Galsi II is a

community development block In India, a Community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of Tehsil, administratively earmarked for planning and development. The area is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO), supported by several technic ...

that forms an administrative division in

Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the Purba Bardhaman district in the state of West Bengal, India. Overview The uneven laterite territory found in the western part of Paschim Bardhaman district extends up to ...

Purba Bardhaman district Purba Bardhaman district is in West Bengal. Its headquarters is in Bardhaman. It was formed on 7 April 2017 after the division of the previous Bardhaman district. Great revolutionary Rash Behari Bose was born in village Subaldaha in the district ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

History

Buddhist Stupa (Bardanga)

The University of Burdwan, in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India, carried out excavations near Monorampur, a newly developed village. Several statues of Gautama Buddha were found and the remains of a Buddhist stupa was unearthed. In 1994–95, the Burdwan Gazeteer had commented that the style of construction indicated that the stupa at Monorampur was built during 7-9th century. The lower portions of the excavations indicated the presence of a neolithic-chalcolithic habitation which remained deserted till the time of construction of the stupa. The place can be reached from Randiha dam.

Geography

Location

Galsi is located at . Galsi II CD Block is part of the Bardhaman Plain, the central plain area of the district. The area is surrounded by the

Bhagirathi The Bhāgīrathī (Pron: /ˌbʌgɪˈɹɑːθɪ/) is a turbulent Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In the Hindu fa ...

on the east, the Ajay on the north-west and the Damodar on the west and south. Old river channels and small creeks found in the region dry up in the dry season, but the Bardhaman Plains are sometimes subject to heavy floods during the rainy season. The region has recent

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

soils. Galsi II CD Block is bounded by

Ausgram I Ausgram I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Medieval history The area between the Damodar and Ajay w ...

CD Block on the north,

Burdwan I Burdwan I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Baghar, a constituent panchayat of Burdw ...

CD Block on the east,

Khandaghosh Khandaghosh is a village in Khandaghosh CD block in Bardhaman Sadar South subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Urbanisation 95.54% of the population of Bardhaman Sadar South subdivision live in ...

CD Block on the south and

Indas Indas (also spelled Indus) is a village, with a police station, in the Indas CD block in the Bishnupur subdivision of the Bankura district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Indas is located at . Area overview The map alo ...

CD Block, in Bankura district, and

Galsi I Galsi I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Bud Bud, a constituent gram panchayat in Gal ...

CD Block on the west. Galsi II CD Block has an area of 219.09 km². It has 1 panchayat samity, 9

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

s, 116 gram sansads (village councils), 73

mouza In Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of India a mouza or mauza (also mouja) is a type of administrative district, corresponding to a specific land area within which there may be one or more settlements. Before the 20th century, the term referred to a ...

s and 73 inhabited villages. Galsi police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Galsi.

Gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

s of Galsi II block/

panchayat samiti Panchayat samiti is a rural local government (panchayat) body at the intermediate tehsil (taluka/mandal) level in India. It works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a development block. It has been said to be the "panchayat ...

are: Adra, Bhuri, Galsi, Gohogram, Khano, Kurkuba, Masjidpur, Sanko and Satinadi.

Demographics

Population

As per the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

Galsi II CD Block had a total population of 147,177, all of which were rural. There were 74,751 (51%) males and 72,426 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 15,594.

Scheduled Castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

numbered 58,342 (39.64%) and

Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

numbered 7,652 (4.08%). As per 2001 census, Galsi II block had a total population of 133,951, out of which 68,641 were males and 65,310 were females. Galsi II block registered a population growth of 11.82 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for Bardhaman district was 14.36 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.

Scheduled castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

at 55,012 formed more than one-third the population. Scheduled tribes numbered 9,127. Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Galsi II CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Galsi (10,700), Gohagram (4,058), Bahirghanya (5,116), Khano (5,400), Satinandi (6,954) and Sanko (9,580). Other villages in Galsi II CD Block include (2011census figures in brackets): Adra (3,774), Kurkuba (2,714), Maszidpur (2,163), Bhuri (2,805) and

Channa ''Channa'' is a genus of predatory fish in the family Channidae, commonly known as snakeheads, native to freshwater habitats in Asia. This genus contains about 50 scientifically described species. The genus has a wide natural distribution extend ...

(2,465).

Literacy

As per the 2011 census the total number of literates in Galsi II CD Block was 92,178 (70.05% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 51,594 (77.28% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 40,584 (62.61% of the female population over 6 years). The

gender disparity Sex differences in humans have been studied in a variety of fields. Sex determination occurs by the presence or absence of a Y in the 23rd pair of chromosomes in the human genome. Phenotypic sex refers to an individual's sex as determined by the ...

(the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 14.66%. As per 2001 census, Galsi II block had a total literacy of 64.54 per cent for the 6+ age group. While male literacy was 74.42 per cent female literacy was 54.05 per cent. Bardhaman district had a total literacy of 70.18 per cent, male literacy being 78.63 per cent and female literacy being 60.95 per cent. See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Languages and religion

As per census definition, mother-tongue is the language spoken in childhood by the person's mother to the person. As a mother-tongue,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

has decreased its share from 82.3% of the population of Bardhaman district in 1961 to 79.9% in 2001,

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

has increased its share from 8.5% in 1961 to 10.9% in 2001 Santali has remained steady at around 4.9% during the period, and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

below poverty line Below Poverty Line is a benchmark used by the government of India to indicate economic disadvantage and to identify individuals and households in need of government assistance and aid. It is determined using various parameters which vary from s ...

in 2005,

rural poverty Rural poverty refers to poverty in rural areas, including factors of rural society, rural economy, and political systems that give rise to the poverty found there.Janvry, A. de, E. Sadoulet, and R. Murgai. 2002“Rural Development and Rural Pol ...

in Galsi II CD Block was 29.42%.

