Hura 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, 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.

Hura (community development block)

Geography

Hura is located at .

Hura (community development block)

The Hura CD block is located in the eastern part of the district. The Kangsabati River forms the boundary between the Hura and Puncha CD blocks. The lower Kangsabati basin has degraded lowlands.

Hura (community development block)

The Hura CD block is bounded by the Kashipur and Para CD blocks on the north, the Indpur and Hirbandh CD blocks, in the Bankura district, on the east, the Puncha CD block on the south, and the Purulia I CD block on the west.

The Hura CD block has an area of 382.21 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 10 gram panchayats, 107 gram sansads (village councils), 116 mouzas and 111 inhabited villages. Hura police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD block are at Hura.

Gram panchayats of the Hura CD block/panchayat samiti are: Chatumadar, Daldali, Hura, Jabarrah, Kalabani, Keshargarh, Ladhurka, Lakhanpur, Manguria-Lalpur and Rakhera-Bishpuria.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 Census of India the Hura CD block had a total population of 143,575, all of which were rural. There were 72,867 (51%) males and 70,708 (49%) females. There were 18,467 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The Scheduled Castes numbered 28,087 (19.56%) and the Scheduled Tribes numbered 36,561 (25.46%).

According to the 2001 census, the Hura block had a total population of 127,423, out of which 64,462 were males and 62,961 were females. The Hura CD block registered a population growth of 12.04 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 Hura CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Kalabani (5,698), Manguralalpur (6,683), Daldali (4,488), Kesargarh (4,626) and Parsia (4,075).

Other villages in the Hura CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Hura (3,419), Rakshyara (2,387), Bishpuria (3,661), Chatumatar (1,842), Jabra (2,073), Ladhurka (3,652) and Lakshanpur (2,973).

Literacy

According to the 2011 census the total number of literate persons in the Hura CD block was 86,067 (68.79% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 51,971 (81.95% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 34,096 (55.27%) of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 26.68%.

See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Language and religion

In the 2011 census Hindus numbered 116,296 and formed 81.00% of the population in Hura CD Block. Muslims numbered 9,807 and formed 6.83% of the population. Others numbered 17,472 and formed 12.17% of the population. Others include Addi Bassi, Marang Boro, Santal, Saranath, Sari Dharma, Sarna, Alchchi, Bidin, Sant, Saevdharm, Seran, Saran, Sarin, Kheria, and other religious communities. In 2001, Hindus were 80.45%, Muslims 6.26% and tribal religions 13.19% of the population respectively.

At the time of the 2011 census, 81.74% of the population spoke Bengali, 16.11% Santali and 1.90% Kurmali as their first language.

Rural poverty

According to the Rural Household Survey in 2005, 32.85% of total number of families were BPL families in Purulia district. According to a World Bank report, as of 2012, 31-38% of the population in Purulia, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur districts were below poverty level, the highest among the districts of West Bengal, which had an average 20% of the population below poverty line.