Arsha is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the Purulia Sadar subdivision of the Purulia district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
History
Background
The Jaina Bhagavati-Sutra of the 5th century AD mentions that Purulia was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas and was a part of the kingdom known as Vajra-bhumi in ancient times. In 1833, the Manbhum district was carved out of the Jungle Mahals district, with headquarters at Manbazar. In 1838, the headquarters was transferred to Purulia. After independence, when Manbhum district was a part of Bihar, efforts were made to impose Hindi on the Bengali-speaking majority of the district and it led to the Bengali Language Movement (Manbhum). In 1956, the Manbhum district was partitioned between Bihar and West Bengal under the States Reorganization Act and the Bihar and West Bengal (Transfer of Territories) Act 1956.
Red corridor
106 districts spanning 10 states across India, described as being part of the left wing extremism activities, constitutes the Red corridor. In West Bengal, the districts of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum are part of the Red corridor. However, as of July 2016, there had been no reported incidents of Maoist related activities from these districts for the previous 4 years.
The CPI (Maoist) extremism affected the CD blocks in the Purulia district were: Jhalda I, Jhalda II, Arsha, Baghmundi, Balarampur, Barabazar, Manbazar II and Bandwan. Certain reports also included Manbazar I and Joypur CD blocks and some times indicted the whole of Purulia district.
The Lalgarh movement, which started attracting attention after the failed assassination attempt on Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, then chief minister of West Bengal, in the Salboni area of the Paschim Medinipur district, on 2 November 2008 and the police action that followed, had also spread over to these areas. The movement was not just a political struggle but an armed struggle that concurrently took the look of a social struggle. A large number of CPI (M) activists were killed. Although the epi-centre of the movement was Lalgarh, it was spread across 19 police stations in three adjoining districts – Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia, all thickly forested and near the border with Jharkhand. The deployment of the CRPF and other forces started on 11 June 2009. The movement came to an end after the 2011 state assembly elections and change of government in West Bengal. The death of Kishenji, the Maoist commander, on 24 November 2011, was the last major landmark.
Geography
Arsha is located at .
The Arsha CD block is bounded by the Joypur CD block on a part of the north, the Purulia I CD block on a part of the north and on the east, the Barabazar, Balarampur and Baghmundi CD blocks on the south, and the Jhalda II CD block on the west.
The Arsha CD block is located in the central part of the district. The Kangsabati River forms the boundary between the Arsha and Joypur and Purulia I CD blocks. The upper Kangsabati basin has undulating land and the elevation rises from 200 to 300 m and the general slope is from west to east and south-east.
The Arsha CD block has an area of 375.04 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 8 gram panchayats, 101 gram sansads (village councils), 96 mouzas and 95 inhabited villages. Arsha police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD block are at Sirkabad.
Gram panchayats in the Arsha block/panchayat samiti are: Arsha, Beldih, Chatuhansa, Hensla, Hetgugui, Mankiari, Puara and Sirkabad.
Demographics
Population
According to the 2011 Census of India Arsha CD block had a total population of 154,736, all of which were rural. There were 78,398 (51%) males and 76,338 (49%) females. There were 26,208 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The Scheduled Castes numbered 18,294 (11.82%) and the Scheduled Tribes numbered 33,568 (21.69%).
According to the 2001 census, the Arsha block had a total population of 129,108, out of which 65,996 were males and 63,112 were females. The Arsha block registered a population growth of 15.36 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for the Purulia district was 13.96 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.
Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in the Arsha CD block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Arsha (5,958), Palpal (5,511), Rangamati (4,365), Sirkabad (6,288), Chatuhansa (4,388), Hesla (4,574) and Satra (5,857).
Other villages in the Arsha CD block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Puara (3,900), Beldi (3,337), Mankiari (1,784) and Hetgugui (3,029).