Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Economy and Social Development of Rural Sikkim

Abstract

The tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim is well known for its multi-cultural and multi-ethnic identity. There is a political and historical debate regarding the identity of communities in Sikkim. Lepchas are considered as original inhabitants of Sikkim. Currently, Lepcha, Bhutia and Limbu are recognised as minor communities and have Schedule Tribes (ST) status in the state. Individual community concentration is mainly found in North and West Sikkim. Lepcha-Bhutias are found mainly in North Sikkim whereas Limbus are concentrated in West Sikkim. Community concentration is profound in rural areas. Gyalshing sub-division of West Sikkim has been selected for the present study. Purpose of this study is to investigate the Gram Panchayat Unit (GPU) level economy and social development of the rural areas based mainly on secondary sources of information. A field survey was also conducted to interact with the local people. Findings suggest that education and population density are the key determinants for GPU level disparity in social development of the study area. It has been found that the economy is primarily agriculture based and fully organised by organic farming system. Recently, homestay (eco)tourism business has been started here like other parts of Sikkim.

Keywords

Himalaya, indigenous community, rural economy, organic farming, homestay (eco) tourism, social development, Sikkim, India

PDF

References

Arora, V. (2006, September 23-29). Routes and the Route of Secularism in Sikkim. Economic and Political Weekly, 41(38), 4063-4071. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4418729

Arora, V. (2007, Fall). Assertive Identities, Indigeneity, and the Politics of Recognition as a Tribe: The Bhutias, the Lepchas and the Limbus of Sikkim. Sociological Bulletin, 56(2), 195-220. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from http://www.academia.edu/3353268/Assertive_identities_indigeneity_and_the_politics_of_recognition_as_a_tribe_The_Bhutias_the_Lepchas_and_the_Limbus_of_Sikkim

Arora, V. (2007, August 25). Unheard Voices of Protest in Sikkim. Economic and Political Weekly, 3451-3454. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2016_51/25/Marginalised_as_Minority_0.pd.

Beteille, A. (1989). Inequality and Social Change (7th ed.). Delhi, Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Bhasin, V. (2002). Ethnic Relations among the People of Sikkim. Journal of Social Science, 6(1), 1-20. Retrieved June 29, 2016, from http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JSS/JSS-06-0-000-000-2002-Web/JSS-06-1-001-02-Abst-PDF/JSS-06-1-001-02-Bhasin-V/JSS-06-1-001-02-Bhasin-V-Tt.pdf

Bhasin, V. (2011). Settlement and Land-Use Patterns in the Lepcha Reserve-Dzongu Zone in the Sikkim Himalaya, India. Journal of Biodiversity, 2(1), 41-66. Retrieved June 29, 2016, from http://www.krepublishers.com/02-Journals/JBD/JBD-02-0-000-11-Web/JBD-02-1-000-11-Abst-PDF/JBD-02-1-041-11-017-Bhasin-V/JBD-02-1-041-11-017-Bhasin-V-Tt.pdf

Census of India, 2001. (2001). New Delhi: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://censusindia.gov.in

Census of India, 2011. (2011). New Delhi: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://censusindia.gov.in

Chakraborty, J. (2000). Election and Castiest Politics. Economic and Political Weekly. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4418729

Chakraborti, A. (2010, January 30). A Critical Review of Agrarian Reforms in Sikkim. Economic and Political Weekly, 45(5), 23-26. Retrieved June 11, 2016, from www.epw.in

Chakraborty, S., & Chakma, N. (2015). Assessment of Regional Disparity of Sikkim in the Course of Social Development. In Applications of Geospatial Technology for Sustainable Develpment (pp. 257-265). New Jalpaiguri, West Bengal: University of North Bengal.

Chhetri, D. P. (2012). Decentralised Governance and Development in India, With Special Reference to Sikkim (1st ed.). New Delhi: Mittal Publication.

Chhetri, D. P. (2013). MGNREGS in Sikkim Himalaya - A Catalyst for Women Economic Empowerment and Livelihood Security. Labour & Development, 20(2). Retrieved May 18, 2016, from http://www.vvgnli.org/sites/default/files/publication_files/Labour-Development

Chhetri, M. (2015). Empowering Farmers through Organic Farming in the Himalayan State of Sikkim. American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Retrieved May 2, 2016, from http://www.iasir.net

Dastidar, M. (2016). Marginalised as Minority: Tribal Citizens and Border Thinking in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 48-54. Retrieved June 28, 2016, from www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2016_51/25/Marginalised_as_Minority_0.pd

Dewan, D. B. (2012). Education in Sikkim: An Historical Retrospect, Pre-Merger and Post-Merger Period (1st ed.). Kalimpong, West Bengal: Society for the Procurement and Sales of Books.

