Memari I


Memari I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Bardhaman Sadar South subdivision of Purba Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Geography

Memari is located at.
Memari I CD Block is part of the Bardhaman Plain, the central plain area of the district. The area is surrounded by the Bhagirathi on the east, the Ajay on the north-west and the Damodar on the west and south. Old river channels and small creeks found in the region dry up in the dry season, but the Bardhaman Plains are sometimes subject to heavy floods during the rainy season. The region has recent alluvial soils.
Memari I CD Block is bounded by Memari II CD Block on the north, Kalna II CD Block and Pandua CD Block, in Hooghly district, on the east, Jamalpur CD Block on the south and Burdwan II CD Block on the west.
Memari I CD Block has an area of 186.91 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 10 gram panchayats, 171 gram sansads, 113 mouzas and 111 inhabited villages. Memari police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Memari.
Gram panchayats of Memari I block/panchayat samiti are: Amadpur, Bagila, Daluibazar I, Daluibazar II, Debipur, Durgapur, Gope-Gantar I, Gope-Gantar II, Nimo I and Nimo II.

Demographics

Population

As per the 2011 Census of India Memari I CD Block had a total population of 218,425, of which 214,005 were rural and 4,420 were urban. There were 110,712 males and 107,713 females. Population below 6 years was 22,294. Scheduled Castes numbered 79,976 and Scheduled Tribes numbered 34,467.
As per 2001 census, Memari I block had a total population of 198,152, out of which 100,715 were males and 97,437 were females. Memari I block registered a population growth of 1.31 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for Bardhaman district was 14.36 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent. Scheduled castes at 76,357 formed more than one-third the population. Scheduled tribes numbered 28,467.
Census Town in Memari I CD Block is : Alipur.
Large villages in Memari I CD Block are : Palla, Chanchal, Amadpur, Sanui, Rasulpur, Kenna, Nimo, Chotkhanda and Mabarakpur.
Other villages in Memari I CD Block include : Durgapur, Debipur, Gantar, Bagila and Dalui Bazar.

Literacy

As per the 2011 census the total number of literates in Memari I CD Block was 145,341 out of which males numbered 80,404 and females numbered 64,937. The gender disparity was 13.74%.
As per 2001 census, Memari I block had a total literacy of 66.43 per cent for the 6+ age group. While male literacy was 75.58 per cent female literacy was 56.97 per cent. Bardhaman district had a total literacy of 70.18 per cent, male literacy being 78.63 per cent and female literacy being 60.95 per cent.
See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Languages and religion

As per census definition, mother-tongue is the language spoken in childhood by the person's mother to the person. As a mother-tongue, Bengali has decreased its share from 82.3% of the population of Bardhaman district in 1961 to 79.9% in 2001, Hindi has increased its share from 8.5% in 1961 to 10.9% in 2001 Santali has remained steady at around 4.9% during the period, and Urdu has increased its share from 2.4% in 1961 to 2.6% in 2001. Other mother-tongues spoken in 2001 were: Odiya, Punjabi, Koda/Kora, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Nepali and Kurukh/ Oraon.
In the 2011 census Hindus numbered 172,616 and formed 79.03% of the population in Memari I CD Block. Muslims numbered 39,882 and formed 18.26% of the population. Christians numbered 360 and formed 0.16% of the population. Others numbered 5,567 and formed 2.55% of the population.
In Bardhaman district the percentage of Hindu population has been declining from 84.3% in 1961 to 77.9% in 2011 and the percentage of Muslim population has increased from 15.2% in 1961 to 20.7% in 2011.

Rural poverty

As per poverty estimates obtained from household survey for families living below poverty line in 2005, rural poverty in Memari I CD Block was 28.05%.

Economy

Livelihood

In Memari I CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators formed 11.24%, agricultural labourers 52.16%, household industry workers 5.69% and other workers 30.90%.
Memari I CD Block is part of the area where agriculture dominates the scenario but the secondary and tertiary sectors have shown an increasing trend.

