Country India District Purba Medinipur PIN 721431 (Janka) Elevation 4 m Literacy 85.4% Area code 03210 | State West Bengal Time zone IST (UTC+5:30) ISO 3166 code IN-WB Area 137.5 km² Population 139,463 (2011) | |
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Khejuri II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Contai subdivision of Purba Medinipur district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
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Khijri
Khijri (or Khejuri) today is a small village about 65 miles south of Calcutta on the right bank of the Hooghly river.
Sixteenth century maps project an emerging island in the area. Seventeenth century maps show two islands – Khejuri and Hijli. The entire area was submerged under water. Long embankments have been built to keep the saline water away and the land recovered with great effort. In the days of the Nawabs of Bengal, this area had many salt pans. In the early days of the East India Company, the port and the town flourished at Khejuri.
In the first half of the 19th century it was known to the British as Kedgeree. The British established their control over the area in 1765 and by 1780 had established a port and factory there.
A light-house was built in 1810 at Kaukhali, a village about five miles south of Khejuri. It is near the mouth of the Rasulpur River. It stood 75 feet high and was visible for 15 miles. Sagar Light House is located 13 miles away across the river on Sagar Island. Kaukhali light-house was abandoned in 1925.
Raja Rammohun Roy sailed for England from Khejuri port in 1825.
Later in the 18th century the British established the post office that was one of the most important post offices in Bengal. Vessels sailing to Calcutta from elsewhere would generally stop there to land their mail for onward carriage to Calcutta by land. (Adverse tides or winds might otherwise delay the mail's arrival by vessel.) The postmaster at Kedgeree maintained a small fleet of row boats to meet arriving and departing vessels, collecting mail from the arrivals and sending last minute mails on the departures.
In 1851-52, the British government laid an underwater telegraph cable 2,070 yards long across up the Hooghly at Diamond Harbour, and another, 1,400 yards long, across the Haldi River at Kedgeree.
Unfortunately, on 5 October 1864, a terrible cyclone came ashore directly on Kedgeree. The cyclone destroyed the town, port and the surrounding area as far as Calcutta. It also killed 60,000 people in the region and destroyed more than 160 vessels as it brought with it a wave of water some 25 to 30 feet above the high-water mark. Khijri never recovered from the devastation. The cyclone was probably the single largest disaster ever to hit British shipping.
The town contains an old English cemetery where Europeans who died on shipboard on the way to Calcutta are buried. Many of the headstones are still legible and the oldest dates from circa 1800.
As Kolkata grew in importance Khejuri lost its usefulness to the British.
Political battleground
Khejuri was a Left Front stronghold for about two decades till the Nandigram movement. As those who were opposed to the land acquisition policy of the Left Front government started protesting in the Khejuri area. In 2007, terror was unleashed by the CPI(M) cadres, then in command of the region and many had to flee the area. For a long time Khejuri was used by CPI(M) activists as a launching pad for attacks on Nandigram. After a long struggle between CPI(M) and Trainamool Congress for control of Khejuri, it came under control of the latter. CPI(M) has made attempts to recapture Khejuri but failed. As of 2011, the situation continued to be tense with many people forced out of the area.
The CPI (M) had reopened many of its offices in Khejuri during the run-up to the 2016 assembly elections, with the assurance from the Election Commission. The sitting MLA Ranajit Mondal of Trinamool Congress defeated Ashim Mondal, an independent backed by the Left-Congress alliance by 42,485 votes in the Khejuri seat. Once the central forces, who had come for the elections, left, Khejuri was back again in to violence-torn life. The CPI (M) closed its offices and around 150 of its supporters fled from the village again. The Trinamool Congress said that those who were directly involved in violence during the land movement had fled.