Economy

Livelihood

In Galsi II CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators formed 15.23%, agricultural labourers 60.69%, household industry workers 2.14% and other workers 21.95%. Galsi II CD Block is part of the area where agriculture dominates the scenario but the secondary and tertiary sectors have shown an increasing trend.

Infrastructure

There are 73 inhabited villages in Galsi II CD block. All 73 villages (100%) have power supply. All 73 villages (100%) have drinking water supply. 18 villages (24.66%) have post offices. All 73 villages (100%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones). 15 villages (20.55%) have a pucca (paved) approach road and 46 villages (63.01%) have transport communication (includes bus service, rail facility and navigable waterways). 11 villages (15.07%) have agricultural credit societies. 6 villages (8.22%) have banks. In 2013–14, there were 92 fertiliser depots, 8 seed stores and 56 fair price shops in the CD Block.

Agriculture

Although the Bargadari Act of 1950 recognised the rights of

bargadar Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

s to a higher share of crops from the land that they tilled, it was not implemented fully. Large tracts, beyond the prescribed limit of land ceiling, remained with the rich landlords. From 1977 onwards major land reforms took place in West Bengal. Land in excess of land ceiling was acquired and distributed amongst the peasants. Following

land reforms Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

land ownership pattern has undergone transformation. In 2013–14, persons engaged in agriculture in Galsi II CD Block could be classified as follows:

s 4.90%, patta (document) holders 16.64%, small farmers (possessing land between 1 and 2 hectares) 4.37%, marginal farmers (possessing land up to 1 hectare) 14.31% and agricultural labourers 59.78%. In 2003-04 net cropped area in Galsi II CD Block was 17,340 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 18,399 hectares. In 2013–14, Galsi II CD Block produced 71,705 tonnes of Aman paddy, the main winter crop, from 22,634 hectares, 28,872 tonnes of Boro paddy (spring crop) from 8,705 hectares and 22,833 tonnes of potatoes from 1,840 hectares. It also produced pulses and oilseeds. In Bardhaman district as a whole Aman paddy constituted 64.32% of the total area under paddy cultivation, while the area under Boro and Aus paddy constituted 32.87% and 2.81% respectively. The expansion of Boro paddy cultivation, with higher yield rates, was the result of expansion of irrigation system and intensive cropping. In 2013–14, the total area irrigated in Galsi II CD Block was 18,538.49 hectares, out of which 18,433.45 hectares were irrigated by canal water and 105.14 hectares by deep tube wells.

Banking

In 2013–14, Galsi II CD Block had offices of 6 commercial banks and 3 gramin banks.

Transport

Galsi II CD Block has 1 ferry service and 8 originating/ terminating bus routes. The Bardhaman-Asansol section, which is a part of Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line, Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line and Howrah-Delhi main line, passes through this CD Block and there are stations at Galsi and Khana. The Khana-Barharwa section of

Sahibganj Loop The Sahibganj loop is a railway line connecting Khana Junction and Kiul Junction. Originally a part of the Howrah–Delhi main line, it was opened to traffic in 1866. With the construction of a shorter railway line for a part of the route, the ...

passes through the CD Block and there is a station at Khana. NH 19 (old numbering NH 2)/

Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...

passes through this CD Block.

Education

In 2013–14, Galsi II CD Block had 110 primary schools with 7,448 students, 6 middle schools with 393 students, 15 high schools with 9,544 students and 8 higher secondary schools with 6,808 students. Galsi II CD Block had 1 general college with 1,464 students, 1 technical/ professional institution with 100 students and 251 institutions for special and non-formal education with 8,485 students As per the 2011 census, in Galsi II CD block, amongst the 73 inhabited villages, 1 village did not have a school, 37 villages had two or more primary schools, 25 villages had at least 1 primary and 1 middle school and 16 villages had at least 1 middle and 1 secondary school. More than 6,000 schools (in erstwhile Bardhaman district) serve cooked midday meal to more than 900,000 students. Galsi Mahavidyalaya was established at Galsi in 2007.

Healthcare

In 2014, Galsi II CD Block had 1 block primary health centre and 2 primary health centres with total 29 beds and 3 doctors (excluding private bodies). It had 24 family welfare subcentres. 3,099 patients were treated indoor and 199,203 patients were treated outdoor in the hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD Block. Adrahati block primary health centre at

Adrahati Adrahati is a village in Galsi II CD Block in Bardhaman Sadar North subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Adrahati is located at . Urbanisation 73.58% of the population of Bardhaman Sada ...

(with 15 beds) is the main medical facility in Galsi II CD block. There are primary health centres at: Bhuri (with 10 beds) and Satinadi, PO Khana Junction (with 10 beds). Galsi II CD Block is one of the areas of Bardhaman district which is affected by a moderately high level of arsenic contamination of ground water.

External links

District map showing blocks

References

1. Chattopadhyay, Akkori, Bardhaman Jelar Itihas O Lok Sanskriti (History and Folk lore of Bardhaman District.), (in Bengali), Vol II, pages 579–580, Radical Impression. ISBN 81-85459-36-3 {{Purba Bardhaman topics Community development blocks in Purba Bardhaman district