Tribal Literacy in West Bengal

Prof. Prabhodh Kumar Bhowmick, M.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc (b 1926) was the Professor of Anthropology, Calcutta University and is the founder of Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology, Samaj Sevak Sangha and many other organizations.  He is also the founder of Bidisa.  In 1942 he took part in Quite India Movement and was jailed by the Britishu Government.  In 1971 he was elected as President, Anthropology and Archaeology, Section, Indian Science Congress.  From 1984 to 1990 he acted as the Dean of Science, Calcutta University.  He is attached to a large number of organizations and academic bodies.  He has written a large number of books, and articles.  He did a great service for the welfare of the tribal people of West Bengal, particularly the Lodha or West Bengal.  At Bidisa he has established a residential school for the tribal students, particularly for the Lodha students.  He is an eminent Anthropologist and has done a great job for the development and also spread of anthropology in different parts of India.  He is the architect in starting anthropology in different colleges and universities.

Pradip K. Bhowmick (Born: 1955) who did his M.A. in Rural Development from I.I.T. Kharagpur in the year 1988. In the year 1998 he was awarded D. Litt. From Ranchi University. At present he is Assistant professor in the Rural Development Centre I.I.T. Kharagpur. Dr. Bhowmick published articles on Tribal and Rural Development issues in reputed journals and also author of the books namely Dynamics of Tribal Development (1993). Rural and Tribal Development Practices in India (1994), Level of tribal literacy in the state of West Bengal (2000), Ecology, Tribals and Rural Development: The case from West Bengal (2001). He is also co-author of the book namely Tribal Movement (1994), Land and Forest Twin Tribal Problems (1998). Author of several research papers Dr. Bhowmick has been interested in teaching, training and conducting researches among the rural and tribal communities.