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Paschim Medinipur (English:West Medinipur, alternative spellingMidnapore) district is one of the districts of the state ofWest Bengal,India. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after thepartition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur andPurba Medinipur. On 4 April 2017, theJhargram subdivision was upgraded to a district. GDP of West Midnapore district is 12 billion USD.
Paschim Medinipur, located in the south-western part of West Bengal, was created with the partition of the erstwhileMidnapore district, then the largest district of India, on 1 January 2002. It ranks second in terms of geographical area (9,295.28 km2) amongst the districts of the state, next to South 24-Parganas (9,960 km2). It ranks third in terms of rural population (4.58 million) following South 24-Parganas (5.82 million) and Murshidabad (5.13 million). It ranked fourth in terms of percentage of tribal population (14.87) following Jalpaiguri (18.87), Purulia (18.27) and Dakshin Dinajpur (16.12) in 2011.[3]
Broadly speaking, there are two natural divisions of the district.NH 14 andNH 16 (old numberingNH 60) from Bankura to Balasore, cuts across the district and roughly is the dividing line between the two natural divisions. To the east of this road, the soil is fertile alluvial and the area is flat. To the west, theChota Nagpur Plateau gradually slopes down, creating an undulating area with infertile laterite rocks and soil. The landscape changes from dense dry deciduous forests in the west to marshy wetlands in the east.[3]
The alluvial portion may be further subdivided into two divisions. First, it is a strip of purely deltaic country nearer to theHooghly and the Rupnarayan, intersected by numerous rivers and watercourses subject to tidal influences. Second, it is rest of the eastern half of the district. It is a monotonous rice plain with numerous waterways and tidal creeks intersecting it. The tidal creeks are lined with embankments to prevent flooding of the fields. Much of the area is water-logged.[3]
Paschim Medinipur district is subject to bothfloods anddrought. Ghatal and parts of Kharagpur subdivision covering an area of 142,647 hectares (1,426.47 km2) are flood prone. Water logging during the rainy season affects Ghatal and the southern parts of Kharagpur subdivision and results in loss of crops in such areas as Sabang, Pingla and Narayangarh CD Blocks. 335,248 hectares (3,352.48 km2) Medinipur Sadar subdivision is drought prone. Although the district is away from the sea, cyclones hit it frequently in October–November.[3]
Midnapore is the district headquarters.Kharagpur is the largest city in the district. Other important towns and cities in the district include:Salboni,Ghatal,Belda,Chandrakona,Ramjibanpur,Garbeta,Balichak,Dantan,Mohanpur,Keshiari,Keshpur,Narayangarh,Sabang,Daspur,Goaltore andDebra.
Paschim Medinipur district is home to the most villages of any district in India. The 2011 census lists Paschim Medinipur as having 8,694 villages, of which 7,600 are populated, and 1,094 uninhabited. The district with the next highest number of villages,Mayurbhanj, in the state ofOdisha, has 3,950 villages, 3,751 of which are inhabited.
In 2006 theMinistry of Panchayati Raj named Paschim Medinipur one of the country's 250most backward districts (out of a total of640).[4] It is one of the eleven districts in West Bengal currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[4]
106 districts spanning 10 states across India, described as being part ofLeft Wing Extremism activities, constitute theRed corridor. In West Bengal the districts of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum are part of the Red corridor. However, as of July 2016, there has been no reported incidents ofMaoist related activities from these districts for the previous 4 years.[5] In the period 2009–2011 LWE violence resulted in more than 500 deaths and a similar number missing in Paschim Medinipur district.[6]
Paschim Medinipur district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions:[7]
| Subdivision | Headquarters | Area km2 | Population (2011) | Rural population % (2011) | Urban population % (2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medinipur Sadar | Midnapore | 2,441.50 | 1,435,321 | 86.05 | 13.95 |
| Kharagpur | Kharagpur | 2,913.17 | 2,293,909 | 85.67 | 14.33 |
| Ghatal | Ghatal | 953.09 | 1,047,679 | 87.94 | 12.06 |
The district comprises three subdivisions: Kharagpur, Medinipur Sadar and Ghatal. Kharagpur subdivision consists ofKharagpur municipality and ten community development blocks: Dantan–I, Dantan–II, Pingla, Kharagpur–I, Kharagpur–II, Sabang, Mohanpur, Narayangarh, Keshiari and Debra. Medinipur Sadar subdivision consists ofMidnapore municipality and six community development blocks: Medinipur Sadar, Garhbeta–I, Garhbeta–II, Garhbeta–III, Keshpur and Shalboni. Ghatal subdivision consists of five municipalities (Ramjibanpur,Chandrakona,Khirpai,Kharar andGhatal) and five community development blocks: Chandrakona–I, Chandrakona–II, Daspur–I, Daspur–II and Ghatal.[8]
Midnapore is the district headquarters. There are 28 police stations, 21 development blocks, 7 municipalities and 290gram panchayats in this district.[8][9]
Other than municipality area, each subdivision contains community development blocks which in turn are divided into rural areas and census towns. In total there are 11 urban units: 7 municipalities and 4census towns.
