Assessing the Socio-Economic Disparities among the Rabha Communities: A Comparative Study of Forest and Non-Forest Villages in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar Districts, West Bengal, India

Rabha is one of the oldest and most distinct racial communities of north east India. Most of them are inhabitants of Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, etc., within India. In West Bengal, they are mostly settled in the Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts. They mainly live in two groups: one group lives in the forest area, and the other group lives in the non-forest area. The socio-economic development of the community depends on various factors, i.e., level of economic development, household amenities, education, village infrastructure, transport, communication, etc. There are several methods of evaluating the level of development. The level of development of different Rabha-dominated forest and non-forest villages of West Bengal is obtained with the help of a composite index based on various household amenities and socio-cultural and economic indicators. This paper aims to find out the developmental disparities between the forest and non-forest Rabha-dominated villages of Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts. Based on their socio-economic development in the forest and non-forest cluster, the Cooch Behar district is first rank. Less developed villages require better infrastructural facilities like road transport, household amenities, health services, education, employment opportunities, etc. for enhancing their overall socio-economic development.