Infrastructure

There are 111 inhabited villages in Memari I CD block. All 111 villages have power supply. All 111 villages have drinking water supply. 17 villages have post offices. All 111 villages have telephones. 44 villages have a pucca approach road and 64 villages have transport communication. 19 villages have agricultural credit societies. 10 villages have banks.
In 2013-14, there were 124 fertiliser depots, 38 seed stores and 59 fair price shops in the CD Block.

Agriculture

Although the Bargadari Act of 1950 recognised the rights of bargadars to a higher share of crops from the land that they tilled, it was not implemented fully. Large tracts, beyond the prescribed limit of land ceiling, remained with the rich landlords. From 1977 onwards major land reforms took place in West Bengal. Land in excess of land ceiling was acquired and distributed amongst the peasants. Following land reforms land ownership pattern has undergone transformation. In 2013-14, persons engaged in agriculture in Memari I CD Block could be classified as follows: bargadars 5.79%, patta holders 10.00%, small farmers 3.48%, marginal farmers 24.43% and agricultural labourers 56.31%.
In 2003-04 net cropped area in Memari I CD Block was 14,068 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 15,590 hectares.
In 2013-14, Memari I CD Block produced 3,342 tonnes of Aman paddy, the main winter crop, from 1,263 hectares, 6,682 tones of Aus paddy from 2,534 hectares, 13,255 tonnes of Boro paddy from 3,576 hectares, 1,063 tonnes of wheat from 397 hectares, 358,206 tonnes of potatoes from 10,836 hectares and 1,192 tonnes of sugarcane from 19 hectares It also produced pulses and oilseeds.
In Bardhaman district as a whole Aman paddy constituted 64.32% of the total area under paddy cultivation, while the area under Boro and Aus paddy constituted 32.87% and 2.81% respectively. The expansion of Boro paddy cultivation, with higher yield rates, was the result of expansion of irrigation system and intensive cropping. In 2013-14, the total area irrigated in Memari I CD Block was 16,402.60 hectares, out of which 15,946.65 hectares were irrigated by canal water, 129.15 hectares by river lift irrigation and 326.60 hectares by deep tube wells.

Banking

In 2013-14, Memari I CD Block had offices of 12 commercial banks and 2 gramin banks.

Transport

Memari I CD Block has 26 originating/ terminating bus routes.
The Howrah-Bardhaman main line passes through this CD Block and there are stations at Rasulpur, Nimo, Memari, Bagila and Debipur.
Howrah-Bardhaman chord passes through the CD Block and there is a station at Palla Road.
Kolkata-Delhi NH 19 passes through this CD Block.
SH 13 running from Mollarpui Maghipara to Dankuni, incorporating old Grand Trunk Road in this CD Block, crosses SH 15 running from Dainhat to Gadiara.

Education

In 2013-14, Memari I CD Block had 111 primary schools with 9,503 students, 8 middle schools with 660 students, 15 high schools with 8,891 students and 6 higher secondary schools with 7,916 students. Memari I CD Block had 3 technical/ professional institution with 417 students and 392 institutions for special and non-formal education with 13,895 students
As per the 2011 census, in Memari I CD block, amongst the 111 inhabited villages, 8 villages did not have schools, 39 villages had two or more primary schools, 44 villages had at least 1 primary and 1 middle school and 35 villages had at least 1 middle and 1 secondary school.
More than 6,000 schools serve cooked midday meal to more than 900,000 students.

Culture

“is a beautifully constructed 10th century temple which resembles the Odisha art pattern of rekh.”

Healthcare

In 2014, Memari I CD Block had 1 rural hospital and 3 primary health centres with total 86 beds and 10 doctors. It had 31 family welfare subcentres. 10,027 patients were treated indoor and 389,660 patients were treated outdoor in the hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD Block.
Memari Rural Hospital is located in Memari municipality. In Memari I CD block there are primary health centres at Debipur, Durgapur, PO Chotkharda and Palla Road.
Memari I CD Block is one of the areas of Bardhaman district which is affected by a low level of arsenic contamination of ground water.