Haripal is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Chandannagore subdivision of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Overview
The Haripal CD Block is part of the Hooghly-Damodar Plain, one of the three natural regions in the district of the flat alluvial plains that form a part of the Gangetic Delta. The region has many depressions which receive water from the surrounding lands during the rainy season and discharge the water through small channels.
Geography
Haripal is located at .
Haripal CD Block is bounded by Dhaniakhali and Polba Dadpur CD Blocks in the north, Singur CD Block in the east, Chanditala I and Jangipara CD Blocks in the south and Tarakeswar CD Block in the west.
It is located 34 km from Chinsurah, the district headquarters.
Haripal CD Block has an area of 184.42 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 15 gram panchayats, 208 gram sansads (village councils), 154 mouzas and 152 inhabited villages. Haripal police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Khamarchandi.
Gram panchayats of Haripal block/ panchayat samiti are: Bandipur, Chandanpur, Dwarhata, Haripal-Asutosh, Haripal-Sahadev, Haripur-Kinkarbati, Jejur, Kaikala, Nalikul-Paschim, Nalikul-Purba, Narayanpur-Bahirkhand, Olipur-Kashipur, Pantra, Paschim Gopinathpur and Sripatipur-Elipur.
Demographics
Population
As per the 2011 Census of India, Haripal CD Block had a total population of 261,073, of which 256,507 were rural and 4,566 were urban. There were 131,757 (50%) males and 129,316 (50%) females. Population below 6 years was 26,259. Scheduled Castes numbered 73,178 (28.03%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 17,498 (6.70%).
As per the 2001 census, Haripal block had a total population of 235,671, out of which 118,464 were males and 117,207 were females. Haripal block registered a population growth of 14.29 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for Hooghly district was 15.72 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.
There is only one Census Town in Haripal CD Block (2011 census figure in brackets): Bargachhia (4,566).
Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Haripal CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Kaikala (5,571), Paschim Narayanpur (4,184), Gopinagar (4,512), Jejur (5,173), Bandipur (4,979), Malia (4,393) and Shripatipur (5,727).
Other villages in Haripal CD Block include (2011 census figure in brackets): Haripal (3,395), Paschim Gopinathpur (2,709), Dwarhatta (3,779), Khamar Chandi (3,320) and Nalikul (1,734).
Literacy
As per the 2011 census the total number of literates in Haripal CD Block was 184,531 (78.59% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 100,034 (84.41% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 84,497 (72.66% of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 11.75%.
See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate
Language and religion
As per the 2011 census, majority of the population of the district belong to the Hindu community with a population share of 82.9% followed by Muslims at 15.8%. The percentage of the Hindu population of the district has followed a decreasing trend from 87.1% in 1961 to 82.9% in the latest census 2011. On the other hand, the percentage of Muslim population has increased from 12.7% in 1961 to 15.8% in 2011 census.
In 2011 census Hindus numbered 204,728 and formed 78.42% of the population in Haripal CD Block. Muslims numbered 53,226 and formed 20.39% of the population. Others numbered 3,119 and formed 1.19% of the population.
At the time of the 2011 census, 95.45% of the population spoke Bengali, 3.20% Santali and 1.20% Hindi as their first language.
Rural poverty
As per poverty estimates obtained from household survey for families living below poverty line in 2005, rural poverty in Haripal CD Block was 27.56%.
Economy
Livelihood
In Haripal CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators formed 17.13%, agricultural labourers 40.05%, household industry workers 5.92% and other workers 36.92%.