Interface Between Tribes and Ecotourism: A Study on Sustainability and Development in Purulia, West Bengal

Purulia is located in the western most part of West Bengal, where we find social backwardness, poor economic conditions, exotic environment and various ethnic groups. Thus, it makes the locale significant and ripe for the scholars of social sciences to understand the changing Indian scenario in present times. Despite several infrastructural problems, geographical specificity and social backwardness, the state government, in this district, has been promoting ecotourism steadily as a potential method and tool to exploit the exotic environment for attracting tourists who would pump in resources to the local economy. The major challenge that the government wishes to counter is that of the Maoist activities, often threatening the democratic fabric of the state. Here does the paradox lies. Since the motive and design of the state is to promote development of the people, whereas ecotourism is based on the principles of ‘environment over development’. That means environment should be given more priority while taking up any developmental policy as the natural resources and environmental conditions are limited and non-renewable. If we ignore sustainability of the environment while taking up developmental programmes, then the development will jeopardize both environment and culture. In this context, the paper attempts to study: the ecotourism project in the Baranti area, a small tribal village of Santuri block under Raghunathpur subdivision within Purulia District to understand what these projects have achieved in tangible terms, like employment, housing, assets and skills; cultural impact of the project in terms of life style practices; land holding pattern of the place; nature of shifting identity; changing nature of aspirations of the local people; and possible social mobility among the people of the area. On the basis of the primary findings, the authors interrogate the paradoxical debate between ‘environment over development’ and ‘development over environment’, and attempt to draw conclusions for policy framing.