DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT PASCHIM MEDINIPUR DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL District Human Development Report : Paschim Medinipur © Development & Planning Department Government of West Bengal First Published May, 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission from the Publisher. Front Cover Photograph : Highlights of the District Back Cover Photograph :} Published by : Development & Planning Department Government of West Bengal Setting and Design By : Saraswaty Press Ltd. (Government of West Bengal Enterprise) 11, B.T. Road, Kolkata — 700056 Printed by : Saraswaty Press Ltd. (Government of West Bengal Enterprise) 11, B.T. Road, Kolkata — 700056 While every care has been taken to reproduce the accurate data, oversights/errors may occur. If found, please convey it to the Development & Planning Department, Government of West Bengal. Minister-in-Charge Departments of Commerce & Industries, Industrial Reconstruction, Public Enterprises, Development & Planning and Power &NES GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL E-mail: [email protected] Foreword Any descriptive account of West Bengal is incomplete without the mention of Medinipur. A bastion of freedom struggle, bedrock of peoples' movements and a place of reverence to the students of political history, Medinipur is the birth-place of Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, Kshudiram Bose, Matangini Hazra, Birendranath Sashmal and many stalwarts who have made the nation proud through their contributions in the social and political spheres. It also has a rare combination of urban agglomeration and rural settings interspersed by forest tracts and hillocks. The eyes of the wanderlust mingle the views of the historical mansions of Mahishadal and Jhargram with the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, the barrage of Kansabati and banks of Rupnarayan. The enormous size of the district repeatedly drew the attention of the administrators since the latter half of the nineteenth century for bifurcation. Finally, on the 1st of January, 2002, the twin districts of Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur were carved out of the erstwhile "Midnapore" which was the largest Indian district in size and proportion till that day. Paschim Medinipur provides an endless canvass of opportunities. Featuring in the lower range of all-round development, it was brought under the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana of the Planning Commission in 2003-2004 during the Tenth Plan and later included under the Backward Regions Grant Fund in 2006-07, in order to usher in a series of multi-faceted programmes aimed at economic well being of a large section of the district population which was either living below the poverty line or on the edge of subsistence. The surge of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) activities in some areas of the district bordering Orissa and Jharkhand has posed a great threat not only to the lives and livelihood of the people of this area but also to the spread of developmental activities. It (LWE) has challenged the basic authority of governance and has compelled the State Government to resort to a control mechanism that may not be populist but effective to check the growth of militancy that erodes the very platform of progress which the State Government is bent to build for betterment of the district and its people. 4, Abanindranath Tagore Sarani (Camac Street), 6th floor, Kolkata 700 016 z Ph.: 2282 0770/2282 0771 z Fax : 2282 0769 Writers' Buildings, Kolkata 700 001 z Ph : 2214 5919/3475 z Fax : 2214 4900 Poura Bhawan, FD-415A, Bidhannagar, 5th floor, Kolkata 700 106 z Ph.: 2321 1113 z Fax : 2321 1827 New Secretariat Buildings, 1 Kiron Sankar Roy Road, Kolkata 700 001 z Ph. 2248 0706 z Fax : 2243 8114 Minister-in-Charge Departments of Commerce & Industries, Industrial Reconstruction, Public Enterprises, Development & Planning and Power &NES GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL E-mail: [email protected] The collation and collection of data to prepare this DHDR has indeed been a very, very uphill task and I have no words to appreciate the team of academicians and administrators who have strived to prepare this document which accumulates much required information about a district that demands a concerted and continuous effort from all of us to improve its hitherto underdeveloped status. I thank the members of the State Planning Board whose advice and guidance had been pivotal in the making of this document. I also thank the officers and staff of the Development and Planning Department for doing all that is needful to bring out this DHDR which is a follow up to the SHDR published in 2004. It would be a real pleasure if this Report helps to upgrade the position of Paschim Medinipur in the Human Development scenario. Kolkata Nirupam Sen March, 2011 4, Abanindranath Tagore Sarani (Camac Street), 6th floor, Kolkata 700 016 z Ph.: 2282 0770/2282 0771 z Fax : 2282 0769 Writers' Buildings, Kolkata 