Socio-economic status of fishermen of Assam: A descriptive Analysis

Abstract

Fishery sector is an important source of income to a large number of population of Assam and also an important source of revenue for the state economy. Assam is blessed with enormous water resources (3.74 lakh hectares) comprising rivers, beels, derelict water bodies, reservoirs and pond/tank Any policy formulation should have a strong support of socio-economic status of the people to meet the need of the people. This study evaluates the socio-economic condition of fishermen in three districts of Assam namely Nagaon, Sibsagar and Cachar district with a sample of 415 fishermen. The study reveals that most of the fishermen are illiterate and have no proper training on modern fishing techniques. Other parameters of socio-economics status like education, income level, savings and expenditure etc. are also not satisfactory, and need the attention of the policy makers to address certain problems of the fishermen and to improve some basic parameter of socio-economic status of the fishing community of Assam to make it a vibrant sector in the contribution to the state economy.