ • MURSfl|DABA[3) O 2a- <2> /CHITTARANJAN r ASANSOL URGAPUR ?

l^ BtSHNUPUR

/S. C HALOIA : '^^ •>. ^ REFINERY

FfG.5.5 126

Transport and Communications The state has a fairly developed in means of trans portation systems. Calcutta serves as a major hinterland of the northeastern parts of the country# as well as handles much of India's commerce. It possesses an international airport equipped to adjust jet aircraft of the major intern ational airlines. In 1981 the state had 776,301 moter vehicles (Now only Calcutta has more than 125,000 Vehicles plying everyday on the roads). About 1,631 kms, areas are there in National Highways, Ihe route length of railways within the state is 3,809 kms. The state also has 779 kms. of navigable canals. 19 127

REFERENCES 1, Bose, S.C. (1968) : Geography of West Bengal. National Book Trust of India, New Delhi, 2. India 1994, Publications Division, New Delhi. 3. Hose, S.C. (1979): Geography of West Bengal, National Book Trust New Delhi, p. 38, 4. Ibid, 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. 7. The New Encyclopaedia Britanica (1993): Vol. 21, 15th edition, 8. Bose, S.C, (1979) : Geography of West Bengal, National Book Trust, of India, New Delhi, pp, 48-49. 9. Singh, G. (1990) : A Geography' of India, Atma Ram & Sons, Delhi, p. 403. 10. Singh, R.L. (1971): India: A Regional Geography, Varanasi, p. 264. 11. India 1994, Publications Division, New Delhi. 12. Ibid. 13. Premi, U.K. (1991): India's Population: Heading Towards A Billion, B.R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi, pp. 105-106, 14. Ibid., 122. 15. Ibid. 16. Bie Statesman Year Book (1992-93): 129th edition. 17. Ibid. 18. Ibid. 19. Ibid. CHAPTER-VI

MECHANISM OF OHE PBQPOSED .?h.De.WOBK

Ihe proposed Ph.D. work will be based on the methodo logy, observation, teohnlcalities and patterns given below-

(a) Data Base and Methodologies Most of the data for the proposed Ph.D. work will be made available from secondary sources particularly the Census reports of 1991 and the District Statistical Abstracts. The state will be considered at sub-divisional levels as well as micro-regions. Ihe available data will be considered for each sub-division in relation to the averages or standards of resp ective micro-region by using the following functional concen tration index and social well-being index of knox.

^x1 ^i PCI » —iiMPJ xni-

Here FCI means functional concentration index or weightage.

^x1 ^i ""^^"^ percentage ot ratio of xi variable of XI subdivision. MPxn stands for mean percentage or ratio of xl vari able of xn region. 129

Knox's Social Well-being Index = Ij = lOO^Rj ^(N)c where Ij = Social well-being index of district of subdivision.

Rj = Sum of Individual rank scores for district or subdivision.

N = Number of diagnostic variables,

C = Number of districts of subdivisions under study.

Iliese methods will enable to identify the intra-regional, inter- district, inter-subdivision variations in the levels of social well-being in an effective way. Itie weightage thus given to the individual variable will be added.to arrive at the composite index of social well-being. On the basis of composite index value and the population size of each of the subdivisions of all the micro-regions, the four significant levels of social well-being will be determined as Very High, High, Moderate and Low. Similarly, on the pattern of knox's Index the inter-sub division and inter-district inequalities in well-being (both the denographic and socio-economic situation will be measured, analysed and cartographed.

The study will take into consideration the following variables. 130

I- General Physical Environment

1) Density of population per sq.km,

2) Percentage of urban population.

II. Housing

3) Ratio of house to households.

III. Economic

4) Percentage of male and female workers.

5) Males and Females unemployed

6) Percentage of cultivators, agricultural labourers,

households and manufacturing workers, others and

marginal workers.

7) Dependency ratio

IV. Health

8) Number of beds per health unit.

9) Numb, r of doctors per health unit.

10} Registered medical practitioners.

(Per 10,000 population).

11) Infant mortality rate (per, 1,000 live births).

V. Education-

12) Number of students and teachers per primary school

13, Number of students and teachers per high school.

