Habibpur 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 techni ...

that forms an administrative division in

Malda Sadar subdivision Malda Sadar subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Malda Sadar subdivision covers both the Barind Tract and the Diara, two of the three physiographic subregions of the di ...

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

History

Gauda and Pandua

Gauda was once the “capital of the ancient bhukti or political division of Bengal known as

Pundravardhana Pundravardhana or Pundra Kingdom ( sa, Puṇḍravardhana), was an ancient kingdom during the Iron Age period in India with a territory that included parts of present-day Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions of Bangladesh as well as the West Dinaj ...

which lay on the eastern extremity of the

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Go ...

.” During the rule of the

Sena Dynasty The Sena dynasty was a Hindu dynasty during the early medieval period on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcon ...

, in the 11th-12th century, Gauda was rebuilt and extended as Lakshmanawati (later Lakhnauti), and it became the hub of the Sena empire. Gauda was conquered by

Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī, (Pashto :اختيار الدين محمد بختيار غلزۍ, fa, اختیارالدین محمد بختیار خلجی, bn, ইখতিয়ারউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ � ...

in 1205. During the Turko-Afghan period, “the city of Lakhnauti or Gauda continued to function initially as their capital but was abandoned in 1342 by the Ilyas Shahi sultans in favour of Pandua because of major disturbances along the river course of the

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

.” “Pandua then lay on the banks of the Mahananda, which was the major waterway of the sultanate at the time. However, when the Mahananda too began to veer away from the site of Pandua in the mid-15th century, Gauda was rebuilt and restored to the status of capital city by the Hussain Shahi sultans”… With the ascent of

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, H ...

to the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

throne at Delhi… the Mughals annexed the ancient region of Gauda in 1576 and created the Diwani of Bengal. The centre of regional power shifted across the Ganga to

Rajmahal Rajmahal is a subdivisional town and a notified area in Rajmahal subdivision of the Sahebganj district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is situated at the banks of Ganges and was former capital of Bengal Subah under Mughal governor, Ma ...

,,, Following the demise of the independent sultanate, the regional importance of the Gauda or Malda region declined irreversibly and the city of Gauda was eventually abandoned.

Malda district

With the advent of the British, their trading and commercial interests focused on the new cities of Malda and English Bazar. Malda district was formed in 1813 with “some portion of outlying areas of Purnia, Dinajpur and Rajshahi districts”. A separate treasury was established in 1832 and a full-fledged Magistrate and Collector was posted in 1859. Malda district was part of Rajshahi Division till 1876, when it was transferred to Bhagalpur Division, and again transferred in 1905 to Rajshahi Division. With the partition of Bengal in 1947, the

Radcliffe Line The Radcliffe Line was the boundary demarcated between the Indian and Pakistani portions of the Punjab Province and Bengal Presidency of British India. It was named after Cyril Radcliffe, who, as the joint chairman of the two boundary commiss ...

placed Malda district in India, except the Nawabganj subdivision, which was placed in East Pakistan.

Geography

Habibpur community development block is located at Habibpur CD Block is a part of the Barind Tract, one of the three physiographic subregions of the district, that spreads beyond the boundaries of the district. “This region is made up of the ancient alluvial humps that are remnants of old riverine flood plains that remained unaffected subsequently by inundation and renewed silting.” It forms an upland slightly higher than the surrounding areas. Habibpur and Bamangola CD Blocks constitute the Tangon-Punarbhaba

interfluve An interfluve is a narrow, elongated and plateau-like or ridge-like landform between two valleys.Leser, Hartmut, ed. (2005). ''Wörterbuch Allgemeine Geographie'', 13th ed., dtv, Munich, p. 766, . More generally, an interfluve is defined as an are ...

s area. Barind soils permit little percolation and most of the monsoon runoff accumulates in the large natural bils (ponds) in the

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.Tangon and Punarbhaba rivers, covering the lowlands. Habibpur is bounded by Gazole CD Block for a short stretch on the north-east corner, Bamangola CD Block on the north, Porsha Upazila of Naogaon District, Bangladesh, on the east, Gomostapur Upazila and Bholahat Upazila of Chapai Nawabganj District, Bangladesh, on the south, and

Old Malda Old Malda is a census town in Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the Malda Metropolitan Area ( Urban Agglomeration). It is located on the eastern bank of the river Mahananda. Geography Old Malda is located ...

CD Block on the west. Habibpur CD Block has an area of 397.10 km². It has 1 panchayat samity, 11

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, 149 gram sansads (village councils), 288

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 233 inhabited villages.

Habibpur Habibpur is a census town in Bhagalpur district in the Indian state of Bihar. Demographics India census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. Thi ...

police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Habibpur. The ruins of a Pala period Buddhist University have been excavated at Jagajibanpur village near the Punarbhaba River in Habibpur CD Block. 165.5 km of the India-Bangladesh border is in Malda district. CD Blocks on the border are Bamangola, Habibpur, Old Malda, English Bazar and Kaliachak-III. The Punarbhaba flows along the international border in Bamangola and Habibpur CD Blocks.

