Lohardaga block is a CD block that forms an administrative division in the Lohardaga subdivision of Lohardaga district, in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
History
Lohardaga was made a subdivision of Ranchi district in 1972. Ranchi district was split into three districts namely Ranchi, Gumla and Lohardaga, in 1983.
Maoist activities
Lohardaga has been identified as an “A” grade highly Maoist infested district. Kuru, Bhandra, Kairo, Kisko, Jowang and Senha police stations are totally affected and Lohardaga police station is partially affected. The Maoist outfits are mainly interested in extorting the bauxite mining and transport industry. The police force has been trained to take on the Maoist outfits and has been extending support at important points. Lohardaga has lost one Superintendent of Police, Ajay Kumar Singh, IPS in the anti-insurgency operations.
Geography
Lohardaga is located at .
Lohardaga district consists of two broad physiographic divisions – the hilly tract and the plateau region. The hilly tract extends over the western and north-western parts of the district. The high hill tops of this region are known as pat. The plateau region is a part of the Gumla Plateau, which lies in the southern portion of Chota Nagpur Plateau. Lohardaga and Bhandra CD blocks are entirely in the plateau region. Other administrative areas, such as Kisko, Senha and Kuru CD blocks are partly in the plateau region and partly in the hilly tract.
Lohardaga CD block is bounded by the Kuru CD block on the north, Kairo CD block on the east, Bhandra and Senha CD blocks on the south and Kisko CD block on the west.
Lohardaga CD block has an area of 146.86 km2.Lohardaga police station serves Lohardaga CD block. The headquarters of Lohardaga CD block is located at Lohardaga town.
Demographics
Population
According to the 2011 Census of India, Lohardga CD block had a total population of 68,598, all of which were rural. There were 34,484 (50%) males and 34,114 (50%) females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 11,334. Scheduled Castes numbered 1,764 (2.57%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 45,277 (66.00%).
Literacy
According to the 2011 census, the total number of literate persons in Lohardaga CD block was 38,783 (67.73% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 22,309 (77.61% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 16,474 (57.76% of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 19.85%.
census, literacy in Lohardaga district was 78.62%. Literacy in Jharkhand was 67.63% in 2011. Literacy in India in 2011 was 74.04%.
See also – List of Jharkhand districts ranked by literacy rate
Language and religion
According to the District Census Handbook, Lohardaga, 2011 census, “the distribution of different mother tongues (languages mentioned under 8th Schedule of Constitution of India) as returned during the 2001 Census for Lohardaga district was” Kurukh (42.15%), Hindi (39.66%), Urdu (16.46%) and other languages 1.73%.
According to the Population by Mother Tongue in the 2011 Census of India, 38.96% of the population in the Lohardaga district spoke Kurukh, 33.17% Sadri, 13.87% Urdu, 12.5% Hindi and other languages 1.50% as their first language.
Hindi is the official language in Jharkhand and Urdu has been declared as an additional official language.
According to the District Census Handbook, Lohardaga, 2011 census, ‘Other Religions and Persuasions’ formed 47.2% of the population, followed by Hindus (28.6%), Muslims (20.1%), Christians (4.0%).
The Oraon people dominate in Lohardaga district. In the 2001 census they numbered 164,379 and formed 80.95% of the Scheduled Tribes population, who in turn constituted 55.70% of the population in the district. The Lohras formed 4.79% of the ST population.
Rural poverty
70-80% of the population of Lohardaga district were in the BPL category in 2004–2005. In 2011–12, the proportion of BPL population in Lohardaga district came down to 38.0%. According to a study in 2013 (modified in 2019), "the incidence of poverty in Jharkhand is estimated at 46%, but 60% of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are still below poverty line."