Socio-economic vulnerability assessment of culturally unique ethnic communities using RIDIT scoring: a case of Rann of Kutch, India

In a country like India with domineering rural population, it is imperative for the developmental policies of the nation to be inclusive of the socio-economic priorities of the same. These rural areas in India predominantly depend on agriculture or allied activities for their livelihood and economy. Few regions, however, are solely dependent on tourism by virtue of their unique geographical locations. The vast salt marsh region of ‘Rann of Kutch’ on the extreme Western Coast of India is inhabited by culturally vibrant ethnic groups, each with specialized handicraft skills. Despite making a significant mark on the tourist map of India, the geographical and climatological extremities allow tourism to last for merely four months (November to February). The pandemic took a toll on tourist footfall, jeopardizing the principal economic activity of the region. The communities suffered a socio-economic setback, manifesting pre-existing socio-economic vulnerabilities. This study attempts to identify the essential socio-economic vulnerability parameters, and empirically examines them in two tourism-dependent villages in the Rann of Kutch region. RIDIT scoring and ranking method was applied to rank the vulnerability parameters, which help us in comparing the conditional aspects of the same both within and between the two villages.