Nandigram II

Historical background

The people of Nandigram, along with others in Medinipur district, were at the forefront of many political movements in the past. They took part in the boycott of British goods in 1901, the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements in 1921, in opposing the chowkidari tax, the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 and the Tebhaga movement in 1946. The Tebhaga movement was spearheaded by the CPI, which had developed a base in this district prior to its bifurcation.

Nandigram movement

Haldia Development Authority issued a notification for land acquisition for a chemical hub, covering both Nandigram I and Nandigram II CD Blocks, on 28 December 2006. According to one estimate some 95,000 people were going to be displaced in both the blocks. However, Nandigram I CD Block was the main area affected by land acquisition. 18,123 acres were going to be acquired there affecting 38 villages. Protests against land acquisition snowballed into a major movement, led by Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee and large scale repression. The location was later shifted to Nayachar and the proposal was finally scrapped.

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

Khodambari, a constituent panchayat of Nandigram II block, is located at 22°02′49″N 87°54′57″E.

Nandigram II CD Block is bounded by Mahishadal and Haldia CD Blocks, across the Haldi in the north, Nandigram I CD Block in the east, Khejuri I CD Block in the south and Chandipur and Bhagabanpur II CD Blocks in the west.

It is located 33 km from Tamluk, the district headquarters.

Area and administration

Nandigram II CD Block has an area of 105.74 km². It has 1 panchayat samity, 7 gram panchayats, 91 gram sansads (village councils), 41 mouzas and 40 inhabited villages. Nandigram police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Reyepara.

Gram panchayats

Gram panchayats of Nandigram II block/ panchayat samiti are: Amdabad I, Amdabad II, Birulia, Boyal I, Boyal II, Khodambari I and Khodambari II.

Population

As per the 2011 Census of India Nandigram II CD Block had a total population of 123,219, of which 117,945 were rural and 5,274 were urban. There were 63,323 (51%) males and 59,896 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 15,105. Scheduled Castes numbered 15,884 (12.89%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 196 (0.16%).

As per the 2001 census, Nandigram II block had a total population of 104,620, out of which 53,239 were males and 51,381 were females. Nandigram II block registered a population growth of 9.62 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 Nandigram II CD Block (2011 census figure in brackets): Ashadtalya (5,274).

Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Nandigram II CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Bayal (5,543), Amratalya (5,287), Khodambari (7,359), Hanu Bhunya (4,768), Ghol Pukurya (7,053), Birulia (6,744), Subdi (5,615), Amda Bad (10,833), Bheturya (4,695) and Kamalpur (7,815).

Literacy

As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Nandigram II CD Block was 96,395 (89.16% of the population over 6 years) out of which 51,751 (54%) were males and 44,644 (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 108,078 and formed 87.71% of the population in Nandigram II CD Block. Muslims numbered 1,940 and formed 12.13% of the population. Others numbered 201 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 Nandigram II CD Block had 9 km of surfaced roads under PWD, 50 km of surfaced roads under Zilla Parishad and 545 km of surfaced roads under Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti.

Agriculture

In 2003-04 the farmers of Nandigram II CD Block could be classified as follows: Bargadars 26.79%, patta (document) holders 17.86%, small farmers 6.38%, marginal farmers 7.03% and agricultural labourers 41.93%.

As of 2003-04, Nandigram II CD Block had 2,212 hectares vested land, out of which 965 hectares was distributed amongst 5,505 persons.

In 2003-04 net area sown in Nandigram II CD Block was 8,784 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 3,195 hectares.

In 2003-04 Nandigram II CD Block produced 210 tonnes Aus paddy from 90 hectares, 22,040 tonnes of Aman paddy from 8,080 hectares, 420 tonnes Boro paddy from 140 hectares and 2,880 tonnes of potatoes from 180 hectares.

Pisciculture

In Nandigram II CD Block 640 hectares was the nett area under effective pisiculture and 526 persons were engaged in the profession. Approximate annual production in 2003-04 was 11,200 qtl.

Transport

Nandigram II CD Block has 1 ferry service and 1 originating/ terminating bus route. The nearest railway station is 14 km from the CD Block headquarters.

Education

In 2003-04, Nandigram II CD Block had 91 primary schools with 12,734 students, 7 middle schools with 2,342 students, 12 high schools with 8,448 students and 6 higher secondary schools with 6,716 students. Nandigram II CD Block had 299 institutions with 8,969 students for special and non-formal education. Nandigram II CD Block had 75 mass literacy centres

Healthcare

Nandigram II CD Block had 1 hospital, 2 health centres and 19 clinics with 37 beds and 7 doctors in 2003.