Socio-Economic Position of women slum dwellers: An Investigation of a Few Selected Slums in the Bansberia Municipality area, West Bengal, India
Authors: Das Pintu 
Published: May 2022

Urbanization is regarded as one of the key dimensions of the process of socio-economic development and India has seen steady urbanisation and an increase in the number of people living in slums. According to a number of studies, many types of violence are prevalent in urban slum areas. Urban primacy has been a feature of West Bengal's urbanisation and ongoing population growth in highly urbanised regions around Kolkata since 1901. As a result, there was a slowdown of the process of urbanisation beginning in 1951, and a very a unique style was observed between 2001 and 2011. Large cities increased disproportionately throughout the post-independence period, while small and medium towns stagnated or decreased. Large cities have the highest concentration of industries, this has resulted in issues on both ends of the urban system-the megacities are overcrowded on a regular basis, posing a hazard. Because West Bengal's urban population density is 50% the national average is higher. The number of people living in slums in the state is likewise much higher than the national average, accounting for 35-40% of the urban population. West Bengal's urban towns are no strangers to slums. It has been in operation for a long time in order to provide housing to the poor and underprivileged as well as the community's backward portions. Women who live in slums are not economically or socially stable. The health of slum dwellers is inextricably linked to their living conditions. They are unable to consume items that contain calories. They are deprived of appropriate nutrition four times. Several factors, such as early marriage, early pregnancy, having a large number of children, having a short time between pregnancies, and so on, all have an impact on their health. According to data collected from Bansberia Municipality slums, 32.71 percent of women have more than three children, and 47.45 percent of mothers gave birth to their first child before they were 20 years old. They also do not receive sufficient prenatal and postnatal care. The delivery location was filthy and also unsanitary. They have a low level of education and are unaware of the health issues. In terms of economics, Bansberia Municipality is a place of excruciating poverty. The city receives between 2000 and 2500 migrants each year, the vast majority of them are destitute and provide essential job opportunities for the city's industry and services. The Hooghly District of West Bengal is an alluvial land where intensive subsistence farming is the dominant economic activity. The study's goal is to learn how women's socioeconomic conditions influence natural population growth in West Bengal's Hooghly District. The poor generally reside in slums strewn around the metropolis, with almost 61.45% of the slums are on privately owned land, offering serious institutional issues in terms of providing basic services. The content of the article investigates socioeconomic situation of women slum dwellers in the Bansberia Municipality area. The findings of the research are the social and economic conditions of women in the Bansberia Municipal area's slum areas.