Moyna (community development block)

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

Moyna is located at 22°14′00″N 87°47′00″E.

Moyna CD Block is bounded by Panskura CD Block in the north, Tamluk and Nandakumar CD Blocks in the east, Bhagabanpur I CD Block in the south and Pingla and Sabang CD Blocks, in Paschim Medinipur district, in the west.

It is located 16 km from Tamluk, the district headquarters.

Area and administration

Moyna CD Block has an area of 154.51 km². It has 1 panchayat samity, 11 gram panchayats, 159 gram sansads (village councils), 85 mouzas and 85 inhabited villages. Moyna police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Dakshin Moyna.

Gram panchayats

Gram panchayats of Moyna block/ panchayat samiti are: Bakcha, Gojina, Gokulnagar, Moyna I, Moyna II, Naichanpur I, Naichanpur II, Paramanandapur, Ramchak, Srikantha and Tilkhoja.

Population

As per 2011 Census of India Moyna CD Block had a total population of 226,927, of which 220,630 were rural and 6,597 were urban. There were 117,989 (52%) males and 108,938 (48%) females. Population below 6 years was 26,488. Scheduled Castes numbered 56,820 (25.04%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 316 (0.14%).

As per 2001 census, Moyna block had a total population of 196,503, out of which 101,890 were males and 94,613 were females. Moyna block registered a population growth of 12.73 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.

Census Town and villages

Census Town in Moyna CD Block (2011 census figure in brackets): Goasafat (6,597).

Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Moyna CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Saorabere Jalpai (6,890), Srikantha (6,549), Ramchandrapur (4,243), Gokul Nagar (4,029), Tilkhoja (5,766), Chongra (4,968), Paramanandapur (8,026), Sudampur (4,775), Purbba Dakshinmayna (7,491), Anandapur (4,343), Kalage Chhia (4,032), Kiyarana (5,808), Gojina (4,322), Arankiyarana (7,318), Bakcha (6,185) and Narikeldaha (8,309).

Other villages in Moyna CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Ram Chak (3,147) and Naichhanpur (2,677).

Literacy

As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Moyna CD Block was 173,043 (86.33% of the population over 6 years) out of which 95,941 (55%) were males and 77,102 (45%) 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 205,710 and formed 90.65% of the population in Moyna CD Block. Muslims numbered 21,033 and formed 9.27% of the population. Others numbered 184 and formed 0.08% 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

Moyna CD Block had 4,900 hectares of canals. In 2003-04 Moyna CD Block had 16 km of surfaced roads and 8 km of unsurfaced roads under PWD, 12 km surfaced roads under Zilla Parishad and 166 km surfaced roads under Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti.

Agriculture

In 2003-04 the farmers of Moyna CD Block could be classified as follows: Bargadars 8.50%, patta (document) holders 6.41%, small farmers 2.03%, marginal farmers 26.24% and agricultural labourers 56.80%.

As of 2003-04, Moyna CD Block had 2,125 hectares vested land, out of which 359 hectares was distributed amongst 2,989 persons.

In 2003-04 net area sown in Moyna CD Block was 11,562 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 10,200 hectares.

In 2003-04 Moyna CD Block produced 50 tonnes of Aus paddy from 20 hectares, 28,040 tonnes of Aman paddy from 10,910 hectares, 32,890 tonnes Boro paddy from 10,890 hectares, 21,040 tonnes of Jute from 1,430 hectares and 450 tonnes of potatoes from 20 hectares.

Pisciculture

In Moyna CD Block 1,217 hectares was the nett area under effective pisiculture and 463 persons were engaged in the profession. Approximate annual production in 2003-04 was 21,301 qtl.

Transport

Moyna CD Block has 16 ferry services and 12 originating/ terminating bus routes. The nearest railway station is 20 km away from the headquarters of Moyna CD Block.the name of railway station

Education

In 2003-04, Moyna CD Block had 151 primary schools with 32,278 students, 5 middle schools with 1,667 students, 11 high schools with 7,653 students and 13 higher secondary schools with 14,595 students. Moyna CD Block had 1 general college with 887 students and 297 institutions with 10,038 students for special and non-formal education. Moyna CD Block had 140 mass literacy centres

Healthcare

Moyna CD Block had 3 health centres, 35 clinics and 2 dispensaries with 19 beds and 4 doctors in 2003.