Raghunathpur II is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the

Raghunathpur subdivision Raghunathpur subdivision is a subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. History Purulia district was divided into four subdivisions, viz., Purulia Sadar, Manbazar, Jhalda and Raghunathpur, with effect from 6 April 2 ...

of the

Purulia district Purulia district (Pron: puruliːaː) is one of the twenty-three districts of West Bengal state in Eastern India. Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur- ...

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 fou ...

History

Background

The ''Jaina Bhagavati-Sutra'' of the 5th century AD mentions that Purulia was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas and was a part of the kingdom known as Vajra-bhumi in ancient times. In 1833, the Manbhum district was carved out of the

Jungle Mahals Jungle Mahals, ( jungle estates) was a district formed by British possessions and some independent chiefdoms lying between Birbhum, Bankura, Midnapore and the hilly country of Chota Nagpur in what is now the Indian state of West Bengal.O’Malle ...

district, with headquarters at Manbazar. In 1838, the headquarters was transferred to

Purulia Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is located at . It has an average ele ...

. After independence, when Manbhum district was a part of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

, efforts were made to impose Hindi on the Bengali-speaking majority of the district and it led to the

Bengali Language Movement (Manbhum) The Language Movement in Manbhum was a movement in Manbhum district, present day Purulia district of West Bengal state, during the late 1940s to mid-1950s, to fight for the mother tongue which is a variation of Bengali language and to protest the ...

. In 1956, the Manbhum district was partitioned between Bihar and West Bengal under the States Reorganization Act and the Bihar and West Bengal (Transfer of Territories) Act 1956.

Geography

Cheliyama is located at . The Raghunathpur II CD block is located in the north-western part of the district. The

Damodar River Damodar River (Pron: /ˈdʌmoˌdaː/) is a river flowing across the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. Rich in mineral resources, the valley is home to large-scale mining and industrial activity. Earlier known as the Sorrow of Bengal bec ...

marks the northern boundary of the CD block. The Damodar Dwaraka upland is an extension of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The area is undulating with hillocks of hard rocks. The Raghunathpur II CD block is bounded by the Jharia area of the

Dhanbad Municipal Corporation Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur. It ranks as the 42nd largest city in India and is the 33rd largest million-plus urban agglomeration in India. Dhanbad shares its land borders with ...

and the

Baliapur Baliapur is a census town in Baliapur CD block in Dhanbad Sadar subdivision of Dhanbad district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Damodar River Damodar River (Pron: /ˈdʌmoˌdaː/) is a river flowing across the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. Rich in mineral resources, the valley is home to large-scale mining and industrial activity. Earlier known as the Sorrow of Bengal bec ...

, on the north, the Neturia and

Raghunathpur I Raghunathpur I is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the Raghunathpur subdivision of the Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Background The ''Jaina Bhagavati-Sutra'' of the ...

CD blocks on the east, the Para CD block on the south and the

Chandankiyari Chandnakiyari is a suburb in Bokaro, Jharkhand, India. It is a village in the Chandankiyari CD block in the Chas subdivision of the Bokaro district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is planned to be a part of Greater Bokaro. It is also a ...

CD block, in the Bokaro district of Jharkhand, on the west. The Raghunathpur II CD block has an area of 197.67 km². It has one panchayat samity, six

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, 80 gram sansads (village councils), 106 mouzas, 90 inhabited villages and one census town.

Santaldih Santaldih is a census town in the Raghunathpur II CD block in the Raghunathpur subdivision of the Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Santaldih Thermal Power Project Town is shown in the Para CD block i ...

police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD block is at Cheliyama (Cheyama).

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 of the Raghunathpur 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: Barrah, Chelyama, Joradih, Mangalda-Moutore, Nildih and Nutandih.

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 ...

, the Raghunathpur II CD block had a total population of 113,790, of which 107,827 were rural and 5,963 were urban. There were 58,568 (51%) males and 55,222 (49%) females. There were 15,806 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The

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 41,460 (36.44%) and the Scheduled Tribes numbered 7,302 (6.42%). According to the 2001 census, the Raghunathpur II block had a total population of 99,152, out of which 50,929 were males and 48,223 were females. The Raghunathpur II CD block registered a population growth of 15.94 per cent during the 1991–2001 decade. Decadal growth for the Purulia district was 13.96 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent. Census towns in the Raghunathpur II CD block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Nabagram (5,963). Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in the Raghunathpur II CD block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Ichhar (6,494) and Cheyama (7,413). Other villages in the Raghunathpur II CD block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Nutandi (3,275), Telkupi (510), Mangalda (3,187),

Usir Usir is a village in the Raghunathpur II CD block in the Raghunathpur subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Usir is located at . Area overview Purulia district forms th ...

(2,430), Nildi (838) and Barra (3,302).

Literacy

According to the 2011 census, the total number of literate persons in the Raghunathpur II CD block was 65,936 (67.29% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 40,847 (80.95% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 25,089 (52.79%) 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 28.16%. See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Language and religion

In the 2001 census,

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 ...

was the mother tongue for 76.6% of the population of the district, followed by Santali 11.4%, Kurmali Thar 7.7%,

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 ...