There are 15 assembly constituencies in Paschim Medinipur district. They belong to four Lok Sabha constituencies.Medinipur andGhatal constituencies both comprise six constituencies of Paschim Medinipur district and one from Purba Medinipur district.Jhargram constituency contains two constituencies of Paschim Medinipur district, whileArambagh contains one constituency.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 1,520,130 | — |
| 1911 | 1,537,618 | +1.2% |
| 1921 | 1,453,390 | −5.5% |
| 1931 | 1,525,569 | +5.0% |
| 1941 | 1,738,975 | +14.0% |
| 1951 | 1,830,743 | +5.3% |
| 1961 | 2,380,446 | +30.0% |
| 1971 | 3,035,385 | +27.5% |
| 1981 | 3,697,899 | +21.8% |
| 1991 | 4,486,279 | +21.3% |
| 2001 | 5,193,411 | +15.8% |
| 2011 | 5,913,457 | +13.9% |
| Source:censusindia.gov.in | ||
According to the2011 census Paschim Medinipur district has apopulation of 5,913,457,[10] roughly equal to the nation ofEritrea[11] or the US state ofMissouri.[12] This gives it a ranking of 14th in India (out of a total of640).[10] The district has a population density of 636 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,650/sq mi).[10] Itspopulation growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 14.44%.[10] Paschim Medinipur has asex ratio of 960females for every 1000 males,[10] and aliteracy rate of 79.04%.[10]Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes collectively account for 33.96% (SC: 19.08% and ST: 14.88%) of the district's total population. The prominent communities in this group, in terms of the district's total population, areSantal (9.05%),Bagdi/Duley (6.27%),Bhumij (1.65%),Lohar (1.33%),Namasudra (1.3%),Munda (1.13%),Jalia Kaibartta (1.02%),Lodha/Kharia (0.88%),[a]Dhoba (0.83%), Hari/Mehtar (0.81%),Bauri (0.76%),Mal (0.6%), Dom (0.56%),Chamar (0.53%),Bhuiya (0.53%),Kora (0.49%),Rajbanshi (0.43%), Pan/Sawasi (0.38%), Sunri (excluding Saha) (0.34%),Keot/Keyot (0.33%), Kandra (0.31%), Savar (0.31%),Rajwar (0.26%),Ho (0.25%),Mahar (0.24%), Kadar (0.23%),Baiga (0.22%),Mahali (0.21%), Khaira (0.2%), and Pod/Poundra (0.19%).[13][14]
After bifurcation, the district had a population of 4,776,909, of which 655,250 (13.72%) live in urban areas. The divided district has a sex ratio of 963 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 892,763 (18.69%) and 546,167 (11.43%) of the population, respectively.[10][failed verification]
| Hinduism | 85.26% | |||
| Islam | 12.41% | |||
| Other(tribal religion) | 1.52% | |||
| Other or not stated | 0.81% | |||
At the 2011 census, 87.15% spokeBengali, 6.29%Santali, 2.49%Hindi and 0.93%Telugu as their first language. Other languages spoken in the district includeOdia,Urdu,Kudmali/Kurmali,Mundari andKoda.[16]
There are many tourist attractions in the district:
The table below (all data in numbers) presents an overview of the subdivision-wise medical facilities available and patients treated, after the separation of Jhargram, in the hospitals, health centres and sub-centres in 2014 in Paschim Medinipur district.[18]
| Subdivision | Health & Family Welfare Dept, WB | Other state govt depts | Local bodies | Central govt depts / PSUs | NGO / private nursing homes | Total | Total number of beds | Total number of doctors | Indoor patients | Outdoor patients | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitals | Rural hospitals | Block primary health centres | Primary health centres | ||||||||||
| Medinipur Sadar | 2 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 3 | - | 1 | 26 | 53 | 2,117 | 323 | 121,486 | 1,375,817 |
| Kharagpur | 2 | 8 | 2 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 54 | 98 | 1841 | 197 | 93,110 | 1,814,309 |
| Ghatal | 1 | 4 | 1 | 15 | - | - | - | 46 | 67 | 988 | 66 | 46,006 | 742,984 |
| Paschim Medinipur district | 5 | 17 | 24 | 77 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 126 | 208 | 4,946 | 586* | 260,602 | 3,933,110 |
Eritrea 5,939,484 July 2011 est.
Missouri 5,988,927
Midnapore travel guide from WikivoyageKharagpur travel guide from WikivoyageJhargram travel guide from WikivoyagePlaces adjacent to Paschim Medinipur district | |
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