Living World of the Adivasis of West Bengal — An Ethnographic Exploration

This report was published in February 2020 by Pratichi Institute, Kolkata in collaboration with the Asiatic Society, Kolkata. It sheds light on the lives and deprivations of members of Adivasi communities living in West Bengal. The report also offers solutions to curb such disenfranchisement.  The report notes that the Adivasis in West Bengal are not a homogeneous group and that there are inter-group diversities based on region, culture, customs, and living conditions. The report focuses on factors such as education, gender, livelihood choices, access to healthcare and social security programmes.  For this report, fieldwork was conducted in two stages: a pre-testing phase where research tools were applied in few select villages and a second phase based upon the results of the pre-testing phase. The final research tools were thus prepared. The entire process was held between March and June 2018. It covered ten districts and twenty tribal groups.  This 290-page document is divided into seven chapters: Introduction (Chapter 1); The Demand for Education (Chapter 2); The Illness of the Health Delivery System (Chapter 3); Livelihood: Constrained Choices (Chapter 4), Social Security: Policy and Practice (Chapter 5); Gender Relations: Perceptions and Realities (Chapter 6), Lessons for Action (Chapter 7).