SOCIO-CULTURAL STATUS OF DAIRY FARMERS OF NEPALESE COMMUNITY OF GUWAHATI METROPOLITAN AREA OF ASSAM, INDIAHemen Sarma, Jnanashree Borah and Tirthankar SarmaAbstract Commercial dairy farming in Assam had begun during the British period. After establishing a bond with Nepal through signing the treaty of Segowali in 1816, the British Government encouraged the migration of Gorkhas from Nepal with their families permanently to Assam, and some other parts of India. After the Yandaboo treaty in 1826 the Gorkha army men along with the British reached Burma and the kinsman of the gorkha soldiers accompanied them were offered to rear buffaloes there as sundry activities (Upadhaya, 2017). The Nepalese thereafter have been continuing the said activities as prime business in different parts of Assam. To perform any activity, profit is a major economic factor which is directly linked with the social transformation and economic change. The profit of the dairy farmers is directly linked with some factors such as investment pattern, supply of milk, engagement of labour and cost of feeds, etc. Like the other dairy farmers, the dairy farmers basically the Gorkhas or the Nepalese of the Guwahati Metropolitan Area are also mainly dependent for their livelihood on the profitability of milk production and this profitability directly influences the economic and social status of the dairy farmers living in this area. |