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 Habibpur block/ panchayat samiti are:Mangalpura, Aktail, Baidyapur, Jajoil, Kanturka, Habibpur, Bulbulchandi, Aiho, Rishipur, Srirampur and Dhumpur.

Demographics

Population

As per 2011 Census of India, Habibpur CD Block had a total population of 210,669, of which 185,342 were rural and 25,357 were urban. There were 106,757 (51%) males and 103,942 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 26,815.

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 105,386 (50.02%) 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 61,337 (29.11%). Census towns in Habibpur CD Block were (2011 population in brackets):

Baksinagar Baksinagar is a census town in the Habibpur CD block in the Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Baksinagar is located at . Area overview The area shown in the adjacent map cover ...

(7,255), Kachu Pukur (5,752), Kendua (6,452) and

Aiho Aiho is a census town in the Habibpur CD block in the Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Etymology Aiho is a beautiful village sandwiched between two rivers Tangon and Mahananda. Due to its conflue ...

(5,898). Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Habibpur CD Block were (2011 population in brackets): Chakli (4,211), Dalia (7,177) and Ganramari (5,636). Other villages in Habibpur CD Block included (2011 population in brackets): Mangalpura (1,063), Baidyapur (497), Habibpur (2,576), Bulbulchandi (2,915), Rishipur (2,844), Srirampur (1,746), Jajail (268) and

Singhabad Singhabad (also spelled Singabad) is a village in Habibpur CD block in Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a railway transit point on the Bangladesh-India border. Geography Location Singhabad ...

(1951). Decadal

Population Growth 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 ...

Rate (%) Note: The CD Block data for 1971-1981, 1981-1991 and 1991-2001 is for Habibpur PS The decadal growth of population in Habibpur CD Block in 2001-2011 was 12.28%. The decadal growth of population in Habibpur PS covering Habibpur CD Block in 1991-2001 was 11.43%. The decadal growth of population in Habibpur PS in 1981-91 was 19.37% and in 1971-81 was 24.65%. The decadal growth rate of population in Malda district was as follows: 30.33% in 1951-61, 31.98% in 1961-71, 26.00% in 1971-81, 29.78% in 1981-91, 24.78% in 1991-2001 and 21.22% in 2001-11. The decadal growth rate for West Bengal in 2001-11 was 13.93%. The decadal growth rate for West Bengal was 13.93 in 2001-2011, 17.77% in 1991-2001. 24.73% in 1981-1991 and 23.17% in 1971-1981. Malda district has the second highest decadal population growth rate, for the decade 2001-2011, in West Bengal with a figure of 21.2% which is much higher than the state average (13.8%). Uttar Dinajpur district has the highest decadal growth rate in the state with 23.2%. Decadal growth rate of population is higher than that of neighbouring Murshidabad district, which has the next highest growth rate. As per the Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Department of the Government of West Bengal and 1971 census, only 1.7% of around 6 million refugees who had come in from erstwhile East Pakistan, were resettled in Malda district. The Barind tract was opened for refugee resettlement in the aftermath of the partition. Population density in the district has intensified from 162 persons per km² in 1901 to 881 in 2001 (i.e., around five times), which is highest amongst the districts of North Bengal. However, unlike the densely populated southern regions of West Bengal, urbanisation remains low in Malda district. North Bengal in general, and Malda in particular, has been witness to large scale population movement from other states in India and other districts of West Bengal, as well as from outside the country. The District Human Development Report for Malda notes, “Malda district has been a principal recipient of the human migration waves of the 20th century.” There are reports of Bangladeshi infiltrators coming through the international border. Only a small portion of the border with Bangladesh has been fenced and it is popularly referred to as a porous border.

Literacy

As per the 2011 census, the total number of literates in Habibpur CD Block was 108,136 (58.81% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 62,033 (66.69% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 45,103 (49.63% 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 17.06%. See also –

List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate This is a list of districts in the Indian state of West Bengal ranked by literacy rate as per provisional data of 2011 census. With a literacy rate of 96.26% (male 90.69% and female 96.54%), above the national average of 90.04%, as per the 2011 Ce ...

Language and religion

Hinduism is the predominant religion, with 94.96% of the population. Christianity is the second-largest religion, with Sarnaism and Islam as a micro-minority. As per 2014 District Statistical Handbook: Malda (quoting census figures), in the 2001 census, Hindus numbered 170,880 and formed 91.06% of the population in Habibpur CD Block. Muslims numbered 2,305 and formed 1.23% of the population. Christians numbered 2,730 and formed 1.45% of the population. Others numbered 11,735 and formed 6.25% of the population. At the time of the 2011 census, 66.56% of the population 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 ...