Overview
Purba Medinipur district is part of the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain and Eastern coastal plains. Topographically, the district can be divided into two parts – (a) almost entirely flat plains on the west, east and north, (b) the coastal plains on the south. The vast expanse of land is formed of alluvium and is composed of younger and coastal alluvial. The elevation of the district is within 10 metres above mean sea level. The district has a long coastline of 65.5 km along its southern and south eastern boundary. Five coastal CD Blocks, namely, Khejuri II, Contai II (Deshapran), Contai I, Ramnagar I and II, are occasionally affected by cyclones and tornadoes. Tidal floods are quite regular in these five CD Blocks. Normally floods occur in 21 of the 25 CD Blocks in the district. The major rivers are Haldi, Rupnarayan, Rasulpur, Bagui and Keleghai, flowing in north to south or south-east direction. River water is an important source of irrigation. The district has a low 899 hectare forest cover, which is 0.02% of its geographical area.
Location
Janka, a constituent panchayat of Khejuri II block, is located at 21°51′27″N 87°54′42″E.
Khejuri II CD Block is bounded by Nandigram I CD Block in the north, Sagar CD Block, in South 24 Parganas district, across the Hooghly estuary/ Bay of Bengal, in the east, Contai II CD Block in the south and Khejuri I CD Block in the west.
It is located 51 km from Tamluk, the district headquarters.
Area and administration
Khejuri II CD Block has an area of 137.46 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 5 gram panchayats, 90 gram sansads (village councils), 99 mouzas and 97 inhabited villages. Khejuri police station serves this block.Headquarters of this CD Block is at Janka.
Cyclones and floods
The entire area is subject to recurring cyclones and floods.
Gram panchayats
Gram panchayats of Khejuri II block/ panchayat samiti are: Baratala, Haludbari, Janka, Khejuri and Nijkasba.
Population
As per 2011 Census of India Khejuri II CD Block had a total population of 139,463, all of which were rural. There were 71,294 (51%) males and 68,169 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 18,537. Scheduled Castes numbered 79,149 (56.95%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 900 (0.65%).
As per 2001 census, Khejuri II block had a total population of 117,409, out of which 60,130 were males and 57,279 were females. Khejuri II block registered a population growth of 17.82 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for the combined Midnapore district was 14.87 per cent.Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.
Villages
Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Khejuri II CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Dekhali (9,619), Serkhan Chak (7,347), Pankhai (4,269) and Khajuri (7,471).
Other villages in Khejuri II CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Barka Saria (1,685), Janka (2,804), Baratala (3,682), Halud Bari (2,849), Nijkashba (2,435).
Literacy
As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Khejuri II CD Block was 103,149 (85.37% of the population over 6 years) out of which 56,101 (54%) were males and 47,048 (46%) were females.
As per 2011 census, literacy in Purba Medinipur district was 87.02%. Purba Medinipur had the highest literacy amongst all the districts of West Bengal in 2011. Literacy in West Bengal was 77.08% in 2011. Literacy in India in 2011 was 74.04%.
See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate
Language
Bengali is the local language in these areas.
Religion
In 2011 census Hindus numbered 128,714 and formed 92.29% of the population in Khejuri II CD Block. Muslims numbered 10,521 and formed 7.55% of the population. Others numbered 228 and formed 0.16% of the population.
In 2011, Hindus numbered 4,343,972 and formed 85.24% of the population in Purba Medinipur district. Muslims numbered 743,436 and formed 14.59% of the population. In West Bengal, Hindus numbered 64,385,546 and formed 70.53% of the population. Muslims numbered 24,654,825 and formed 27.01% of the population.
Human Development Report
According to the District Human Development Report of Purba Medinipur: the density of population (2001 census) at 1,028 persons per km2 was higher than the West Bengal average of 903 persons per km2. It is an overwhelmingly rural district with the urban population being only 7.23% of the total population. The scheduled castes form 19.05% of the total population and the scheduled tribes 5.41%, the former or the two together being the lowest in the state.
The agricultural sector is the lifeline of a predominantly rural economy. It is largely dependent on the Low Capacity Deep Tubewells (around 50%) or High Capacity Deep Tubewells (around 27%) for irrigation, as the district does not have a good network of canals, compared to some of the neighbouring districts. In many cases the canals are drainage canals which get the backflow of river water at times of high tide or the rainy season.
