Paschim Medinipur district or West Midnapore district (also known as Midnapore West) is one of the districts of the state of

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 four ...

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 ...

. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after the

Partition of Midnapore Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

into Paschim Medinipur and

Purba Medinipur Purba Medinipur (English: ''East Medinipur'', alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the southernmost district of Medinipur division – one of the five administrativ ...

. On 4 April 2017, the Jhargram subdivision was converted into a district. GDP of West Midnapore district is 12 billion USD.

Geography

Paschim Medinipur, located in the south-western part of West Bengal, was created with the partition of the erstwhile

Midnapore district Midnapore district was a district of the state of West Bengal, India. This district was bifurcated on 1 January 2002 into the Purba Medinipur district and the Paschim Medinipur district. On 4 April 2017, the Jhargram subdivision of Paschim Medi ...

, then the largest district of India, on 1 January 2002. It ranks second in terms of geographical area (9,295.28 km²) amongst the districts of the state, next to South 24-Parganas (9,960 km²). It ranks third in terms of rural population (4.58 million) following South 24-Parganas (5.82 million) and Murshidabad (5.13 million). It ranked fourth in terms of percentage of tribal population (14.87) following Jalpaiguri (18.87), Purulia (18.27) and Dakshin Dinajpur (16.12) in 2011. Broadly speaking, there are two natural divisions of the district.

NH 14 National Highway 162 (NH 162) is a National Highway in India. It is a spur road of National Highway 62. NH-162 traverses the state of Rajasthan in India. NH162 route was extended from Pali to Bhatewar. Route Bar,Sojat City, Pali, Marwad, N ...

and NH 16 (old numbering NH 60) from Bankura to Balasore, cuts across the district and roughly is the dividing line between the two natural divisions. To the east of this road, the soil is fertile alluvial and the area is flat. To the west, the

Chota Nagpur Plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and the b ...

gradually slopes down creating an undulating area with infertile laterite rocks and soil. The landscape changes from dense dry deciduous forests in the west to marshy wetlands in the east. The alluvial portion may be further subdivided into two divisions. First, it is a strip of purely deltaic country nearer to the Hooghly and the Rupnarayan, intersected by numerous rivers and watercourses subject to tidal influences. Second, it is rest of the eastern half of the district. It is a monotonous rice plain with numerous waterways and tidal creeks intersecting it. The tidal creeks are lined with embankments to prevent flooding of the fields. Much of the area is water-logged.

Floods and drought

Paschim Medinipur district is subject to both

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s and

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

. Ghatal and parts of Kharagpur subdivision covering an area of are flood prone. Water logging during the rainy season affects Ghatal and the southern parts of Kharagpur subdivision and results in loss of crops in such areas as Sabang, Pingla and Narayangarh CD Blocks. Medinipur Sadar subdivision is drought prone. Although the district is away from the sea, cyclones hit it frequently in October–November.

Major cities and towns

Midnapore Medinipur or Midnapore (Pron: med̪iːniːpur) is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as '' ...

is the district headquarters.

Kharagpur Kharagpur () is a planned urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Kharagpur subdivision. It is the largest, most populated, multicultural and cosmopol ...

is the largest city in the district. Other important towns and cities in the district include:

Ghatal Ghatal is a city and a municipality in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Ghatal subdivision. History In ancient times, when Tamralipta was an active port, Ghatal had its own ‘Bandar’ (port) ...

, Belda, Chandrakona,

Ramjibanpur Ramjibanpur is a city and a municipality in the Ghatal subdivision of the Paschim Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Ramjibanpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 11 metres (36&nbs ...

, Garbeta, Balichak, Dantan, Mohanpur, Keshiari, Keshpur, Narayangarh, Sabang, Daspur. Goaltore, Debra

Villages

Paschim Medinipur district is home to the most villages of any district in India. The 2011 census lists Paschim Medinipur as having 8,694 villages, of which 7,600 are populated, and 1,094 are uninhabited. The district with the next highest number of villages,

Mayurbhanj Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts in Odisha state in eastern India. It is the largest district of Odisha by area. Its headquarters are at Baripada. Other major towns are Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala. , it is the third-most-po ...

, in the state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

, has 3,950 villages, 3,751 of which are inhabited.

