Paper short abstract:

Food insecurity is getting high with increase pressure on land, rapid empower mental degradation, frequent natural calamities and inequitable distribution of resources. This situation is particularly serious in Khunti area of Jharkhand which is most insecure in terms of food and nutritional security

Paper long abstract:

Agriculture is the main source of livelihood. Most of the people of Khunti are either small or marginal farmers with less than one hectare of farmland. Majority of the population is tribal in the Khunti sub-division and they are dependent on agriculture and forests for their livelihood. Lack of food security from the land has compelled many tribal families to migrate out of their own villages. This is despite the fact that the existing landholdings can provide stable livelihoods to the tribal families. Lack of land development, irrigation, credit, know-how for improved agriculture, access to market etc. act as serious constraints leading to a large number of impoverished tribal families. The area is famous for the Lac cultivation. A large part of the India's total lac production comes from this area.Lac, a natural polymer (resin) is produced by a tiny insect, Kerria lacca (Kerr), which is purposely cultured on shoots of several species of trees, mainly palas, kusum and ber. This agricultural profession of lac cultivation is a subsidiary source of income for a large number of families in the area.

The paper will discuss about the following points:--

1. Recognize traditional occupation

2. Create employment opportunities in village

3. Fix and effectively implement a minimum wage

4. Organize unorganized sector workers