Memari II


Memari II 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

Satgachia, a constituent panchayat of Memari II block, is located at.
Memari II 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 II CD Block is bounded by Manteswar CD Block on the north, Kalna I CD Block on the east, Memari I CD Block on the south and Burdwan I and Burdwan II CD Blocks on the west.
Memari II CD Block has an area of 186.84 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 9 gram panchayats, 115 gram sansads, 89 mouzas and 88 inhabited villages. Memari police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Paharhati.
Gram panchayats of Memari II block/panchayat samiti are: Barapalason I, Barapalason II, Bijpur I, Bijpur II, Bohar I, Bohar II, Kuchut, Satgachia I and Satgachia II.

Demographics

Population

As per the 2011 Census of India Memari II CD Block had a total population of 150,252, all of which were rural. There were 76,500 males and 73,752 females. Population below 6 years was 15,567. Scheduled Castes numbered 35,933 and Scheduled Tribes numbered 27,676.
As per the 2001 census, Memari II block had a total population of 135,621, out of which 69,486 were males and 66,135 were females. Memari II block registered a population growth of 13.67 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 35,310 formed around one-third the population. Scheduled tribes numbered 24,819.
Large villages in Memari II CD Block are : Mandalgram, Barapalashan, Bijur, Kuchut, Jabui, Begunia, Satgachhia and Bohar.

Literacy

As per the 2011 census the total number of literates in Memari II CD Block was 100,455 out of which males numbered 55,880 and females numbered 44,575. The gender disparity was 14.07%.
As per the 2001 census, Memari II block had a total literacy of 69.89 per cent for the 6+ age group. While male literacy was 79.54 per cent female literacy was 59.77 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 109,447 and formed 72.84% of the population in Memari iI CD Block. Muslims numbered 36,383 and formed 24.21% of the population. Christians numbered 275 and formed 0.18% of the population. Others numbered 4,147 and formed 2.76% 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 II CD Block was 38.04%.

Economy

Livelihood

In Memari II CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators formed 17.10%, agricultural labourers 58.54%, household industry workers 2.11% and other workers 22.25%.
Memari II 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 88 inhabited villages in Memari II CD block. All 88 villages have power supply. 86 villages have drinking water supply. 16 villages have post offices. All 88 villages have telephones. 42 villages have a pucca approach road and 54 villages have transport communication. 26 villages have agricultural credit societies. 7 villages have banks.
In 2013-14, there were 96 fertiliser depots, 10 seed stores and 42 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 Memari I could be classified as follows: bargadars 17.41%, patta holders 6.55%, small farmers 3.40%, marginal farmers 15.18% and agricultural labourers 57.46%.
In 2003-04 net cropped area in Memari II CD Block was 14,508 hectares and the area in which more than one crop was grown was 11,820 hectares.
In 2013-14, Memari II CD Block produced 97,129 tonnes of Aman paddy, the main winter crop, from 30,826 hectares, 6,382 tonnes of Aus paddy from 2,343 hectares, 33,269 tonnes of Boro paddy from 7,464 hectares and 58,809 tonnes of potatoes from 2,700 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 II CD Block was 17,276.64 hectares, out of which 16,154.27 hectares were irrigated by canal water, 241.24 hectares by river lift irrigation and 881.13 hectares by deep tube wells.

Banking

In 2013-14, Memari II CD Block had offices of 9 commercial banks and 3 gramin banks.

Transport

Memari II CD Block has 8 originating/ terminating bus routes.
SH 15 running from Dainhat to Gadiara passes through this CD Block.

Education

In 2013-14, Memari II CD Block had 113 primary schools with 8,103 students, 4 middle schools with 584 students, 16 high schools with 8,455 students and 6 higher secondary schools with 7,223 students. Memari II CD Block had 254 institutions for special and non-formal education with 6,773 students
As per the 2011 census, in Memari II CD block, amongst the 88 inhabited villages, 7 villages did not have schools, 26 villages had two or more primary schools, 28 villages had at least 1 primary and 1 middle school and 21 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.

Healthcare

In 2014, Memari II CD Block had 1 block primary health centre and 3 primary health centres with total 32 beds and 5 doctors. It had 21 family welfare subcentres. 2,217 patients were treated indoor and 201,770 patients were treated outdoor in the hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD Block.
Paharhati Rural Hospital at Paharhati is the main medical facility in Memari II CD block. There are primary health centres at Barapalasan, Bitra and Bohar.
Memari II CD Block is one of the areas of Bardhaman district which is affected by a low level of arsenic contamination of ground water.