Economy and politics

In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India. Ministry of Panchayati Raj looks into all matters relating to the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The ministry is headed by a m ...

named Paschim Medinipur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of

640 Year 640 (Roman numerals, DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

). It is one of the eleven districts in West Bengal currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). 106 districts spanning 10 states across India, described as being part of

Left Wing Extremism Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

activities, constitute the

Red corridor The red corridor, also called the red zone, is the region in the eastern, central and the southern parts of India where the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency has the strongest presence. It has been steadily diminishing in terms of geographical cove ...

. In West Bengal the districts of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum are part of the Red corridor. However, as of July 2016, there has been no reported incidents of

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

related activities from these districts for the previous 4 years. In the period 2009–2011 LWE violence resulted in more than 500 deaths and a similar number missing in Paschim Medinipur district.

Divisions

Paschim Medinipur district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions:

Administrative subdivisions

The district comprises three subdivisions: Kharagpur, Medinipur Sadar and Ghatal. Kharagpur subdivision consists of

municipality and ten community development blocks: Dantan–I, Dantan–II, Pingla, Kharagpur–I, Kharagpur–II, Sabang, Mohanpur, Narayangarh, Keshiari and Debra. Medinipur Sadar subdivision consists of

municipality and six community development blocks: Medinipur Sadar, Garhbeta–I, Garhbeta–II, Garhbeta–III, Keshpur and Shalboni. Ghatal subdivision consists of five municipalities (

, Chandrakona,

Khirpai Khirpai, also known as Kshirpai, is a city and a municipality in the Ghatal subdivision of the Paschim Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. The city is situated between Ghatal and Chandrakona, near the banks of the rivers Shil ...

, Kharar and

) and five community development blocks: Chandrakona–I, Chandrakona–II, Daspur–I, Daspur–II and Ghatal.

is the district headquarters. There are 28 police stations, 21 development blocks, 7 municipalities and 290

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 bo ...

s in this district. Other than municipality area, each subdivision contains community development blocks which in turn are divided into rural areas and census towns. In total there are 11 urban units: 7 municipalities and 4

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

Kharagpur subdivision

* One municipality:

. * Dantan I community development block consists of rural areas with 9 gram panchayats and one

: Chaulia * Dantan II community development block consists of rural areas only with 7 gram panchayats. * Pingla community development block consists of rural areas only with 10 gram panchayats. * Kharagpur I community development block consists of rural areas with 7 gram panchayats and two census towns:

Kharagpur Railway Settlement Kharagpur Railway Settlement is a census town in the Kharagpur I CD block in the Kharagpur subdivision of the Paschim Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Kharagpur Railway Settlement is located at . ...

and Kalaikunda. * Kharagpur II community development block consists of rural areas only with 9 gram panchayats. * Sabang community development block consists of rural areas only with 13 gram panchayats. * Mohanpur community development block consists of rural areas only with 5 gram panchayats. * Narayangarh community development block consists of rural areas with 16 gram panchayats and one census town: Deuli. * Keshiari community development block consists of only rural areas with 9 gram panchayats. * Debra community development block consists of rural areas with 14 gram panchayats and one census town: Balichak.

Medinipur Sadar subdivision

* One municipality:

. * Midnapore Sadar community development block consists of rural areas only with 9 gram panchayats. * Garhbeta I community development block consists of rural areas with 12 gram panchayats and two census towns: Garbeta and Amlagora * Garhbeta II community development block consists of rural areas only with 10 gram panchayats. * Garhbeta III community development block consists of rural areas with 8 gram panchayats and three census towns: Durllabhganj, Dwari Geria and Naba Kola. * Keshpur community development block consists of rural areas only with 15 gram panchayats. *

Salboni Salboni (also written as Salbani) is a village in the Salboni CD block, in the Medinipur Sadar subdivision of the Paschim Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Salboni is the location of one of the Reserve Bank of India curre ...

community development block consists of rural areas only with 10 gram panchayats.

Ghatal subdivision

* Five municipalities:

, Chandrakona,

, Kharar and

. * Chandrakona I community development block consists of rural areas only with 6 gram panchayats. * Chandrakona II community development block consists of rural areas only with 6 gram panchayats. * Daspur I community development block consists of rural areas only with 10 gram panchayats. * Daspur II community development block consists of rural areas only with 14 gram panchayats. *

community development block consists of rural areas only with 12 gram panchayats.

