Abstract: A large number of Rajbanshi people had moved out of Koch Bihar, West Bengal in search of livelihood. This paper finds out the reason behind this out-migration and seeks to understand its nature. This is an ethnographic study. The reasons of migration Stated by the Rajbanshi migrants have been examined with the relevant secondary data. Separate BORDA Composite Indices for demographic and economic attributes for all the districts of West Bengal had been constructed. In addition, similar Indices for rural employment as well as income and different amenities present in villages of all the districts of West Bengal have been constructed. Based on these indices it can be inferred that the performance of Koch Bihar district is not satisfactory. The analysis highlighted that livelihood migration among this particular community is due to certain compelling forces.
Keywords:- Deprived, development, facilities, migration, voluntary.
[1]. Jan Bremen, Taming the coolie beast: Plantation society and the colonial order in South East Asia (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1989).
[2]. T. Stavros Constantinou and D. Nicholas Dimantides, Modeling international migration: determinants of emigration from Greece to the United States, 1820-1980, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 75, 1985, 352-369.
[3]. Partha Dasgupta and Martin Weale, On measuring the quality of life, World Development, Vol. 20, 1992, 119-131.
[4]. Vinay Gidwani, and K. Sivaramakrishnan, Circular migration and the spaces of cultural assertion, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 93, 2003, 186–213.
[5]. John Harris and Michael Todaro, Migration,unemployment and development: a two-sector analysis, American Economic Review, Vol. 60, 1970, 126-142