14. Number of students and teachers per college. 131

15) Teacher- student ratio at different levels, 16) Percentage of male and female literacy. 17) Persons with university degree or diploma,

VI. Affluence 18) Savings per household in Rupees

VII. Social Security 19) Population per police station

VIII.social Facilities

20) Number of electrified villages 21) Population per post office, 22) Population per telegraph office, 23) Bank lockers per 10,000 population.

IX, Infrastructure Facilities 24) Access to clean water and sanitaticvi 25) Access to transport

X. Recreation and Leisure 26) Cinemas (per 10,000 population) 27) Public library bookstock per capita, 28) Households with sole use of a television. 29) Percentage of cinemagoers.

In lieu of these, at the spot study will be made extensively for observing the existing patterns of social well-being. 132

(b) Besides the aforestated approaches which hitherto are conventional means to determine the patterns of social well-being in a region^ author's sole endea vour will be to get full benefit from the principal Human Development Index (HDI) formulated and used by the United Nations Development Programme especially in Human Development Report 1994.

It is also to be emphasised that the HDI is not intended to replace other detailed socio-economic indica tors in the proposed Ph.D. work which here will be essen tial for fuller under-standing of each subdivisions,

Bie first Human Development Report (HDR) 1990, intr oduced a new way of measuring human development—by combin ing indicators, of life expectancy; educational attainment and income into a composite HDI. A country's overall index can conceal the fact that different groups within the country have very different levels of human development—men and women, for example,or different ethnic groups, regions or social classes.

"One innovative feature of the HDI is the way its components are combined. Each indicator is measured in 133

different units. Life expectancy in years of life, school ing in mean years of schooling, income in purchasing-power- adjusted dollars and adult—literacy as "a percentage. To combine these indicators, the range of values for each one is put into a scale of 0 to 1, where 0 is the minimum and 1 is the maximum. So, if the minimum life expectancy is 25 years and the maximum is 85 years, and the actual value for a country is half way between the two at 55 years, its index value for life expectancy is 0.5'*.

It would be worthwhile here to discuss in some detail the significance of HDI in the understanding of social well being.

(i) Why do we need a human development index ?

We need a human development index because national progress tends otherwise to be measured by GNP alone, many people looked for a better, more comprehensive socio-economic measure. The human development Is a contribution to this search.

(ii) What does the HDI include ?

The HDI is a composite of three basic components of human development t Longevity, knowledge and standard of living, 'Longevity* is measured by life expectancy 'knowledge* 134

is measuced by a combination of adult literacy (two-thirds weight) and mean years of schooling (one-third weight), •standard of living* is measured by purchasing power, based on real GDP per capita adjusted for the local cost of living (purchasing power parity, or PPP).

(iii) How to combine indicators measured in different units?

The measuring rod for GNP is money. The breakthrough for the HDI, however, was to find a common measuring rod for socio-economic distance travelled. The HDI sets a minimum and a maximum for each dimensions and then shows where each country stands in relation to these scales—expressed as a value between 0 and 1. So, since the minimum adult literacy rate is 0% and the maximum is 100%, the literacy component of knowledge for a country where the literacy rate is 75% would be 0,75. Simi larly, the minimum for life expectancy is 25 years and maximum 85 years, so the longevity component for a country where life expectancy is 55 years would be 0.5. For incone minimum is $ 200 (ppp) and maximum is $40,000 (ppp). Income about the average world income is adjusted using a progressively higher discount rate. The scores for the three dimensions are then average in an overall index.

(iv) Is it misleading to talk of a single HDI for a country with great inequality ? National averages can conceal much. The best solution 135

would be to create separate HDI £or the most significant groups : by gender, for example, or by income group, geographical region, race or ethi^lc group. Separate HDIs would reveal a more detailed profile of human deprivation in each country, and disaggregated HOIs are already being attempted for countries with sufficient data.

(v) HOW can the HDI be used ? The HDI offers an alternative to GNP for measuring the relative socio-economic progress of nations. It enables people and their governments to evaluat progress over time— and to determine priorities for policy intervention. It also permits constructive comparisons of the experiences in diff erent countries.

The underlying principal of the HDI is that : It is based on a country's position in relation to a final target- expressed as a value between 0 and 1. Countries with an HDI below 0.5 are considered to have a low level of human deve lopment those above 0,8 a high level.