700 001 z Ph : 2214 5919/3475 z Fax : 2214 4900 Poura Bhawan, FD-415A, Bidhannagar, 5th floor, Kolkata 700 106 z Ph.: 2321 1113 z Fax : 2321 1827 New Secretariat Buildings, 1 Kiron Sankar Roy Road, Kolkata 700 001 z Ph. 2248 0706 z Fax : 2243 8114 Preface Located in the southern part of West Bengal, Paschim Medinipur in its existing part, has been carved out of the erstwhile Midnapore in year 2002. Being the second largest district in the State, has been always in focus because of perpetual underdevelopment in the western part. In the last two years, Maoist violence has rapidly spread over eleven western blocks of the district and it has again brought the issues of Human Development in the forefront. The district has two distinct divisions- western part with arid red lateritic soil along with tribal population concentration and eastern part with alluvial soil deposits with people of different caste groups being present. All the twenty nine blocks of the district, do present a unique opportunity to understand the issues associated with the different aspects of human development, viz., demography, physiological conditions, literacy, economic livelihood etc. In the different chapters of the report, we have made efforts to analyse each of these aspects and try to understand their relevance to human development. Availability of the authentic data at sub-district level is always a problem. However, we have generally made efforts to rely on Census and Rural Household Survey data. As the current census operation is yet to be over, we have used Census-2001 data. Rural House Hold survey data of the year 2005, has also been used as this provides interesting information on conditions of rural population specially as regards their housing conditions, economic status and asset position. With plethora of programmes running at the district level, we do generate lots of data regarding health, education, nutritional status, agriculture production etc from the lowest level. These data have also been used however, the veracity has been verified vis a vis actual field condition after discussing the same with different field officers. The process of preparation of HDR in its present form has received contribution from different academic institutions such as Vidyasagar University and IIT Kharagpur. I thankfully acknowledge the contribution of Prof. Sacchidanand Sahaoo of Economics Department, Vidyasagar University for working tirelessly for the preparation of the report and giving his valuable inputs on different issues. I would also like to thank Prof. P. K. Bhowmick, Prof. Arif Merchant & Prof. R. N. Chatterjee of IIT Kharagpur and Prof. D. Mondal & Prof. Sankar Majumder of Vidyasagar University for their contributions to different chapters of the report. The contributions of ADM (Development) Sri R K Maiti, DPLO both past and present, Sri Malay Mukhopadhyay & Sri Pranab Ghosh, ECCP Sri Nirmal Ghorai, Sri Partho Ghosh, erstwhile SDO Sadar, Sri Rupam Banerjee, DNO, NREGA and Smt Aditi Dasgupta, erstwhile DPO, SSA have been praiseworthy. I would also like to thank the entire staff of Development and Planning section of Medinipur Collectorate, with special thanks to NRDMS cell, Dr. Arabinda Maity & others for assisting us in compiling the report in its present form. I also take this opportunity for extending our gratitude to Development & Planning Department, Government of West Bengal, specially to Additional Chief Secretary, Smt. Jaya Dasgupta, IAS for guiding the entire process and giving us the valuable inputs on different occasions. Paschim Medinipur Zilla Parishad has provided valuable inputs and participated in the entire process. In this regard, I extend my sincere thanks to Smt. Antara Bhattacharya, Hon'ble Sabhadhipati and all the Karmadhyakshas of Paschim Medinipur Zilla Parishad. I am sure HDR in present form will help us and provide a deeper insight into the different aspects of Human Development in the district and enable us to carry forward the development agenda in the focussed manner. (Narayan Swaroop Nigam, IAS) District Magistrate, Paschim Medinipur & Lead Co-ordinator vii Contents Foreword Preface Chapter I Introduction and Human Development 1 - 20 Indices for Paschim Medinipur Chapter II Regional Profile of Paschim Medinipur District 21 - 47 Chapter III Status of Education 48 - 87 Chapter IV Status of Health 89 - 123 Chapter V Economic Livelihoods 125 - 183 Chapter VI Gender Development 185 - 208 Chapter VII Community Development and Diversity 209 - 238 Chapter VIII Urbanization and Industrialization 239 - 258 Chapter IX Human Vulnerability 259 - 274 Chapter X The Way Forward 275 - 283 Human Development Report Paschim Medinipur List of Tables Chapter Sl. No Table No. Title Page No. I 1. 1.1 Geographical Location and Climate of Paschi 7 Medinipur District, 2006 2. 1.2 Forest Areas and its Percentage to Total Reporting 8 Area in Paschim Medinipur District vis-à-vis the Whole of West Bengal, 2003-04 & 2004-05 3. 1.3 Some Geographical Features of Paschim Medinipur 8 District vis-à-vis the Whole of West Bengal 4.