, 27.34% Santali, 1.74%

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

, 1.16%

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 ...

and 1.15% Khortha as their first language. 1.01% of the population spoke languages classified as 'Other' under Bengali.

Rural poverty

As per the

Human Development Report The Human Development Report (HDR) is an annual Human Development Index report published by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The first HDR was launched in 1990 by the Pakistani economist ...

for Malda district, published in 2006, the percentage of rural families in BPL category in Habibpur CD Block was 49.0%. Official surveys have found households living in absolute poverty in Malda district to be around 39%. According to the report, “An overwhelmingly large segment of the rural workforce depends on agriculture as its main source of livelihood, the extent of landlessness in Malda has traditionally been high because of the high densities of human settlement in the district… Although land reforms were implemented in Malda district from the time they were launched in other parts of West Bengal, their progress has been uneven across the Malda blocks… because of the overall paucity of land, the extent of ceiling-surplus land available for redistribution has never been large… The high levels of

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 Po ...

that exist in nearly all blocks in Malda district closely reflect the livelihood crisis… “

Economy

Livelihood

In Habibpur CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators numbered 22,299 and formed 23.09%, agricultural labourers numbered 49,750 and formed 51.52%, household industry workers numbered 4,882 and formed 5.06% and other workers numbered 19,636 and formed 20.33%. Total workers numbered 96,568 and formed 45.83% of the total population, and non-workers numbered 114,131 and formed 54.17% 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 233 inhabited villages in Habibpur CD Block. All 243 villages (100%) have power supply. 229 villages (98.28%) have drinking water supply. 20 villages (8.58%) have post offices. 191 villages (81.97%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones). 69 villages (29.61%) have a pucca (paved) approach road and 45 villages (19.31%) have transport communication (includes bus service, rail facility and navigable waterways). 7 villages (3%) have agricultural credit societies. 10 villages (4.29%) have banks.

Agriculture

The upland regions in the Barind area are mono-cropped because of limitations regarding the use of tube wells here. Habibpur CD Block had 113 fertiliser depots, 13 seed stores and 60 fair price shops in 2013-14. In 2013-14, Habibpur CD Block produced 5,164 tonnes of Aman paddy, the main winter crop from 1,967 hectares, 21,577 tonnes of Boro paddy (spring crop) from 5,280 hectares, 188 tonnes of Aus paddy (summer crop) from 97 hectares, 1,238 tonnes of wheat from 454 hectares, 19 tonnes of maize from 5 hectares, 2,025 tonnes of jute from 125 hectares and 8,452 tonnes of potatoes from 303 hectares. It also produced pulses and oilseeds. In 2013-14, the total area irrigated in Habibpur CD Block was 10,770 hectares, out of which 358 hectares were irrigated by tank irrigation, 930 hectares by river lift irrigation, 197 hectares by deep tube wells, 3,678 hectares by shallow tube wells and 5,607 hectares by other means.

Backward Regions Grant Fund

Malda district is listed as a backward region and receives financial support from the Backward Regions Grant Fund. 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, Habibpur CD Block had 4 ferry services and 4 originating/ terminating bus routes. The railway track from Old Malda to Singhabad railway station passes through the Habibpur CD Block and there is an intermediate station at Bulbulchandi. The

Rohanpur Rohanpur or Rahanpur is a town and paurashava ( municipality) in Chapai Nawabganj District of Rajshahi Division. The town is the headquarter and urban centre of Gomastapur Upazila Gomostapur ( bn, গোমস্তাপুর) is an upazi ...

link is an active rail transit system across the India-Bangladesh border.

Education

In 2013-14, Habibpur CD Block had 155 primary schools with 16,805 students, 12 middle schools with 1,802 students, and Total 11 high schools with 4,104 students and 12 higher secondary schools with 29,654 students. Habibpur CD Block had 2 technical/ professional institutions with 147 students and 649 institutions for special and non-formal education with 12,945 students. As per the 2011 census, in Habibpur CD Block, amongst the 233 inhabited villages, 61 villages did not have a school, 143 villages had more than 1 primary school, 29 villages had at least 1 primary and 1 middle school and 13 villages had at least 1 middle and 1 secondary school.

Healthcare

In 2014, Habibpur CD Block had 1 rural hospital and 2 primary health centres, with total 60 beds and 7 doctors (excluding private bodies). It had 43 family welfare subcentres. 6,647 patients were treated indoor and 206,439 patients were treated outdoor in the hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD Block. R.N.Roy Rural Hospital at

Bulbulchandi Bulbulchandi is a village and a gram panchayat in the Habibpur CD block in the Malda Sadar subdivision of Malda district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Bulbulchandi is located at . Are ...

(with 30 beds) is the main medical facility in Habibpur CD Block. There are primary health centres at Manikora (Bahadurpur PHC) (with 10 beds) and Goramary (Rishipur PHC) (with 4 beds).

External links

* *

References

{{Malda topics Community development blocks in Malda district