DISTRICT STATISTICAL HAND BOOK 24-P A R G A N A S 1981 BUREAU OF APPLIED ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS ^ ^ GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL 310 I Price : R f 15.00 0 . 3 1 0 Sdb. National Systems Unit, National Instimre of Educational PI rininjF and A ministration 17.B,S.iAuib^o M a^N^P«pii-110n3/ DOC, No.--J ^ Printed at The Bengal Printing Works Chandanna^ore^ Hooghly. Contents Intjoduction ........................ I 24-farganas at a glance ... .............. A Tables ( Prefaced by a list j (j) INTRODUCTION The district of 24-Parganas forma the south-western part of the Presidency division of West Bengal and lies between 88°2' and 89°6' east longitude. It is bounded on the north by the district of Nadia* on the south by the Bay of Bengal and on the West by the river Hooghly, which proceeding from north to south separates it from the district of Hooghly, Howrah aad Midnapore. The area of the district is 4133 sq. kms. Thte density of popuUtion is 769-7 per sq. km. according to 19i81 Oensus. The district of 24-Parganas ha^s si x sub-divi lions viz. Bongaon, Barasat, Barrackpore, Alipo>re Sadar, Dianond Harbour & Basirhat with their Headl quarters at the town bearing their respective names. The district head qutrter is at Alipore, a Suburb of Calcjuttta. The Bongaon sub-division covers the Police Statioms o f Bagdah, B-ongaon and Gaighata, the Barasat sub-div/isiton consists of the police stations of Habra, Deganga, Flajtarhat, Barasat and Amdanga, the Barrackpore sub-diviisio»n covers the police stations of Bijpur, Naihati, Jagatdail, iNoapaia, B.amck- pore, Titagarh, Khardah, Belgharita, Baranagar, Dim- Dum, Nimta, Airport, Laketown amd Saltlake, th« ssdar sub-division consists of the police stavtioins of Gardemreich, Matiabruz, Maheshtala, Budge Budget, Bishnupur, Behila, Regent Park, Jadavpur, Kasba, Tiljaha, Bhangar, Sonarpur, Baruipur, Canning, Basanti, Joynagar and Kultalli, the Diamond Harbour sub-division consistes off the police sltatons of Magrahat, Falta, Diamond Harbioutt, Kulpi, Miaaiir- bazar, Mathurapur, Patharpratima, IKalkdwip, Sagair tnd ( I I ) Nana Khaia, the Baairhat sub-division covers the police tatioasof Iwarupnagar, Baduria, Basirhat, Haroa, Miaa- kban, Hasiabad, Sandeshkhali, Hingalganj and Gosaba. There ire 102 towns in the district of which 31 are Municipal towns, 42 Non-municipal towns, 28 Urban out­ growths aid cantonments as per Census 1981. Inbhedistrict, out of 387 mouzas 83 were un-inhabited in 197J. Dvrinj the cold wjather from November to January thecloid aad rainfall is almost found absent in tn® dist­ rict. Tie noan temperature falls steadily between Nove- mbsr aid niddle of January but humidity continues to be higk. In Fibruary, tem perature begins to rise and in May, m lawcn is occasionally experienced when Cyclonic storms forn ntar ihe head of tha Bay. With the commencement of the soath-west monsoon which generally occurs in the lateer ia lf o f June hum idity increases to 90 percent of satu'ati>n, while heavy cloud in the sky ands rainfall are o f daily occurrences. The avarage annual rainfall is 1673 m illim etres and the m axim um rainfall is axpitieiced in between July and September. Tht prinoipal rivers of the district are the Hooghly, iheBic^a^ari, the Piali and the Jamana. The population jo f thedistrict was according to 1981 census was 10739439 jfwhici 5642438 were males and 6097001 females. The Schsdued Castes and Scheduled Tribes population jnsiituBd 25.04 and 1-75 percent respectively of the ( I I I ) total population in 1981. Out of the total populatiom 4 46.2 p-3i'ceiifc W-3VQ literates according to 1981 census. 1 The percentage of literacy among males and females weree 5 55.8 and 35-5 respectively in the same year. Majority of the people of 24-Parganas depemd on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood. iThe pri::\cipal crops in bln district are p a d dy, ju te» wheieat, pulses and mustard. The most important industry in the district is ) the Textile industrj^ Following places may be mentioned as the places ^ of interest in the district. Gi xga Sagar—The great bathing festival of the distinct is known as Ganga Sagar which iai beldd at southern end of Sagar Island on the dayy of Makaia Sankranti in January. It attraapts an immense number of pilgrims, vwho believe that by bathing at this saccred spot, they wash away their sins. Palabari Joynagar—The Shrine of Radhaballabh afc J fo y . nagar is visited by a large numberr of pilgrims during the Dol festiival in the month of Phalgun. Closee to the temple ia a Kadamba tree whiich during the festival is said to yield cOn* flower in honour of God Krishoa. ( l y ) This is looked upon a» super­ natural phenomenon as the rainy months of July and August are the season in which the tree flowers. Basr» — Gazisaheb’s Mela, a religious gath­ ering is held in later part of May or in the early part of June at Basra close to the station of that name on the Canning branch of th« Eastern Railway. Oakshii Barasat — It is a village in Joynagar police station of Sadar Sub-division, situ­ ated