ISSN: 2639-2119
Authors: Somenath B*, Goswamy N and Banerjee S
In the context of civilization advanced communities are enjoying a higher living of standard by using of more sophisticated technology, health facilities, well educational infrastructure settled economy, proper communication and also with other amenities. The Totos are a little known Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), dwelling in the extreme northern part of West Bengal. It is the Indo-Bhutan border area of the eastern Himalayan region. They practice settled cultivation with a very low rate of production of maize, marua, cown etc. A very few of them also practice paddy cultivation on the hill slopes of their small plots of lands. They collect different types of fruits, roots, tubers, medicinal plants and other daily necessities from the nearest forest/jungle. They also graze their domestic animals on that forest. Many of them were earlier depended on Bhutan for their livelihood. At present, due to deforestation, land alienation, socio-economic marginalization, practice of primitive type of technology, poor communication, national boundaries etc, highly affected their socio-cultural, economic and political life. Particularly these issues have been discussed in this paper and efforts are being made to find out the main causes of obstacles towards their development and survival.
Keywords: Vulnerable; Land; Environment; Survival; Crisis
