Kalna II

Geography

Singarkon is located at 23°09′38″N 88°16′00″E.

Kalna II CD Block is part of the Bhagirathi basin. The Bhagirathi forms the eastern boundary of the CD Block. The region has many swamps and water-logged areas. The soil is fertile, as it consists mainly of silt deposits.

Kalna II CD Block is bounded by Kalna I CD Block on the north, Balagarh CD Block, in Hooghly district, on the east, Pandua CD Block, in Hooghly district, on the south and Memari I CD Block on the west.

It is located 55 km from Bardhaman, the district headquarters.

Kalna II CD Block has an area of 172.17 km². It has 1 panchayat samity, 8 gram panchayats, 124 gram sansads (village councils), 113 mouzas and 112 inhabited villages. Kalna police station serves this block.Headquarters of this CD Block is at Singarkone.

Gram panchayats of Kalna II block/panchayat samiti are: Akalpoush, Anukhal, Badla, Baidyapur, Baradhamas, Kalyanpur, Pindira and Satgachi.

Population

As per the 2011 Census of India Kalna II CD Block had a total population of 167,335, of which 157,235 were rural and 10,100 were urban. There were 84,680 (51%) males and 82,655 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 16,567. Scheduled Castes numbered 61,255 (36.61%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 28,930 (17.29%).

As per 2001 census,Kalna II block had a total population of 152,853, out of which 78,322 were males and 74,531 were females. Kalna II block registered a population growth of 20.37 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for Bardhaman district was 14.36 per cent.Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.Scheduled castes at 60,120 formed more than one-third the population. Scheduled tribes numbered 26,096.

Census Town in Kalna II CD Block is (2011 census figure in brackets): Sashpur (10,100).

Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Kalna II CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Baidyapur (4,065), Jiudhara (P) (5,167) and Satapati (5,093).

Other villages in Kalna II CD Block include (2011census figures in brackets): Pindira (1,213), Satgachhi (1,088), Akalpoush (2,394), Badla (1,935), Kalyanpur (1,887) and Bara Dhamas (2,228).

Literacy

As per the 2011 census the total number of literates in Kalna II CD Block was 114,958 (76.25% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 62,920 (82.55% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 52,038 (69.80% of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 12.75%.

As per 2001 census, Kalna II block had a total literacy of 67.22 per cent for the 6+ age group. While male literacy was 76.39 per cent female literacy was 57.64 per cent. Bardhaman district had a total literacy of 70.18 per cent, male literacy being 78.63 per cent and female literacy being 60.95 per cent.

See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Languages and religion

Bengali is the local language in these areas.

In 2001 Bengali was the mother-tongue of 79.9% of the population of Bardhaman district, Hindi was the mother-tongue of 10.9%, Santali 4.9%, Urdu 2.8%, Bhojpuri 0.1% and Oraon 0.1%. There were other languages spoken by small percentages. However, as of 2017, CD Block-wise/ other region-wise break-up of mother tongue is not available in census/ other official sources.

In the 2011 census Hindus numbered 134,406 and formed 80.32% of the population in Kalna II CD Block. Muslims numbered 25,667 and formed 15.34% of the population. Christians numbered 350 and formed 0.21% of the population. Others numbered 6,912 and formed 4.13% of the population.

In Bardhaman district the percentage of Hindu population has been declining from 84.3% in 1961 to 77.9% in 2011 and the percentage of Muslim population has increased from 15.2% in 1961 to 20.7% in 2011.

Rural poverty

As per poverty estimates obtained from household survey for families living below poverty line in 2005, rural poverty in Kalna II CD Block was 24.10%.

Livelihood

In Kalna II CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators formed 17.55%, agricultural labourers 49.14%, household industry workers 5.05% and other workers 28.25%.

Kalna II CD Block is part of the area where agriculture dominates the scenario but the secondary and tertiary sectors have shown an increasing trend.

Infrastructure

All 113 or 100% of mouzas in Kalna II CD Block were electrified by 31 March 2014.

All 113 mouzas in Kalna II CD Block had drinking water facilities in 2013-14. There were 73 fertiliser depots, 26 seed stores and 33 fair price shops in the CD Block.

Agriculture

Although the Bargadari Act of 1950 recognised the rights of bargadars to a higher share of crops from the land that they tilled, it was not implemented fully. Large tracts, beyond the prescribed limit of land ceiling, remained with the rich landlords. From 1977 onwards major land reforms took place in West Bengal. Land in excess of land ceiling was acquired and distributed amongst the peasants.Following land reforms land ownership pattern has undergone transformation. In 2013-14, persons engaged in agriculture Kalna II could be classified as follows: bargadars 9.20%, patta (document) holders 13.22%, small farmers (possessing land between 1 and 2 hectares) 5.07%, marginal farmers (possessing land up to 1 hectare) 16.99% and agricultural labourers 55.52%.

In 2003-04 net cropped area in Kalna II Block was 13,214 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 13,666 hectares.

In 2013-14, Kalna II CD Block produced 34,401 tonnes of Aman paddy, the main winter crop, from 11,180 hectares, 15,580 tonnes of Boro paddy (spring crop) from 4,362 hectares, 3 tonnes of wheat from 1 hectare, 16,005 tonnes of jute from 623 hectares and 102,651 tonnes of potatoes from 4,216 hectares. It also produced pulses and oilseeds.

In Bardhaman district as a whole Aman paddy constituted 64.32% of the total area under paddy cultivation, while the area under Boro and Aus paddy constituted 32.87% and 2.81% repectively. The expansion of Boro paddy cultivation, with higher yield rates, was the result of expansion of irrigation system and intensive cropping.In 2013-14, the total area irrigated in Kalna II CD Block was 6,200.78 hectares, out of which 4,734.55 hectares were irrigated by canal water, 163.03 hectares by river lift irrigation and 1,303.25 hectares by deep tube wells.

Banking

In 2013-14, Kalna II CD Block had offices of 7 commercial banks and 1 gramin bank.

Transport

Kalna II CD Block has 8 originating/ terminating bus routes.

The Bandel-Katwa branch line passes through this CD Block but there is no station in this CD Block (between Ambika Kalna and Guptipara).

State Highway 6 (West Bengal) running from Rajnagar (in Birbhum district) to Alampur (in Howrah district) passes through this block.

Education

In 2013-14, Kalna II CD Block had 111 primary schools with 7,403 students, 6 middle schools with 374 students, 12 high schools with 7,406 students and 8 higher secondary schools with 10,066 students. Kalna II CD Block had 1 general college with 717 students, 1 technical/ professional institute with 100 students, 317 institutions for special and non-formal education with 9,276 students. Kalna (municipality), outside the CD Block area, had 1 general college with 4,866 students.

Healthcare

In 2014, Kalna II CD Block had 1 block primary health centre and 4 primary health centres with total 40 beds and 7 doctors (excluding private bodies). It had 26 family welfare subcentres. 2,938 patients were treated indoor and 243.321 patients were treated outdoor in the hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD Block.

Kalna II Block has a block primary health centre at Badlacha (Badla), and primary health centres at Akalpous, Baidyapur and Angason.

Kalna II CD Block is one of the areas of Bardhaman district which is affected by a low level of arsenic contamination of ground water.