Journal of Social Welfare and Management

Bhutan is a tiny monarchy lying in the lap of gigantic Himalaya, and striving hard to graduate from the list of LDCs by 2023. The progress of any nation depends on the level of educational development, and ICT is a powerful tool to improve it. The developmental goals of Bhutan revolve around the unique concept of ‘Gross National Happiness’ (GNH), rather GNH is Bhutan’s compressive development doctrine. The GNH has been associated with various aspects of Bhutan; whether it is economic, social or cultural. To go further on the path of development Bhutan has set long term goals for the nation to become a “knowledge-based society” with ICTs as the major platform. This paper aims to understand and examine the co-relation between GNH, ICTs, and development paradigms of Bhutan. Secondly, whether ICT can be helpful in achieving the developmental goals of the nation is the question that this paper will try to address with reference to Bhutan. Thirdly, will try to know how Bhutan has been successful in striking the balance between development, environmental conservation, and spirituality; as Bhutan is suppose to present a notable example.

Informal credits are penetrating into the normal life of rural households in an unprecedented manner. There are several factors which influence rural households to borrow money from informal lenders at a rate unusually higher than the normal rate. This study identifies the antecedents of dependence on informal credit using empirical evidences from rural households in Kerala. Quick access to informal credit, poor access to formal credit and consumerism are found to be the factors influencing rural households for dependence on moneylenders.

Background: Disasters being unanticipated events by their nature results in extremely destructive consequences. It disrupts the lives of trillions and among which children are the most vulnerable. There is a need for a study of the impacts of those events in the current society especially among children where always interventions used to meet their needs and demands are based on top-down approaches. The disasters especially, floods have a huge impact in all spheres of life including psychological, social and educational and its effects may persist for life long if not intervened properly. This study plan to measure the psycho-social and educational impact of flood among schoolgoing children in Kerala in the background of 2018 flood. Methods: Semi-structured Quantitative questionnaires along with CRIES 13 Scale was used among the floodaffected students under Aluva Sub-district who were in rehabilitation camps using random sampling with a size of 100 samples. The results of focused group discussions conducted among children and their class in charges were also accustomed to support the data. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 was used to analyze data. Results: After six month of event 60% of the participants (41% of female and 19% of male) started to show PTSD symptoms. Lack of psychological first aid and counselling had impacted in absentism in schools after re-opening and children have reported poor concentration and other symptoms of psychological disorder in a context where they had lost properties, notebooks, uniforms, family members, close friends, pets, damaged school buildings and their family background where most of the parents are working in the informal sectors and are suffering to rebuild their homes. Conclusion and Suggestions: The study established that floods impacted is more among girls than boys. It is also evident that the basic needs of the children were not taken into consideration in the camps and it’s a violation of their fundamental rights to survival, development and protection. The study suggests that every child need to be given training on disaster risk reduction and prevention measures to avoid trauma after the disaster. It needs to be a mandatory part of the curriculum and policies.

In the Indian economy, fishery sector is one of the most important and contributory sectors. The study examines the trend and growth of trend and growth of marine fish production in India, market-wise exports from India and craft-wise marine fish production in Tamil Nadu. The objectives of the present study are: 1. To find out the contribution of the fisheries sector production in India from 2005 to 2015. 2. To study the marine products market-wise exports from India to different countries during 2000-01 to 2017-18 and 3. To assess the trend and growth of marine fish production in India, market-wise exports from India and craftwise marine fish production in Tamil Nadu. In order to analyze the trend and growth of marine fish production in India, market-wise exports from India and craft-wise marine fish production in Tamil Nadu over a period, percentage methods, co-efficient of variations, linear trend and compound growth rate have used. The secondary data collected through the internet, books, newspaper, journals records and brochures from 2005 to 2015. It inferred that production performance of marine fish capture, on an average over a period was found to be higher than the production performance of inland fish capture. The study reveals that the marine fish production in India, market-wise exports from India and craft-wise marine fish production in Tamil Nadu have been increasing at a compounded growth rate of 6.44 percent, 7.43 percent and 3.02 percent respectively. The trend coefficients are positive and significant at 5 percent level indicating a positive movement in the marine fish production in India, market-wise exports from India and craft-wise marine fish production in Tamil Nadu. The trend coefficient for marine fish production in India, market-wise exports from India and craft-wise marine fish production in Tamil Nadu is 0.032, 0.077 and 0.054. The analysis shows that trend in the marine fish production in India, market-wise exports from India and craft-wise marine fish production in Tamil Nadu are positive and significant and the growth is increasing at a compounded rate of 6.44 percent, 7.43 percent and 3.02 percent respectively. The value R2 indicates that the 86 to 68 percent variations in dependent variable explained by time variable.