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Urban transition in West Bengal in this decade experienced an unprecedented growth of Census Towns (CTs), contrary to stagnating growth of the Statutory Towns (STs). As, an additional 6.3 million people are added in urban areas of the state for the last decade, it obviously will increase the demand of basic amenities. Therefore, this study tries to find out the difference in basic amenities among towns in West Bengal according to their administrative status, size of the towns, wealth possession of the households and spatial location of the towns. Independent t-test, stepwise regression and principal component analysis are used as a research technique to execute the objective of the study. It is evident from the study that, administratively having a statutory body in town, a large population size of the town, location of the town within or close to the urban agglomerations and wealth possession of the urban households, have an immense role in determining the availability of basic amenities. Among all these factors, the wealth possession of households is the most dominant factor. As a sharp difference in the availability of basic amenities is evident between CTs and STs, there needs a government intervention to regulate the unplanned growth to the CTs. Without further ado, these CTs need to be recognized as urban and to be assigned statutory status for better provision of basic amenities. The second option lies in the implementation of the idea of co-production in the planning mechanism. Here the state and citizens both should address the task of urban service delivery as the state cannot regulate or deliver of its own and low-income citizens does not have its resource capacity.

India has gradually progressed into fertility transition over the last few decades. However, the timing and pace of this transition has varied notably in terms of both its geography and the demographic groups most affected by it. While much literature exists on the relationships between fertility level and its influence on demographic, economic, socio-cultural and policy-related factors, the potential spatial variations in the effects of these factors on the fertility level remain unaddressed. Using the most recent district-level census data (of 2011) for India, this nationwide study has identified plausible spatial dependencies and heterogeneities in the relationships between the district-wise Total Fertility Rates (TFRs) and their respective demographic, socioeconomic and cultural factors. After developing a geocoded database for 621 districts of India, spatial regression and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models were used to decipher location-based relationships between the district-level TFR and its driving forces. The results revealed that the relationships between the district-level TFR and the considered selected predictors (percentage of Muslims, urbanization, caste group, female mean age at marriage, female education, females in the labour force, net migration, sex ratio at birth and exposure to mass media) were not spatially invariant in terms of their respective strength, magnitude and direction, and furthermore, these relationships were conspicuously place- and context-specific. This study suggests that such locality-based variations and their complexities cannot be explained simply by a single narrative of either socioeconomic advancement or government policy interventions. It therefore contributes to the ongoing debate on fertility research in India by highlighting the spatial dependence and heterogeneity of the impacts made by demographic, socioeconomic and cultural factors on local fertility levels. From a methodological perspective, the study also discerns that the GWR local model performs better, in terms of both model performance and prediction accuracy, compared with the conventional global model estimates.

This study investigates the intricate dynamics of a 60-kilometer section of India’s eastern coast, from the Raslupur River mouth to Udaypur Beach in West Bengal. This research thoroughly analyzes littoral changes using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical remote sensing data. Herein, Multi-temporal Landsat series satellite data from 1975 to 2009, Sentinel-1 SAR data from 2019 and Sentinel-2 data from 2015 are used. The investigation yielded extraordinary insights into coastal change metrics, including an annual average rate of change of 1.08 m. Shoreline adjustments were quantified using metrics such as End Point Rate (EPR), Linear Regression (LR), Net Shoreline Movement (NSM), and Shoreline Change Envelope (SCE). Over the study area, the annual erosion rate varies from 0.62 m to 2.60 m, and Accretion rates range from 0.02 to 5.99 m. Using the Linear Regression Rate (LRR) model, this investigation predicted landward retreat and seaward advancement of the littoral. Shankarpur and Chandapur, in particular, were anticipated to experience landward migration of 36 m (2019 to 2029) and 67.49 m (2019 to 2039), respectively. Phichhaboni, Haripur, Junput, and Bankiput sea coastlines were predicted to experience 67 to 157 m of seaward accretion. Notably, the research highlights the various factors that influence coastal dynamics, such as sea-level rise, cyclones, sediment regime, deforestation, urbanization, and anthropogenic changes such as groundwater exploitation and artificial barriers. This study provides stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers interested in coastal regions’ preservation and sustainable development with actionable insights. This manuscript is an exhaustive guide fostering informed decision-making and effective coastal stewardship.

Being governed by the rural panchayats, the provision and management of civic services and town planning are not satisfactory in India's census towns. In these circumstances, a group of researchers has argued in favour of granting statutory status to census towns in order to solve the above mentioned inadequacies but there is no conclusive study which supports or refutes this argument. Against this backdrop, the current study engages with the question of whether granting statutory status will help to minimise the existing governance related problems of census towns? After comparing a census town (Arrah) and a statutory town (Raghunathpur), from the state of West Bengal, the study reveals that Raghunathpur is not significantly better off than the census town of Arrah as far as civic services are concerned. Furthermore, the majority of citizens of Arrah, who are economically poor, do not want their town to be upgraded to a statutory town. And this is not only because they would not be able to pay the higher taxes that would ensue but mainly because of anticipated loss of livelihood opportunities in the absence of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which currently is the significant source of livelihood for the majority of them. Therefore, it can be said that granting statutory status is not a panacea for better performance in these three aspects of governance in the census towns.

West Bengal's agrarian distress-driven increase of rural non-farm activities in the 1990s caused the unprecedented emergence of new census towns in the 2011 Census. However, because of the huge increase of agricultural labourers (in 2011), many new census towns might be reclassified as villages for the next census in 2021.

The Academic Performance Indicator, the University Grants Commission's method of assessing teacher performance, curtails academic freedom, reduces all academic engagement to time spent, and has created an academic environment that is driven by competition for points.