Socio-Economic determinants of Rural Poverty: An Empirical Inquest into select regions of Paschim Midnapore in West Bengal

Abstract

A whopping proportion of world poverty is found in rural areas and in this light, India is perched as one of the largest country in the world which consists of a mammoth population of rural poor. India, over the years has faced a stiff conundrum of dealing with rural poverty which is very much reflected on the socio-economic lives of such people and hence in this context, it becomes pivotal to explore the various socio-economic determinants of the poor people living in rural areas. The aim of the current research study is to probe into such socio-economic determinants. For this purpose, a survey has been conducted on 423 respondents who primarily fall below the low income groups living in various rural areas of Kharagpur, Balichak, Keshpur and Narayangarh. The data collected has been meticulously analyzed to arrive at the results. It has been found that a large number of people belonged to OBC, SC and ST categories. Besides, some of the major socio-economic determinants of rural poverty explored are unemployment, low income, diminutive savings, poor conditions at workplace, lack of proper housing infrastructure, hunger and starvation, lack of access to education, high illiteracy rate and poor quality natural resources like land and water.