on the bank of Adiganga, and old channel of the Ganges. The village contains a temple of Kali and Shrine dedicated to the God Adyamahesh. Three “Melas” are hel® here. (1) The first on the last day of Chaitra is the bazar near Kali’s temple. (2) The second on the first day of Baishakh in the Adyama­ hesh bazar and (3) the last in Apri 1 in honnour of sannyasi named Achalananda Thirtha Swami, who was the Guru or spiritual precep­ tors of Raja Surendra Narayan Dev Bahadur of the Sovabazar family of Calcutta. (V) Fraserganj — It is an island in the extreme c sovouth of the Diamond Harbour Slubo-didivi- Bion. It is bounded on the noaorth and west by the Pattibunia KUialal on east by the Sattannukhi rivear a’ and Pakuriaber Khal and on tlie (eoi:puth by the Bay of Bengal. The plolace is now an attractive tourist coenlntre of the state. Kanthalpara — Kanthalpara, a Village in t the Barraokpore Sub-division sitiuatated about 2 k. m. from the Nsaihihati Bailway station is said to be)e a noted place of Sanskrit leairnioing and was the birth place cof t* the great Bengali novelist Saihitjtya Samrat Bankim Chandra Chatt«erjfjee. 24-PARGANAS—AT A GLANCE Description Year Unit Particulars Adninistrative set up ; Ditrict He'id quarters Alipore SiD-di vision 1981 Number 6 Poice Station 58 Iniabited villages 1971 3792 Tctal Mouzas 3875 Bbck 1981 50 Paichayat Samity 50 Grim Panohayav 549 Mmicipal Town 31 Noa-Municipal Town 42 Ursan-outgrowth 28 Caitonment 1 Area and population : Ar»a 1981 Sq. K m . 4136 (P) Po^ulation N um ber 10739439 Deasity Num ber o f 760 persons per sq. K m. Sex Ratio Male 1981 Percent 52.54 Female 9* 9 9 47.46 Ratio of population Urban „ „ 38.82 Rural „ „ 61.18 Workers „ „ 27.21 ( including marginal workers ) ( B ) Description Year Unit Particulaarsrs Non-workers 1981 percent 72.799 Agriculture and irrigation : Net cropped area 1978-79 ’ 000 h ec­ 700.866 tares Yield rate of rice 1980-81 Kg. per 14444 hectares Medico? facilities : Hospitals, dispensaries. health centres and clinics 1981 N u m ber 36)1 Family welfare centres 1981 ,, 6^8 Hospital beds 1980 66258 Hospital beds per lakh of population 1981 652 Disabled persona Totally blind 1981 46552 „ crippled ,, 627'7 ,, dum b 99 >> 463«’5 Literacy : Male 1981 Percent 55..'8 Fem ale ,, 99 35 .f5 Total »> 46.3 Rural »» 35.(0 U rban 63."7 { C ) Jesoription Y ea r Unit Particulars Indiatry : legistered working factories 1981 N um ber 3032 huall industrial establish- nents (Regintered with fie Directorate of (ottage & Small Scale Upto lid u stries) 1980- 81 21505 Enployment ; legistered working factories 1981 Number of 431306 workers Fegd. small industrial establishments 1980-81 156746 S ate G ovt. Offices 1980 44200 (P) Eledricity. Towns electrified J 980-81 N um ber 102 (P Villages electrified 1980-81 N um ber 1615 99 99 Percent 42.59 Co-operative ; Societies 1980-81 Number 1197 Members 1979-80 405814 Working capital ’000 Rs. 294008 D Description Year Unit Partiwulaarsrs Employment exchange Applicants on live-register 1981 N um ber 526S2222 Transport de Communication Road Length 1980-81 K ilo ­ 113477.2£29 m etre Surfaced 9* 4325.120 0 Unsurfaced ,, 7022.(09 3 Motor Vehicles on road 1980-81 N um ber 284977 Post offices 1980-81 1224^ Post & Telegraph combined offiices ,, I4t0 LIST OF TABLES Tabla : Page I. Rainfall and Climate 1 1.1 Getgraphioal location of the district and itsheadquarters 1 1.2 Mmthly rainfall in the district 2 1.3 Macimum and minimum temperature by month 3 1.4 Man maximum and mean minimum tenperature by month ® II. Area and Population 7 2.1 Adninistrative units 7 2 2 Ana, population and density o f population 28 2.3 Gnwth of population by sex and area 33 2.4 Diftribution of rural and urban population b y sex 34 2.5 Diitribution of population by age-group 49 2 6 Diitribution of population by sex in different tovns 50 2.7 Diftribution of population according to different oaiegories of workers and non-workers 74 2.8 Diaribution of population according to different categories of workers and non-workers by sex 98 2.9 Scleduled Castes and Scheduled Tr.bes population by sex 100 ( ii ) Table ; Page 2.10 Population by religion 106 ill.—Public Health 106 3.1 Medical facilities available 106 3.2 Number of family planning centres 107 3.3 Paiients treated in hospitals and dispensaries 111 3 4 Disabled persons by type of disability 112 IV.—Education and Culture 113 4.1 Educational institutions by types 113 4.2 Students by sex in different types of educationial 1 institutions 115 4.3 Teachers in different types of educational institutions 119 4.4 Number of institutions and scholars in primary education by police station 121 4.5 Percentage of literacy in rural and urban areais 122 4.6 Libraries, reading rooms and adult education centres 127 4.7 Cinema houses and talkies 128 4.8 Newspapers and periodicals published 129 V—Agriculture 130 5.1 Some Classification of land utilisation statistics 130 5.1 (a) Distribution of operational holdings according to size class 131 ( iii ) T a b le : Page 5.1 (b) Area of vested agrioultural land available for iistribution and number of benifioiaries.