Sunderpahari (also spelled Sundarpahari, Sundar Pahari) 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 Godda subdivision of the Godda district,

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,

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 ...

Geography

Sunderpahari, the CD block headquarters, is located at . It is located 15 km from Godda, the district headquarters. Godda district is a plateau region with undulating uplands, long ridges and depressions. The western portion of 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 ...

passes through the district. The plain areas have lost its once rich forests but the hills still retain some. Kajhia, Sunder and Sakri rivers flow through the district. 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 ...

cover most of the Boarijore and Sunderpahari CD blocks in Godda district. Sunderpahari CD block is bounded by

Boarijore Boarijore (also spelled Boarijor) is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Godda subdivision of the Godda district, Jharkhand state, India. Geography Bara Boarijore, the CD Block headquarters, is located at ...

CD block on the north, Barhait CD block in Sahibganj district and Littipara and Amrapara CD blocks in Pakur district on the east,

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 on the south, and Paraiyaht, Godda and

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

CD blocks on the west. Sunderpahari CD block has an area of 429.88 km².

Sunderpahari Sunderpahari (also spelled Sundarpahari, Sundar Pahari) is a Community development block in India, community development block that forms an administrative division in the Godda subdivision of the Godda district, Jharkhand States and territories ...

and Rajabhita police stations serve this block. Headquarters of this CD block is at

village.

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 ...

, Sunderpahari CD block had a total population of 65,463, all of which were rural. There were 32,895 (50%) males and 32,568 (50%) females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 11,724.

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 1,399 (2.14%) 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 50,133 (76.58%). In the 2011 census, Sunderpahari (village) had a population of 888.

Literacy

According to the 2011 census, the total number of literate persons in Sunderpahari CD block was 23,441 (43.62% of the population over 6 years) out of which 14,662 (63%) were males and 8,779 (37%) were females. The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 26%. 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, Godda, 2011 census,'' as of 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 ...

was the mother-tongue of 603,295 persons forming 57.57% of the population of Godda district, followed by Santali 203,186 persons (19.39%),

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

is the official language in Jharkhand and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

According to the ''District Census Handbook, Godda, 2011 census,''

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

numbered 937,126 and formed 71.34% of the population of Godda district, followed by

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

289.182 (22.02%),

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

37,795 (3.88%), other religions 47,407 (3.61%), religion not stated 2,041 (0.16%).

Rural poverty

40-50% of the population of Godda district were in the BPL category in 2004–2005, being in the same category as Giridih, Koderma and Hazaribagh 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 Sunderpahari CD block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators numbered 15,344 and formed 43.41%, agricultural labourers numbered 16,500 and formed 46.68%, household industry workers numbered 994 and formed 2.81% and other workers numbered 2,509 and formed 7.10%. Total workers numbered 35,347 and formed 54.00% of the total population. Non-workers numbered 30,116 and formed 46.00% 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 221 inhabited villages in Sunderpahari CD block. In 2011, 9 villages had power supply. 5 villages had tap water (treated/ untreated), 112 villages had well water (covered/ uncovered), 143 villages had hand pumps, and 43 villages did not have drinking water facility. 7 villages had post offices, 11 villages had sub post offices, 1 village had telephones (land lines), 5 villages had public call offices and 82 villages had mobile phone coverage. 159 villages had pucca (paved) village roads, 9 villages had bus service (public/ private), 3 villages had taxis/ vans, 52 villages had tractors. 2 villages had bank branches, 2 villages had agricultural credit societies, 21 villages had cinema/ video halls, 22 villages had public libraries, public reading room. 48 villages had public distribution system, 37 villages had weekly haat (market) and 63 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.

Coal mining

Godda district is rich in coal. A major

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

project of

Eastern Coalfields Limited Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) is a coal producer based in India. The company was founded in 1975 after nationalisation of coal mines in India. It operates coal mines in Jharkhand and West Bengal states of India. It inherited all the priv ...

(Rajmahal open cast project, a part of Rajmahal coalfield) is going on in

Mahagama Mahagama is a census town in the Mahagama CD block in the Goddda subdivision of the Godda district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Urja Nagar Urja Nagar is a major part of the town. It is a very organised and well planned township done by ...

and Sunderpahari CD blocks. The Rajmahal Opencast project came up in the early 1980s with an annual cpapcity of 5 million tonnes. The capacity was raised to 10.5 million tonnes with Canadian collaboration in 1994. The capacity is being expanded to 17 million tonnes. EMIL the mining arm of the

Aditya Birla Group Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. It operates in 100 countries with more than 1,40,000 employees directly and indirectly. The group was founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla in 1857. The group ha ...

has been involved in the functioning of Rajmahal Opencast Mines of

Eastern Coalfields Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) is a coal producer based in India. The company was founded in 1975 after nationalisation of coal mines in India. It operates coal mines in Jharkhand and West Bengal states of India. It inherited all the priv ...

. Mining operations started in July 2013. It is expected to produce 200 million tonnes of coal over 12.5 years. With the involvement of the Essel Mining and Industries Limited (EMIL) in the Rajmahal Opencast project, supplies to the 2,340 MW Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Station and the 2,100 MW Farakka Super Thermal Power Station of NTPC were expected to improve.

Power plant

Jindal Steel and Power Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) is an Indian steel company based in New Delhi. JSPL is a part of OP Jindal Group, and a leading player in steel, mining, and infrastructure in India. The company produces steel through backward integration ...

had planned for a 2 X 660 MW captive power plant at Nipania (near

in Sundarpahari CD block) for their upcoming steel plants at

Patratu Patratu is a census town in the Patratu (community development block) in the Ramgarh subdivision of the Ramgarh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Patratu is located at . It has an average elevation of 405 met ...

and Asanboni, both in Jharkhand. In spite of the ground-breaking ceremony having been presided over by

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

, President of India, in April 2013, as of 2020 the project has made no progress except for some land acquisition. Jitapur coal block, located 10 km from the project site and having a reserve of 65 million tonnes of coal, was initially earmarked for the power plant but was later allotted to Adani Power. Efforts are being made to get the project going or return of the acquired land.

Agriculture

Around 80% of the population depends on agriculture, the main economic activity of the district but lack of irrigation facilities is a major constraint in raising the existing low levels of productivity. A sizable population is also engaged in animal husbandry and cottage industries. The livelihood scenario presented above indicates that a large population depends on agriculture. In Sunderpahari CD block 21.42% of the total area is cultivable area and 8.47% of the cultivable area is irrigated area.

Backward Regions Grant Fund

Godda 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

Sunderpahari CD block had 25 villages with pre-primary schools, 112 villages with primary schools, 47 villages with middle schools, 9 villages with secondary schools, 106 villages with no educational facility.

Healthcare

Sunderpahari CD block had 1 village with primary health centre, 12 villages with primary health subcentres, 2 villages with allopathic hospitals, 1 village with dispensary, 1 village with family welfare centre, 3 villages with medicine shops.
.*Private medical practitioners, alternative medicine etc. not included

References

{{Santhal Pargana Division topics Community development blocks in Godda district