Maheshpur 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 the Pakur subdivision of the

Pakur district Pakur district ( Santali: ᱯᱟᱠᱩᱲ ᱦᱚᱱᱚᱛ) is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Pakur is the administrative headquarters of this district. Pakur sub-division of Sahibganj district was carved out on 2 ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

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 ...

, India.

History

The area was earlier part of Maheshpur Raj.

Geography

Maheshpur, the eponymous CD block headquarters, is located at . It is located 28 km from

Pakur Pakur (previously known as ''Pakaur'') is a town with a nagar palika in the Pakur subdivision of the Pakur district, Jharkhand state, India. History Pakur was earlier a Sub-Division of Santhal Parganas district of Bihar. It was upgraded to the ...

, the district headquarters. A predominantly hilly area, Pakur district has pockets of plain land. A long but narrow stretch between the

Farakka Feeder Canal Feeder Canal is a canal associated with Farakka Barrage. It is located in Murshidabad district, West Bengal. The canal is 38.3 km(26 miles) long. The Ganges water from the Farakka Dam is being conveyed to Bhagirathi by way of this canal. D ...

, located outside the district, and the

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 ...

line is very fertile. The Littipara and Amrapara CD blocks are largely covered by the

Rajmahal hills The Rajmahal Hills are located in the Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand, India. They were located on the northern margin of the Gondwana supercontinent, and its hills are today inhabited by the Sauria Paharia people whilst its valleys are dom ...

. The rest of the district is rolling uplands. The district, once famous for its forests, have lost all of it, except a few hill tops in the

Damin-i-koh Damin-i-koh (or sometimes referred to simply as Damin) was the name given to the forested hilly areas of Rajmahal hills broadly in the area of present Sahebganj, Pakur and Godda districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Etymology Damin-i-koh i ...

area. Maheshpur CD block is bounded by

Hiranpur Hiranpur is a village in the Hiranpur CD block in the Pakur subdivision of the Pakur district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Hiranpur is located at . Hiranpur (Khas) has an area of . Overview The map shows a hilly ar ...

and

CD blocks on the north,

Murarai I Murarai I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Rampurhat subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Overview Birbhum district is physiographically a part of the ancient Rarh region. The ...

and

Nalhati I Nalhati I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Rampurhat subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Overview Birbhum district is physiographically a part of the ancient Rarh region. The ...

CD blocks in Birbhum district of West Bengal on the east, Pakuria CD block on the south, and

Gopikandar Gopikandar is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Dumka Sadar subdivision of the Dumka district, Jharkhand state, India. Geography Gopikandar, the eponymous CD block headquarters, is located at . It is ...

CD block in Dumka district and

Amrapara Amrapara is a village in Amrapara CD block in Pakur subdivision of Pakur district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Amrapara is located at . Amrapara has an area of . Overview The map shows a hilly area with the Rajmah ...

CD block on the west. Maheshpur CD block has an area of 450.99 km². Maheshpur police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD block is at Maheshpur town.

Demographics

Population

According to 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 ...

, Maheshpur CD block had a total population of 208,862, all of which were rural . There were 104,984 (50%) males and 103,878 (50%) females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 37,798.

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 6,074 (2.91%) 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 102,467 (49.06%). In 2011 census Maheshpur (village) had a population of 5,797.

Literacy

census, the total number of literate persons in Maheshpur CD block was 89,537 (52.34% of the population over 6 years) out of which 52,616 (59%) were males and 36,931 (41%) were females. 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 18%. See also –

List of Jharkhand districts ranked by literacy rate This is a list of districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand ranked by literacy rate as per provisional data of 2011 census. With a literacy rate of 67.63%, below the national average of 74.04%, as per the 2011 Census, Jharkhand ranks 32nd amongst ...

Language and religion

According to the ''District Census Handbook, Pakur, 2011 census,'' as of 2011, Santali was the mother-tongue of 286,300 persons forming 31.80% of the population of Pakur district, followed by

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 ...

252,070 persons (27.99%) and

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 ...

101,440 persons (11.27%). Speakers of other scheduled languages were almost non-existent.

is the official language in Jharkhand and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

In 2001 census, Hindus constituted 55.48%, Muslims 25.87% and Christians 5.19% of the population in Maheshpur CD block. In the district as a whole, Hindus constituted 44.45%, Muslims 32.74% and Christians 6.01% of the population. The percentage of scheduled tribes in the population of Maheshpur CD block was 49.80%. In the district as a whole, scheduled tribes constituted 44.59% of the population. Around 85% of the tribal population was composed of

Santhals The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...

. There are two primitive groups – Mal Paharias and Sauria Paharias. At the time of the 2011 census, 45.60% of the population spoke Santali, 36.68%

, 11.88% Khortha, 1.97% Malto, 1.78%

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

and 0.96%

Koda KODA (99.1 FM, "Sunny 99.1") is an American commercial adult contemporary-formatted radio station in Houston, Texas. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. Its studios and offices are located along the West Loop Freeway in Uptown Houston. KODA ...

as their first language.