Assembly Constituencies

There are 15 assembly constituencies in Paschim Medinipur district. They belong to four Lok Sabha constituencies. Medinipur and

constituencies both comprise six constituencies of Paschim Medinipur district and one from Purba Medinipur district. Jhargram constituency contains two constituencies of Paschim Medinipur district, while Arambagh contains one constituency.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Paschim Medinipur district has a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

of 5,913,457, roughly equal to the nation of

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

or the US state of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. This gives it a ranking of 14th in India (out of a total of

). The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

over the decade 2001–2011 was 14.44%. Paschim Medinipur has a

sex ratio The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species de ...

of 960

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females a ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

of 79.04%. After bifurcation the district had a population of 4,776,909. In the divided district, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 892,763 (18.69%) and 546,167 (11.43%) of the population respectively.

Religion

Hindus are the majority population.

Language

At the time of the 2011 census, 87.15% spoke

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 ...

, 6.29% Santali and 2.49%

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

as their first language. Other languages spoken in the district include

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

and

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Culture

Tourism

Aatchala Khargesvara Temple at Kshirpai of Paschim Medinipur district in West Bengal 01

* Patachitra Village (Naya, Pingla) * Gopegarh Heritage Park * Hatibari Forest banglow and Jhilli Pakhiralay * Gurguripal Heritage Park * Parimalkanan park, CKT * Gangani Garhbeta * Rameshwar Temple, near Rohini (On the bank of Subarnarekha river with nearby green forest called Tapoban) * Gourya Temple, near Kharagpur * Bisnu Temple, Kultikri * Rashikananda Memorial, Rohini * Mogolmari Boudhabihar, Mogolmari, Dantan * Prayag Film City, Midnapore Film City or Chandrakona Film City at Chandrakona Road

Notable personalities

* Khudiram Bose – Mohobani, situated under the Keshpur Police Station in the Medinipur. One of the youngest martyrs of the Indian Independence Movement. * Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar – Birsingha, a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance. He was a philosopher, academic educator, writer, translator, printer, publisher, entrepreneur, reformer and philanthropist. * Rajnarayan Basu, writer and proponent of Young Bengal movement.He served as the headmaster of Midnapore Zilla School (later known as Midnapore Collegiate School) which was also the forerunner of Midnapore College. * Hemchandra Kanungo, an Indian nationalist and a member of the Anushilan Samiti.He was one of the creators of the Calcutta flag, based on which the first flag of independent India * Birendranath Sasmal, social activista lawyer and political leader. He was known as Deshpran because of his work for the country and for his efforts in the Swadeshi movement. He was born in Contai, in undivided Midnapore district. * Satish Chandra Samanta, social activist *

Nirmal Jibon Ghosh Nirmal Jiban Ghosh (5 January 1916 – 26 October 1934) was an Indian revolutionary and member of the Bengal Volunteers. He was hanged on 26 October 1934 for the charge of assassination of Magistrate Burge. Family Ghosh was born in Dhamasin v ...

, revolutionary *

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...

, Chief Minister of Bengal during British period, Prime Minister of Pakistan and founder of the Awami League * Narayan Chandra Rana, Rana has left his mark in many branches of Astrophysics and in Amateur Astronomy in India. * Soumya Sankar Bose – Midnapore *

Mahasweta Devi Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016)
''

, writer and Magsaysay Award winner *

Byomkes Chakrabarti Byomkes Chakrabarti (also spelled Byomkesh Chakraborty or Byomkesh Chakrabarty) (1923–1981) was a Bengali language, Bengali research worker on ethnic languages. He was also a educationist and a poet. His major contribution to linguistics was i ...

, Linguist, writer and poet - Kharar & Jhargram * Souhardya De, Orientalist and Bal Puraskar recipient 2021 * Tamal Bandyopadhyay, Indian business journalist * Anirban Bhattacharya, actor in Tollywood movies

Education

Universities and colleges

Main Building - Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur - West Midnapore 2013-01-26 3685

Gate 1 - Vidyasagar University - West Midnapore - 2015-02-25 6166

Ambigeria Government College Government General Degree College, Kharagpur-II, also known as Madpur College, established in 2015, is the government degree college in Paschim Medinipur district. It offers undergraduate courses in arts and science. It is affiliated to Vidyasa ...

