Problems of Women Workers of Betel Nut Processing Units in Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal

Authors

  • Anindita Barman Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Cluny Women's College, Kalimpong
  • Prof (Dr) Ranjan Roy Professor, Department of Geography and Applied Geography, University of North Bengal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2025.v10.n4.006

Keywords:

Women Worker, Betel nut, Unorganized Sector, Wages, Garret ranking

Abstract

Areca nut, often known as betel nut, is an important cash crop in India and it is used for religious, social, and ceremonial purposes. India is the largest producer of arecanut in the world. Millions of people depend on areca nut cultivation, related processing activities and arecanut trade for their livelihood and hence their interests needed to be safeguarded (Cheriyan and Manojkumar, 2020). Processing of areca nut in North Bengal is a traditional occupation (Mula et al. 2015). Betel nut workers are those who are involved in the cultivation, harvesting, and processing of betel nut. The processing of raw betel nut is labour intensive work. Women workers play a very significant role in betel nut processing such as peeling, cutting, grading and preparing “Tipni” in Jalpaiguri District. The nature of the processing units is unorganized. The betel nut processing units thus plays a vital role in providing employment opportunities to rural women. This article will attempt to find out the problems of women workers of the betel nut processing units in Jalpaiguri District and suggests some remedial measures.

Author Biographies

Anindita Barman, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Cluny Women's College, Kalimpong

Anindita Barman is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Cluny Women’s College, Kalimpong, affiliated with the University of North Bengal. She completed her B.Sc. Honours in Geography from Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India and M.Sc. in Geography from University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India. She has published articles and book chapters in different journals related to gender disparity, solid waste management, indigenous knowledge, and sustainable development, women workers. Her recently published edited book titled ‘WOMEN, ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - Some aspects on Indian Context’. She is a life member of NAGI (National Association of Geographers) and a member of DGSI (Deccan Geographical Society, India).

Prof (Dr) Ranjan Roy, Professor, Department of Geography and Applied Geography, University of North Bengal

Prof. Ranjan Roy is a well-known academician in Geography in west Bengal as well as in India. He is a professor and former Head of the Department at the Department of Geography and Applied Geography of University of North Bengal, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D degree in Geography and Applied Geography from the University of North Bengal and specialized in Cartography. His research interests are in Applied Cartographic techniques, Agricultural Geography, Urban Geography, Population problems, Rural Development, Regional Planning and experts in Remote Sensing and GIS. Prof. Roy has already published over hundred articles in different reputed national and international journals and edited books and has jointly edited several books. He has organized different national seminars and workshops till now. Prof. Roy has supervised a total of 14 scholars for Ph.D degree and six scholars for M.Phil degree. He was co-investigator in “Preparation of contour map for drainage management in English Bazar municipality, Malda” which was sponsored by Malda municipality under govt. of west Bengal and also co-investigated UGC SAP DRS-I programme on ‘Geo-hazards in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal” from 2009 to 2014. He was a project investigator of North Bengal University assistance project on “An Appraisal of Urban Basic Services and Amenities in Newly Emerged Census Towns: A Case Study of Siliguri Subdivision of Darjeeling District, West Bengal” in 2017-2018. Recently he has completed as Principal Investigator of Winter School programme on Geospatial technology that funded and supported by Department of Space and Technology (DST) of Govt. of India.

References

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Published

20-04-2025

How to Cite

Barman, A., & Roy, R. (2025). Problems of Women Workers of Betel Nut Processing Units in Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal. RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary, 10(4), 34–44. https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2025.v10.n4.006

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 4 (2025): RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

Section

Articles

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).