Fixed Maximums and Minimuas for HDI Values , MINIMUM MAXIMUM Life Expectancy (years) 25 85 Adult literacy i%) 0 100 Mean years of schooling 0 15 Income (real GDP 200 40,000 per capita in ppp $) 136 Using the HDI,^

The HDI# though only £lve years old, has already had a major Impact on policy making on human development. It seems the world was ready for a measure of development that went beyond per capita GNP. So far, the HDI has been used in five main ways :

(i) To stimulate national political debate The reaction to most countries when the index is publ ished is to see how well they are doing this year in comparison with everyone else. People have used the HDI for advocacy and to hold their representatives accountable—a national debate involving political parties and the press as well as NGOs.

(ii) To give priority to human development The HDI has ©nphasised that even the poorest countries can afford improv&nents in human development. An analysis of the three components of the HDI can identify areas requiring policy attention.

(iii) TO highlight disparities within countries Ihese disparities may already be well known, but the HDI can reveal them even more starkly. Disaggregation by policy social group or region can also enable local commu nity groups to press for more resources, making the HDI a tool for participatory development. 137

(iv) To open new avenues for analysis i

Widely used for academic analysis and for country reports and statistics,the HDI allows new types of compa rison—for example, between areas that have affectively translated economic growth into human development.

(v) TO stimulate dialogue on aid policy

The best use for the HDI, however, is to stimulate a constructive aid policy dialogue rather than to serve as a basis for aid allocations.

Aforementioned will be the guiding principles on the basis of which the indepth study will be done for entire state at subdivisional levels to know the ground reality of social well-being. As per the report India's HDI value is 0.382 and rank 135 which are quite below the highest value that is 0,932 of Canada. Here one standard parameter already calculated by the UNDP will be considered for comparison purpose of the whole west Bengal state. As soon as the state level HDI value will be known, the same will be applied to compare the value as well as rank at sub-divisional levels.

Technical Notes As per the different maxiroxim and minimum values assigned earlier to life expectancy; adult literacy ; mean years of 138

schooling and income, following illustration is given and similarly, on the basis of which the HDI value and rank will be found out for all the subdivisions of the state.

For income, the threshold value is taken to be the global average real GDP per capita of ppp $ 5,120, Multiplies of income beyond the threshold are discounted using a progre ssively higher rate. In original proposed work ppp $ will be in ppp Rs.

Illustrations :

Area Life expectancy Adult literacy Mean years Income (years) (%) of (ppp $) schooling

X 77.3 93.8 7.0 7,680 y 52.9 62.5 2.6 3,498

Life Expectency-

77.3-25.0 52.3 B = 0,872 85.0-25.0 60.0 52.9-25.0 27.9 = = 0.465 85.0-25.0 60.0 139

Adult Literacy

X 93.8-0.0 ^ 93.8 ^ Q^^JQ 100.0-0.0 100.0

62.5-0.0 62.5 = 0.625 100.0-0.0 100.0

Mean year of Schooling

X •^'0-Q'O = 1^0- = 0.467 15.0-0.0 15.0 2.6-0.0 = 2.6 =0.173 ^ 15.0-0.0 15.0 Educational Attainment

X 2(0.938) + 0.467 = 2.343 + 3 = 0,781 Y 2(0.625) + 0.173 = 1.423 + 3 = 0.473

Adjusted Income X?s income is above the threshold, but less than twice the (threshold. Thus,

X = 5120 + 2 (7680-5120)»s 5120 + 101 5221

Y's income is below the threshold, so it needs adjustment. TO calculate the distance for income, maximum adjusted income (5385) used and the minimum (200). 140

5221-200 5021 = 0.968 5385-200 5185

3498-200 _ 3298 0.638 5385-200 5185

Area Indexed Indexed Indexed HDI life educati adjusted expect onal income ancy attain ment

X 0.872 0.781 0.968 =2

Y 0,465 0.473 - 0,636 =1

Lastly it may be concluded that the proposed Ph.D. work on the same topic, after the accomplishment will be a blueprint on the line of which further indepth study may be done. The study subsequently will go a long way in helping the district administrators, state and regional planners as well as the non-governmental social organizations of the state to attain the desired goal of spatial patterns of social well-being in west Bengal and other parts of the country as well. 141

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