Socio-economic Development of Tribal Women through Entrepreneurship in Ranchi District, Jharkhand

Abstract

Tribal women in India constitute one of the most historically marginalised socio-economic groups, facing compound disadvantages rooted in ethnicity, gender, and poverty. In Jharkhand — a state where Scheduled Tribes comprise approximately 26.21 per cent of the total population — Ranchi district serves as a microcosm of the broader developmental challenges confronting indigenous women. This article examines the role of entrepreneurship as a pathway to the economic development of tribal women in Ranchi district, drawing upon an analysis of secondary data sourced from the Census of India (2011), National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) reports, Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) records, Ministry of Tribal Affairs reports, and peer-reviewed academic literature. The study interrogates the socio-economic profile of tribal women in Ranchi, maps their entrepreneurial activities across key sectors — including non-timber forest products (NTFP), handicraft and handloom, food processing, livestock, and petty trade — and analyses the institutional, infrastructural, and socio-cultural constraints that circumscribe their entrepreneurial potential. The findings demonstrate that while programme interventions through Self-Help Groups (SHGs), microfinance, and skill development have incrementally improved tribal women's economic agency, structural barriers including low literacy (49.26% among tribal women in Ranchi), limited market access, and gender-discriminatory social norms remain deeply entrenched. The article concludes by proposing a policy framework centred on financial inclusion, digital market linkage, community-based enterprise clusters, and gender-responsive governance to catalyse sustainable economic development among tribal women in the Chotanagpur region.