Benign hills : a study in Tripura's Population growth and problems

Tripura's phenomenal population growth since the second half of the nineteenth century has been mainly due to the continuous immigration of settlers from outside. Anyone studying this trend cannot but be struck by the fact that the autochthones of this tiny and hilly State of Tripura always accepted the immigrants almost without any reservation. Perhaps this has been possible because the children of the soil were aware that the immigrants were not there to colonise but rushed in for survival. And this was importans.

Rapid growth of population helps achieve high rate of economic growth in the initial stages. In Tripura also, this was evident. During the later decades of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the present century this unabated growth of population contributed to the rising trend in the State's gross domes tic product. But as the process of accumulation lagged far be hind because of the prevailing feudal production relations, there was no adequate capital formation that was necessary to maintain the trend. This weakness showed itself when after partition of India in 1947 and the subsequent merger of Tripura in the Indian Union in 1949, suddenly the heavy influx of refugees from accross the border started. Had there been no transfer of resources from the Centre, the State could not have absorbed the influx of immigrants on a massive scale as it did.