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Forest is a dynamic natural community that is an assemblage of population of plants, animals, fungi and bacteria that live in one environment and interact with one another farming together a distinct living system having its own composition, structure environmental relations, development and functions. The word forest has been derived from latin word “foris” which means “out of door”. The forest provides the tribals and other communities living close to the forest the following habitat, shelter and shades, raw materials etc.

According to Indian Forest Act 1878 for the first time classified the forest into three different categories as Reserved forest, Protected forest and Village forest.

Reserved forest can be briefly defined as forest where everything is restricted unless permitted.

According to the Assam Forest Regulation 1891, the local government might constitute any land at the disposal of the government a reserve land through publication of a notification in the official gazette (Assam Forest Regulation 1891). The constitution of reserved forest according to the Assam Forest Regulation, Act VII of 1891 did not differ in any 1878. According to section 3, chapter II of the Act, “… the local wasteland which is property of the government has proprietary rights or to the whole or any part of the forest produce of which the government is entitled, a reserved forest…” (Indian Forest Act, 1978).

Growth is a sign of life. The term growth refers more to quantitative changes increase in size and structure, while the term development refers more to qualitative changes. Similarly, socialization or learning process determines the growth and development. According to Freud, the first five years of life is crucial for the development of personality. As far as physical characteristics are concerned there is evidence that some traits are inherited. However, when we consider the problems of learning, it was found that development is predominantly due to environmental factors, though heredity does play a part here also, since the success of learning depends on ability. Thus growth and development may be studied from various angles considering diverse parameters. Montague (1960), commented, “Growth may be defined as increase in size while development is to be understand increase in complexity”.

The paper is divided into two parts:

(i) It starts with the description of entire process of child – care system which starts from conception. The various stages, eg., pregnancy, pre and post – natal care, preferences and prohibitions in various aspects has been considered. The food habits, conceptions of nutrition food by the villagers have also been recorded.

(ii) Efforts have been made to focus the growth of children by anthropometric measurements of children below 5 years.

The present study is confined among the Ahom community of Namdang Reserved Forest who inhabitated in Jariguri Forest Village.

The formation of forest villages was very closely linked with question labour. The policy of the government was described in the following rule made under the Assam Forest Regulation, Forest villages are designed for the purpose of supplying a source of suitable local labour or in the case of temporary cultivation with view to restocking in the areas so cleared and cultivated with valuable species of trees on taungya method” (LCD, 1926, vol. VI, 953). Accordingly, the forest villages might be established within the limits of any reserved forest on sites. However no person was permitted to settle in a forest village without the permission of the conservator.

Handloom continued to play a significant role in the Indian economy despite the industrialization-based onslaught of modern technology and the expansion of power looms and composite textile mills. This sector created employment not just for weavers but also for other allied workers such as loom and accessory manufacturers, dyers, printers, processors, twisters, sellers, etc. in a capital-scarce and labor-surplus nation like India. However, handloom weavers suffer from outdated technology, a lack of working capital, a rural focus, intermediary exploitation, and minimal pay, all of which are necessary to sustain a smooth production process. Further, the recent world-wide COVID-19 pandemic worsen the weavers’ situation and led them towards the line of poverty which is a major hinderance to achieve the target of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of UN declaration. Taking into account all these factors the government is implementing many development schemes for the weaves from time to time to make them at par with others in the socio-economic ladder. However, the result of the schemes is not satisfactory. In this paper the different implemented schemes for weavers in the state of Odisha is highlighted. Further, the schemes are ranked as per its effectiveness from weavers’ perspective and some key points for successful implementation of different schemes are also discussed. 100 weaver households of Nuapanta handloom cluster in Cuttack district have been randomly selected as sample for data collection. Primary data is collected through personal in-depth interview method and responses are valued numerically in a schedule format with 0 to 5 point scale. As per the results, the scheme Solar Light is the most successful one followed by the Raw Material scheme of the Govt. of Odisha. The schemes which are at the bottom as per the ranks are loom-shed, exposure visit and training respectively.

Keywords: Handloom, Development scheme, Effectiveness