Rampurhat II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Rampurhat subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Overview
Birbhum district is physiographically a part of the ancient Rarh region. The western portion of the district is basically an extension of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The area has mostly loose reddish lateritic low fertility soil. In the east, the flood plains of the major rivers, such as the Ajay, Bakreshwar, Mayurakshi and Brahmani, have soft alluvial soil. The forest cover is only 3.5% of the total district. Although coal is found in the district and Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station has a capacity of 2,010 MW, the economic condition of Birbhum is dominated by agriculture. From 1977 onwards majorland reforms took place in West Bengal. Land in excess of land ceiling was acquired and distributed amongst the peasants. In Birbhum district, 19,968 hectares of vested agricultural land has been distributed amongst 161,515 beneficiaries, till 2011. However, more than 38% of the operational land holding is marginal or less than 1 acre. The proportion of agricultural labourers amongst total workers in Birbhum district is 45.9%, the highest amongst all districts of West Bengal. Culturally rich Birbhum, with such traditional landmarks as Jaydev Kenduli and Chandidas Nanoor, is home to Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan, having close association with two Nobel laureates – Rabindranath Tagore and Amartya Sen.
Notable people
Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda, scientist, educationist and writer, was born in 1900 and spent his childhood at Margram. BamaKhepa-A hindu Saint of Tarapith.
Geography
Hansan, a constituent panchayat of Rampurhat II block, is located at .
Rampurhat II CD Block is part of the Brahmani-Mayurakshi Basin, one of the four sub-micro physiographic regions occupying the area between Brahmani River in the north and Mayurakshi River in the south.
Rampurhat II CD Block is bounded by Nalhati I and Nalhati II CD Blocks on the north, Nabagram and Khargram CD Blocks, in Murshidabad district, on the east, Mayureswar I CD Block on the south and Rampurhat I CD Block on the west.
Rampurhat II CD Block has an area of 181.55 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 9 gram panchayats, 95 gram sansads (village councils), 94 mouzas and 91 inhabited villages. Margram Police Station and Tarapith Police Station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Margram.
Gram panchayats of Rampurhat II block/panchayat samiti are: Bishnupur, Budhigram, Dunigram, Hansan I, Hansan II, Kaluha, Margram I, Margram II and Sahapur.
Demographics
Population
As per the 2011 Census of India, Rampurhat II CD Block had a total population of 187,823, of which 179,705 were rural and 8,118 were urban. There were 96,532 (51%) males and 91,291 (49%) females. Population below 6 years was 25,320. Scheduled Castes numbered 59,580 (31.72%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 1,068 (0.57%).
As per 2001 census, Rampurhat II block had a total population of 158,756, out of which 81,973 were males and 76,783 were females. Rampurhat II block registered a population growth of 14.64 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for Birbhum district was 17.88 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.
Census Town in Rampurhat II CD Block is (2011 census figure in brackets): Bishnupur (8,118).
Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Rampurhat II CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Hazarpur (4,634), Tarapur (5,143), Basoa (5,511), Margram (30,055), Bara Karttik Chungri (6,158), Dunigram (8,282) and Tentulia (4,340).
Other villages in Rampurhat II CD Block include (2011 census figures in brackets): Chandpara(3,198), Budhigram (3,259), Hansan (2,186), Kaluha (1,661) and Sahapur (2,180).
Literacy
As per the 2011 census the total number of literates in Rampurhat II CD Block was 114,999 (70.77% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 64,642 (77.41% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 50,357 (63.74% of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 13.67%.
See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate
Language and religion
In the 2011 census, Hindus numbered 96,991 and formed 51.64% of the population in Rampurhat II CD Block. Muslims numbered 90,527 and formed 48.20% of the population. Christians numbered 79 and formed 0.04% of the population. Others numbered 226 and formed 0.12% of the population.