Demographic survey of prevalence of diseases in chandpur area of District North-24 Pargana (WB)

Abstract

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are the two most disadvantaged sections of the Indian society needing special attention. The report of human development indicates that the SC and ST population is still belonging to a much lower level as compared to the general population of the country. A characteristic feature of scheduled groups is their predominantly rural residence. They constituted more than 90 percent of the rural population of the country in 1961. The situation is not much different now. Chandpur is one such area in district North-24 Pargana, West Bengal near Kolkata, dominated by SC population. The Government has undertaken many initiatives to uplift the standard of living among the Scheduled Castes in India. Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, through its various regional institutes, runs Mobile Health Programme for the benefits of SC and ST populations. The data for this paper have been collected during one such mobile health camp conducted in the mentioned area by RRIUM, Kolkata under schedule caste sub plan (SC-SP) programme. Chandpur village is mostly dominated by SC population, located in Bagda subdivision of North-24 Pargana district in West Bengal, India. Bongoan is nearest town to chandpur for all major economic activities, which is approximately 10 km away. The main objective of this paper is to present a brief demography of the area chandpur and highlight the preva lent diseases in the area. Low education and low socio economic conditions along with lack of basic health facilities may be the reasons of joint disorders and gastric problems to be prevalent diseases in the area.