Jalpaiguri is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the Jalpaiguri Sadar subdivision of the Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Geography
Jalpaiguri is located at .
The Jalpaiguri CD block lies in the southern part of the district. The Teesta River flows along its northern and eastern boundary. It lies on a gently sloping alluvial plain locally called Terai.
The Jalpaiguri CD block is bounded by the Kranti CD block on the north, Maynaguri CD block on the east, Panchagarh Sadar Upazila of Panchagarh District in Rangpur Division in Bangladesh on the south, and Rajganj CD block on the west.
The Jalpaiguri CD block has an area of 500.65 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 14 gram panchayats, 227 gram sansads (village councils), 29 mouzas, 28 inhabited villages and 1 census town. Jalpaiguri police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD block is at Jalpaiguri.
Gram panchayats of Jalpaiguri block/ panchayat samiti are: Arabinda, Bahadur, Baropatia Nutanabos, Belacoba, Boalmari-Nandanpur, Garalbari, Kharia, Kharija Berubari I, Kharija Berubari II, Mondalghat, Nagar Berubari, Paharpur, Patkata and South Berubari.
Demographics
Population
According to the 2011 Census of India, the Jalpaiguri CD block had a total population of 323,455, of which 261,784 were rural, and 61,661 were urban. There were 166,036 (51%) males and 157,401 (49%) females. There were 38,992 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The Scheduled Castes numbered 196,592 (60.78%) and the Scheduled Tribes numbered 19,592 (6.06%).
According to the 2001 census, Jalpaiguri block had a total population of 280,446, out of which 144,974 were males and 135,472 were females. Jalpaiguri block registered a population growth of 7.29 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade.
Census town in the Jalpaiguri CD block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Kharia (P) (61,661) .
Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in the Jalpaiguri CD block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Barapatina Nutanbus (16,366), Bhelakoba (17,215), Satkhamar (12,391), Bahadur (18,878), Patkata (43,360), Paharpur (20,341), Mandalghat (16,083), Garalbari (28,791), Binnaguri (4,370), Berubari (41,593), Nandanpur (6,114), Kharija Berubari (10,076) and Boalmari (6,310).
Other villages in the Jalpaiguri CD block include (2011 census figures in brackets): Berubarinagar (762).
Literacy
According to the 2011 census, the total number of literate persons in the Jalpaiguri CD block was 209,966 (73.81% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 117,661 (80.52% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 92,305 (66.73% of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 13.78%.
See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate
Language and religion
In the 2011 Census of India, Hindus numbered 269,150 and formed 83.21% of the population of Jalpaiguri CD block. Muslims numbered 48,521 and formed 15.00% of the population. Christians numbered 5,411 and formed 1.67% of the population. Others numbered 363 and formed 0.11% 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.
At the time of the 2011 census, 85.83% of the population spoke Bengali, 4.67% Sadri, 2.27% Rajbongshi and 1.66% Hindi as their first language. 3.09% were recorded as speaking 'Other' under Bengali.
Poverty level
Based on a study of the per capita consumption in rural and urban areas, using central sample data of NSS 55th Round 1999-2000, Jalpaiguri district was found to have relatively high rates of poverty of 35.73% in rural areas and 61.53% in the urban areas. It was one of the few districts where urban poverty rate was higher than the rural poverty rate.
According to a World Bank report, as of 2012, 26-31% of the population of Jalpaiguri, Bankura and Paschim Medinipur districts were below poverty line, a relatively high level of poverty in West Bengal, which had an average 20% of the population below poverty line.