Ramnagar II

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

Depal, a constituent panchayat of Ramnagar II block, is located at 21°44′02″N 87°33′00″E.

Ramnagar II CD Block is bounded by Egra II and Contai I CD Blocks in the north, Contai I CD Block in the east, Bay of Bengal in the south and Ramnagar I CD Block in the west.

It is located 89 km from Tamluk, the district headquarters.

Area and administration

Ramnagar II CD Block has an area of 163.27 km². It has 1 panchayat samity, 8 gram panchayats, 119 gram sansads (village councils), 137 mouzas and 134 inhabited villages. Ramnagar (part) police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Bara Bankuya.

Gram panchayats

Gram panchayats of Ramnagar II block/ panchayat samiti are: Badalpur, Balisai, Depal, Kadua, Kalindi, Maithana, Paldhui and Satilapur.

Population

As per 2011 Census of India Ramnagar II CD Block had a total population of 156,054, all of which were rural. There were 80,370 (52%) males and 75,681 (48%) females. Population below 6 years was 16,314. Scheduled Castes numbered 21,787 (13.96%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 299 (0.19%).

As per 2001 census, Ramnagar II block had a total population of 137,358, out of which 70,072 were males and 67,286 were females. Ramnagar II block registered a population growth of 11.29 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 Ramnagar II CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Kanpur (4,523), Satilapur (4,570), Karonji (4,329), Bara Bankuya (6,169) and Kalindi (4,893).

Other villages in Ramnagar II CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Paldhui (3,813), Kadua (2,615), Depal (3,359), Badalpur (1,096).

Literacy

As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Ramnagar II CD Block was 124,901 (89.38% of the population over 6 years) out of which 65,543 (55%) were males and 56,358 (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 143,362 and formed 91.86% of the population in Ramnagar II CD Block. Muslims numbered 12,542 and formed 8.04% of the population. Others numbered 150 and formed 0.10% 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 Ramnagar II CD Block had 200 hectares of canals. Ramnagar II CD Block had 29 km of surfaced roads under PWD, 13 km of surfaced roads and 30 km unsurfaced roads under Zilla Parishad and 265 km of surfaced roads and 45 km unsurfaced roads under Gram Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti.

Agriculture

In 2003-04 the farmers of Ramnagar II CD Block could be classified as follows: Bargadars 8.87%, patta (document) holders 14.25%, small farmers 11.85%, marginal farmers 21.57% and agricultural labourers 43,46%.

As of 2003-04, Ramnagar II CD Block had 8,073 hectares vested land, out of which 3,629 hectares was distributed amongst 5351 persons.

In 2003-04 net area sown in Ramnagar II CD Block was 12,298 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 6,905 hectares.

In 2003-04 Ramnagar II CD Block produced 18,730 tonnes of Aman paddy from 10,920 hectares, 23,830 tonnes of Boro paddy from 5,910 hectares, 90 tonnes of jute from 10 hectares and 890 tonnes of potatoes from 50 hectares.

Pisciculture

In Ramnagar II CD Block 661 hectares was the nett area under effective pisiculture and 1,087 persons were engaged in the profession. Approximate annual production in 2003-04 was 11,571 qtl.

Transport

The Tamluk-Digha line was constructed in 2003-04. Ashapurna Devi and Badalpur are stations on this line.

The Contai-Digha sector of West Bengal State Highway No. 4 passes through this block.

Education

In 2003-04, Ramnagar II CD Block had 98 primary schools with 7,973 students, 10 middle schools with 3,150 students, 8 high schools with 5,626 students and 4 higher secondary schools with 4,467 students. Ramnagar II CD Block had 1 general college with 1,344 students and 213 institutions with 8,056 students for special and non-formal education. Ramnagar II CD Block had 110 mass literacy centres

Healthcare

Ramnagar II CD Block had 4 health centres, 25 clinics and 1 dispensary with 29 beds and 5 doctors in 2003.