1.9%,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Khortha/ Khotta 0.3%, Telugu 0.2%, Odia 0.1%, Mundari 0.1% and other languages 0.4%. Along the western borders of the district the local Bengali dialect spoken in the area often merges with the

Magahi The Magahi language (), also known as Magadhi (), is a language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name derives. ...

dialects such as the Kurmali, Khotta and Khottahi or even Khotta Bangla. There is a tribal presence in many of the CD blocks of the district. Santali was spoken by around 14% of the population of the earlier Manbhum district. Some people also speak Mundari or

Kolarian Kolarian is a word first used by George Campbell. He described it as one of the three non-Aryan language families of India, which he made up, along with the Tibeto-Burman and the Dravidian. It is group of Munda languages of Austro-asiatic languages ...

languages such as Kurmali, Mundari and the languages of Bhumij and Mahli communities. In the 2011 census, Hindus numbered 96,433 and formed 84.75% of the population in the Raghunathpur II CD block. Muslims numbered 12,720 and formed 11.18% of the population. Christians numbered 87 and formed 0.08% of the population. Others numbered 4,540 and formed 3.99% of the population. Others include Addi Bassi, Marang Boro, Santal, Saranath, Sari Dharma, Sarna, Alchchi, Bidin, Sant, Saevdharm, Seran, Saran, Sarin, Kheria, and other religious communities.

Rural Poverty

According to the Rural Household Survey in 2005, 32.85% of total number of families were BPL families in Purulia district. According to a World Bank report, as of 2012, 31–38% of the population in Purulia, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur districts were below poverty level, the highest among the districts of West Bengal, which had an average 20% of the population below poverty line.

Economy

Livelihood

In the Raghunathpur II CD block in 2011, among the class of total workers, cultivators numbered 5,709 and formed 13.89%, agricultural labourers numbered 12,361 and formed 30.37%, household industry workers numbered 1,284 and formed 3.12% and other workers numbered 21,760 and formed 59.14%. Total workers numbered 41,114 and formed 36.13% of the total population, and non-workers numbered 72,676 and formed 63.87% of the population. Note: In the census records a person is considered a cultivator, if the person is engaged in cultivation/ supervision of land owned by self/government/institution. 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, entertainment artistes and so on.

Infrastructure

There are 90 inhabited villages in the Raghunathpur II CD block, as per the ''District Census Handbook'', Puruliya, 2011, 100% villages have power supply. 100% villages have drinking water supply. 14 villages (15.56%) have post offices. 71 villages (78.89%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones). 29 villages (32.22%) have ''pucca'' (paved) approach roads and 39 villages (43.33%) have transport communication (includes bus service, rail facility and navigable waterways). four villages (4.44%) have agricultural credit societies and three villages (3.33%) have banks.

Industry

Santaldih Thermal Power Station of the

West Bengal Power Development Corporation The West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL) is a non-listed company wholly owned and controlled by the Government of West Bengal with the goal to carry on the business of thermal power generation in the state of West Bengal, Ind ...

has a total capacity of 980 MW (4x120, 2x250). Ispat Damodar of the Eurasia group producing sponge iron, mild steel billets and ferro alloys have their manufacturing facilities at Nabagram.

Agriculture

In 2013–14, persons engaged in agriculture in the Raghunathpur II CD block could be classified as follows:

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 12.35%, ''patta'' (document) holders 13.45%, small farmers (possessing land between one and two hectares) 2.98%, marginal farmers (possessing land up to one hectare) 23.68% and agricultural labourers 47.54%. In 2013–14, the total area irrigated in the Raghunathpur II CD block was 4,087.13 hectares, out of which 1,547.00 hectares were by canals, 1,303.94 hectares by tank water, 18.89 hectares by river lift irrigation, 225.60 hectares by open dug wells and 991.70 hectares by other means. In 2013–14, the Raghunathpur II CD block produced 16,218 tonnes of Aman paddy, the main winter crop from 6,901 hectares. It also produced wheat, maize, maskalai and mustard.

Banking

In 2013–14, the Raghunathpur II CD block had offices of four commercial banks and five gramin banks.

Backward Regions Grant Fund

The Purulia 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 11 districts of West Bengal.

Transport

In 2013–14, the Raghunathpur II CD block had two ferry services and five originating/terminating bus routes.

Education

In 2013–14, the Raghunathpur II CD block had 99 primary schools with 9,098 students, nine middle schools with 1,115 students, four high schools with 2,084 students and nine higher secondary schools with 6,330 students. Raghunathpur II CD Block had one general college with 719 students and 261 institutions with 7,583 students for special and non-formal education. Raghunathpur (municipal town, outside the CD Block) had one general college with 3,140 students. According to the 2011 census, in Raghunathpur II CD block, amongst the 90 inhabited villages, nine villages did not have a school, 17 villages had two or more primary schools, 18 villages had at least one primary and one middle school and eight villages had at least one middle and one secondary school. Santaldih College was established in 2008 at

, PO Chatarmahul.

Healthcare

In 2014, the Raghunathpur II CD block had one block primary health centre and two primary health centres, with total 44 beds and five doctors. 7,344 patients were treated indoors and 116,687 patients were treated outdoors in the health centres and subcentres of the CD Block. Banda (Cheliyama) Rural Hospital, with 30 beds at Cheliyama, is the major government medical facility in the Raghunathpur II CD block. There are primary health centres at Bogra (with 10 beds) and Nildih (with four beds). Santaldih Thermal Hospital at

functions with 10 beds.

References

{{Purulia topics Community development blocks in Purulia district