In 2007-08, around 85% of the mouzas in the district had electric connections and around 40% of rural households had electricity. Over 90% of the rural households had access to toilet facility. In rural areas the tubewell was taken to be a reliable source of drinking water till arsenic contamination put a question mark on it. Piped water supply is a distant dream for rural people. In the rural areas of the district 6% households enjoy piped drinking water supply facility. In Purba Medinipur, around 70% of the people have a low standard of living.
The average size of land holding in Purba Medinipur, in 2005-06, was 0.73 hectares against 1.01 hectares in West Bengal. In 2001, agricultural workers plus cultivators formed 55.41% of the total workers (main plus marginal). For rice cultivation, the area cultivated under Aman (or winter crop) is one and a half times that of the area under Boro (or summer crop). Purba Medinipur’s net district domestic product derives one fifth of its earnings from fisheries, the highest amongst all the districts of West Bengal. Betelvine is a major source of livelihood in Purba Medinipur district, particularly in Tamluk and Contai subdivisions. Betelvine production in 2008-09 was the highest amongst all the districts and was around a third of the total state production. In 2008-09, Purba Mednipur produced 2,789 tonnes of cashew nuts from 3,340 hectares of land.
The report has provided CD Block-wise data for Modified Human Poverty Index of the district. The information has been modified to suit this page and published in the table alongside. The CD Block-wise mean MHPI is estimated at 24.9. 11 out of 25 CD Blocks are found to be severely deprived in respect of grand CD Block average value of MHPI (CD Blocks with lower amount of poverty are better): All the CD Blocks of Haldia and Contai subdivisions appeared backward, except Ramnagar I & II, of all the blocks of Egra subdivision only Bhagabanpur I appeared backward and in Tamluk subdivision none appeared backward.
(Note: Certain topics, such as Literacy, Education, Healthcare etc., are not covered here and are covered elsewhere in this page.)
Infrastructure
In 2003-04 Khejuri II CD Block had 20 hectares of canals. Khejuri II CD Block had 30 km of surfaced roads under PWD, 20 km of surfaced roads under Zilla Parishad and 37 km of surfaced roads and 235 km of unsurfaced road under Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti.
Agriculture
In 2003-04 the farmers of Khejuri II CD Block could be classified as follows: Bargadars 23.31%, patta (document) holders 15.00%, small farmers 8.89%, marginal farmers 21.27% and agricultural labourers 31.54%.
As of 2003-04, Khejuri II CD Block had 5,071 hectares vested land, out of which 1,498 hectares was distributed amongst 5,688 persons.
In 2003-04 net area sown in Khejuri II CD Block was 10,647 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 2,215 hectares.
In 2003-04 Khejuri II CD Block produced 110 tonnes of Aus paddy from 60 hectares, 17,500 tonnes of Aman paddy from 8,890 hectares, 460 tonnes of Boro paddy from 160 hectares, 1,470 tonnes of jute from 20 hectares and 3,400 tonnes of potatoes from 220 hectares.
Pisciculture
In Khejuri II CD Block 743 hectares was the nett area under effective pisiculture and 568 persons were engaged in the profession. Approximate annual production in 2003-04 was 13,000 qtl.
Transport
Khejuri II CD Block has 3 ferry services and 18 originating/ terminating bus routes. The nearest railway station is 24 km from the CD Block headquarters.
Education
In 2003-04, Khejuri II CD Block had 81 primary schools with 16,647 students, 7 middle schools with 2,346 students, 6 high schools with 4,314 students and 3 higher secondary schools with 3,349 students. Khejuri II CD Block had 1 general college with 150 students and 215 institutions with 9,952 students for special and non-formal education. Khejuri II CD Block had 86 mass literacy centres
Healthcare
Khejuri II CD Block had 2 health centres, 20 clinics and 1 dispensary with 16 beds and 3 doctors in 2003.