A Study of Socio-Economic Condition in Slum of English Bazar Municipality (Malda)

Socio-economic status is a complex and relative concept. It is reasonable to expect that it will mean different things in different contexts. For the purposes of this paper, socioeconomic status is broadly mean in terms of social, cultural and economic indicator of development and slum is Defined as “Compact settlement with a collection of poorly built tenements, mostly of temporary nature, crowded together usually with inadequate sanitation and drinking water facilities in unhygienic conditions’’ (NSSO 2003). This study reveals the socio economic environment of the slum dwellers in English Bazar Municipality, Malda and found generally deprived socio economic conditions because of the lack of basic amenities like adequate sanitation, improved water supply, durable housing, and adequate living space and secure tenure. Lack of these basic amenities has direct consequence on the physical and psychological wellbeing of slum dwellers. The study get a significant social and economic aspect of the people living in English Bazar Municipality slums including educational status, housing condition, sanitation, drainage, economic condition and health status. Through this study it is shown that there is urgent need to provide basic amenities and facilities to the slum dwellers for the socio-economic development.