Fennel, D. (1999). Ecotourism: An Introduction. London: Routledge.

Foning, A. R. (1987). Lepcha: My Vanishing Tribe. Delhi: Sterling.

Geology and Mineral Resources of Sikkim (29-Sikkim, pp. 1-54, Rep. No. 30,) (P. Dey, B. C. Roy, K. V. Nambiar, & I. K. Khan, Eds.). (2012). Director Generel, GSI, Government of India. Retrieved November 21, 2015, from http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites

Gowloog, R. R. (1995). Lingthem Revisited: Social Changes in a Lepcha Village of North Sikkim. New Delhi: Har Anand.
Hendry, J. (2005). Reclaiming Culture: Indigenous People and Self-Representations. Retrieved January 13, 2016, from www.palgraveconnect.com

Kharel, S., & Bhutia, J. W. (Eds.). (2013). Gazetteer of Sikkim (1st ed.). Gangtok, Sikkim: Home Department, Government of Sikkim.

Indian States by GDP. (2015, August 20). Retrieved September 16, 2016, from http://statisticstimes.com/economy/gdp-of-indian-states.php

Kharga, M., & Bhutia, R. T. (2015). Democratic Associations and Political Representation of Tribal Population in Sikkim: A Study of the Associational Activity of Bhutias and Lepchas. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 5(6). Retrieved July 11, 2015, from http://www.ijsrp.org

Kutscherauer, A. (2010). Regional Disparities, Disparities in Country Regional Development Concept, Theory, Identification and Assessment. Ostrava: VÅ B-Technical University of Ostrava, Faculty of Economics. Retrieved September 10, 2014, from http://disparity.idealnihosting.cz/edice_cd/cd11_regdis_mono_angl/pdf/Regional disparities.pdf

Linguistic Survey of India Sikkim, Part I. (2001). New Delhi: Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. Retrieved July 10, 2014, from http://censusindia.gov.in

Mahmood, A. (1988). Statistical Method in Geographical Studies (Vol. 1). Kolkata, West Bengal: Pan Publishing Company.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs. (2016). Retrieved September 15, 2016, from http://tribal.nic.in/
Provisional Results of Economic Census 2005 (pp. 1-33, Rep. No. 5). (2005). New Delhi: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. Retrieved May 26, 2016, from http://www.mospi.gov.in

Richard, G. (Ed.). (2011). Cultural Tourism: Global and Local Perspective (5th ed.). Retrieved May 30, 2016, from http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9781136792342_sample_683449.pdf

Rubenstein, J. M. (2003). The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography. New, Jersey United States of America: Pearson Education.

Sarkar, A. (2013). Quantitative Geography: Techniques and Presentations. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Limited.
Sector-wise GDP of Indian states. (2014, December 14). Retrieved September 16, 2016, from http://statisticstimes.com/economy/sectorwise-gdp-of-indian-states.php

Sikkim Human Development Report: Expanding Opportunity Promoting Sustainability (Rep.). (2014). New Delhi: Routledge. Retrieved October 16, 2015, from https://www.sikkim.gov.in/stateportal/Link/Sikkim Human Developent Report 2014.pdf.

Sikkim State Socio Economic Census [EXCEL]. (2010). Tikjuk, West Sikkim: Department of Economics, Statistics, Monitoring and Evaluation, Government of Sikkim.

Sikkim, Ministry of Tourism. (2016). Retrieved May 31, 2016, from http://www.tourism.gov.in/state/sikkim
Sinha, A. C. (2008). Sikkim: Feudal and Democratic. New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company.

Tambe, S., & Arrawatia, M. L. (2011, July 25). Rapid, Cost-Effective and High Resolution Assessment of Climate-Related Vulnerability of Rural Communities of Sikkim Himalaya, India. Current Science, 101(2). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.sikkimforest.gov.in/climate-change-in-sikkim/15-Chapter-Rapid,Cost Effective and High Resolution Assessment of Climate.pdf

Tamsang, K. P. (1983). 2. In The Unknown and Untold Reality about the Lepchas. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/18474/8/08_chapter 2.pdf.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.