* Belda College * Bhatter College *

Chaipat S.P.B. Mahavidyalaya Chaipat S.P.B. Mahavidyalaya, also known as Chaipat College, established in 2007, is a college in Chaipat beside at Rani Rashmoni Road, a gram panchayat in Daspur II, in the Paschim Medinipur district. It offers undergraduate courses in arts ...

*Chandrakona Vidyasagar Mahavidyalaya *

Debra Thana Sahid Kshudiram Smriti Mahavidyalaya Debra Thana Sahid Kshudiram Smriti Mahavidyalaya, also known as Debra College, is an undergraduate, coeducational college situated in Gangaram Chak, Debra, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal. It was established in the year 2006. The college is ...

Dr B C Roy Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Dr B C Roy Institute of Medical Sciences & Research (also the hospital which a part of the institution is known as Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Super Speciality Hospital) is a medical school and research institute at Balarampur, outside IIT Khar ...

* Garhbeta College * Gourav Guin Memorial College * Government General Degree College, Mohanpur * Government General Degree College, Keshiary * Hijli College *

IIT Kharagpur Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) is a Public university, public institute of technology established by the Government of India in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. Established in 1951, the institute is the first of the Indi ...

* Institute of Science & Technology * K.D. College of Commerce and General Studies * Kharagpur College *

Keshiary Government College Government General Degree College at Keshiary, also commonly known as Keshiary Government College, was established in 2015. This government degree college is located in Paschim Medinipur district, around 26 km away from Kharagpur. It offers ...

Kharagpur Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital Kharagpur Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, is a homeopathic medical college in Kharagpur, Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. The college is recognized by the Central Council of Homeopathy, New Delhi. This college is af ...

* Midnapore College (Autonomous) (formerly known as Day college) * Midnapore City College * Midnapore Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital * Midnapore Law College * Midnapore Medical College and Hospital * Oriental Institute of Science and Technology * Narajole Raj College *Paramedical College * Pingla Thana Mahavidyalaya * Raja Narendra Lal Khan Women's College *

Sabang Sajanikanta Mahavidyalaya Sabang Sajanikanta Mahavidyalaya, also known as Sabang College, is a college situated at Lutunia, Sabang, in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. It was established in 1970. It offers undergraduate courses in arts, commerce and s ...

Salboni Government College Salboni Government College, established in 2014,. is a government general degree college in Salboni, Paschim Medinipur district. It offers different undergraduate courses in arts and science. It is affiliated to Vidyasagar University Vi ...

Sankrail Anil Biswas Smriti Mahavidyalaya Sankrail Anil Biswas Smriti Mahavidyalaya, also known as Kultikri College, established in 2007, is a college in Kultikri, in the Jhargram district. It offers undergraduate courses in arts. It is affiliated to Vidyasagar University Vidya ...

* Santal Bidroha Sardha Satabarsiki Mahavidyalaya * Medinipur Sadar Government Polytechnic *

Sukumar Sengupta Mahavidyalaya Sukumar Sengupta Mahavidyalaya, also known as Keshpur College, established in 2004, is a college in Keshpur in the Paschim Medinipur district. It offers undergraduate courses in arts and sciences. It is affiliated to Vidyasagar University ...

* Vidyasagar Teachers' Training College, Midnapore *

Vidyasagar University Vidyasagar University was established by an Act of the West Bengal legislature which was notified in the '' Calcutta Gazette'' on 24 June 1981. It is an affiliating university in Paschim Medinipur district of southern West Bengal, India. It ...

Vivekananda Satavarshiki Mahavidyalaya Vivekananda Satavarshiki Mahavidyalaya, also known as Manikpara College, established in 1964, is a college in Manikpara, in Jhargram District. It offers undergraduate courses both honours and general courses in arts, commerce and sciences. I ...

* P G Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandrakona Town

Healthcare

The table below (all data in numbers) presents an overview of the subdivision-wise medical facilities available and patients treated, after the separation of Jhargram, in the hospitals, health centres and sub-centres in 2014 in Paschim Medinipur district. *Excluding nursing homes

Notes

References

External links

*
Map of old Medinipur district (district has now been split)
* * * {{authority control Districts of West Bengal