Rural poverty

50-60% of the population of Pakur district were in the BPL category in 2004–2005, being in the same category as Sahebganj, Deoghar and Garhwa districts. Rural poverty in Jharkhand declined from 66% in 1993–94 to 46% in 2004–05. In 2011, it has come down to 39.1%.

Economy

Livelihood

In Maheshpur CD block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators numbered 33,047 and formed 33.58%, agricultural labourers numbered 43,522 and formed 48.64%, household industry workers numbered 1,533 and formed 1.71% and other workers numbered 14,380 and formed 57.16%. Total workers numbered 89,482 and formed 42.84% of the total population. Non-workers numbered 119,380 and formed 57.16% of total population. Note: In the census records a person is considered a cultivator, if the person is engaged in cultivation/ supervision of land owned. When a person who works on another person's land for wages in cash or kind or share, is regarded as an agricultural labourer. Household industry is defined as an industry conducted by one or more members of the family within the household or village, and one that does not qualify for registration as a factory under the Factories Act. Other workers are persons engaged in some economic activity other than cultivators, agricultural labourers and household workers. It includes factory, mining, plantation, transport and office workers, those engaged in business and commerce, teachers and entertainment artistes.

Infrastructure

There are 322 inhabited villages in Maheshpur CD block. In 2011, 31 villages had power supply. 15 villages had tap water (treated/ untreated), 302 villages had well water (covered/ uncovered), 303 villages had hand pumps, and all villages had drinking water facility. 25 villages had post offices, 7 villages had sub post offices, 8 villages had telephones (land lines), 25 villages had public call offices and 51 villages had mobile phone coverage. 300 villages had pucca (paved) village roads, 37 villages had bus service (public/ private), 4 villages had autos/ modified autos, 24 villages had taxis/ vans, 66 villages had tractors, 20 villages had navigable waterways. 9 villages had bank branches, 3 village had ATMs, 27 villages had agricultural credit societies, 266 villages had cinema/ video halls, 19 villages had public libraries, public reading room. 108 villages had

public distribution system The Public Distribution System (PDS) is an Indian food security system that was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor a ...

, 33 villages had weekly haat (market) and 4 villages had

assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

polling stations.

Agriculture

Pakur is predominantly a hilly district. There is a narrow fertile alluvial tract bordering the Ganges Feeder Canal. While the hills stretch from the north to the south-east, the rest is rolling area, which is less conducive to agricultural operations than the alluvial strip. The net sown area of the district is around 28%. Thus though the district is predominantly agricultural it offers only limited opportunities to the people. Many people from the district migrate to the neighbouring districts of West Bengal during the agricultural seasons. In Maheshpur CD block 36.66% of the total area is cultivable area and 14.58% of the cultivable area is irrigated area.

Stone chips industry

Pakur is a centre of mining of black stone which is in great demand in the construction industry. There are four circles for mining of stone – Pakur, Hiranpur, Mahespur and Pakuria. Stone chips are mined in Maheshpur circle at villages such as Ambaipahari, Arjundaha, Bagmura, Balliapatra, Chandpur, Dhabdangal, Dumarghati, Dumkadanga, Huliapatra, Harishpur, Kashinathpur, Nimchua, Mohulpahari, Rolagram, Sopram (Chhota Dumarghtti), Sundarpahari, Sriramgaria and Indranpahari.

Backward Regions Grant Fund

Pakur district is listed as a backward region and receives financial support from the

Backward Regions Grant Fund Backward or Backwards is a relative direction. Backwards or Sdrawkcab (the word "backwards" with its letters reversed) may also refer to: * "Backwards" (''Red Dwarf''), episode of sci-fi TV sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' ** ''Backwards'' (novel), a nov ...

. The fund created by the Government of India is designed to redress regional imbalances in development. As of 2012, 272 districts across the country were listed under this scheme. The list includes 21 districts of Jharkhand.

Education

Maheshpur CD block had 39 villages with pre-primary schools, 225 villages with primary schools, 67 villages with middle schools, 9 villages with secondary schools, 3 villages with senior secondary schools, 1 general degree college, 1 special school for disabled, 94 villages with no educational facility.
.*Senior secondary schools are also known as Inter colleges in Jharkhand

Healthcare

Maheshpur CD block had 4 villages with primary health centres, 22 villages with primary health subcentres, 4 village with maternity and child welfare centre, 2 villages with TB clinics, 6 villages with allopathic hospitals, 3 villages with dispensaries, 1 village with veterinary hospital, 2 villages with family welfare centres, 3 villages with medicine shops.
.*Private medical practitioners, alternative medicine etc. not included

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maheshpur Block Community development blocks in Pakur district