Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)
Technology Information Facilitation Programme (TIFP)

Folk Wisdom of West Bengal
by Calcutta Library Network  (CALIBNET), Kolkata

The aim of the project was to explore oral tradition, folk rituals and folk wisdom of West Bengal. The special areas of concentration were inter alia include Health practices – human and domestic animals- folk medicines and medicinal plants. The geographic coverage of the project was 13 districts of West Bengal namely 24 Parganas North & South (Sundarban), Bardhaman, Bankura, Birbhum, Coochbehar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Midnapur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Purulia and West Dinajpur.

Achievements of the Project:

v      Database on information about 326 medicinal plants, out of this 47 were found in hill region in the north, 86 were found in the Laterite zone, 179 in Gangetic plains and 14 were found in Sunderbans. The plants found in the Hill region and in Sunderban area are unique.

v      Data base of 87 practitioners of traditional folk medicines in West Bengal

v      Database of 543 diseases with respected medicinal plants required to cure

v      This project could identify and collect 6 herbal plants which Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) on herbal and natural products and flori-culture has identified as “very important in view of their application as a drug, national and international demand and also economic benefits.”

The details of the folk  medicines and medicinal plants includes Scientific name, synonym, habitat, location (available), source of information and description. It also gives the local name, description, medicinal use in Hindi, English and Bengali (Local language)

For query, contact to

Shri Subrata Datta, Principal Investigator
CALIBNET, DOEACC Centre
Jadavpur University Campus
Kolkata – 700 032
subrata.datta@gmail.com

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Updated on: October 10. 2008