Sitalkuchi


Sitalkuchi is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Mathabhanga subdivision of the Cooch Behar district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Geography

Sitalkuchi is located at.
Topographically Cooch Behar district is generally plain land which is low and marshy at some places. “Considering the nature of general surface configuration, relief and drainage pattern, distribution of different types of soil, climatic condition, the formation of geology and forest tracts, the district Koch Bihar falls under Barind Tract. The physiology of this area consists of alluvial soil, generally blackish brown in colour and composed of sand, clay and silt. The soils are loose and sandy throughout the district.” The Himalayan formations in the north end beyond the boundaries of this district. There are no hills/ mountains here. It has a large network of rivers flowing from north-west to south and south-east. The Teesta flows through Mekhliganj CD block before entering Bangladesh. The Jaldhaka and its connected river-streams form a large catchment area in the district. It virtually divides the district into two unequal parts and meets the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. The Himalayan rivers flowing through Cooch Behar district change courses from time to time. In 1876, W.W. Hunter mentioned the Dharla and the Torsha as the same stream with two names. However, since the advent of the 20th century, these are two different streams meeting the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.
The hill-streams of Cooch Behar carry debris and silt from the Himalayas and are shallow. During the
monsoons the speed of flow of the rivers almost doubles and the rivers overflow the banks causing floods and devastation. The Mansai and Dharla are the major rivers causing floods in the Sitalkuchi CD block.
The Sitalkuchi CD block is bounded by the Mathabhanga I CD block on the north, the Cooch Behar I CD block on the east, the Sitai CD block on the south, and the Hatibandha Upazila in Lalmonirhat District of Bangladesh on the west.
The Sitalkuchi CD block has an area of 262.51 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 8 gram panchayats, 143 gram sansads, 70 mouzas and 67 inhabited villages. Sitalkuchi police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD block is at Sitalkuchi.
Gram panchayats of Sitai block/ panchayat samiti are: Bara Koimari, Bhawerthana, Chhoto Salbabari, Golenaohati, Gosairhat, Khalisamari, Lalbazar and Sitalkuchi.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 Census of India, the Sitalkuchi CD block had a total population of 185,353, all of which were rural. There were 94,277 males and 91,076 females. There were 25,304 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The Scheduled Castes numbered 101,009 and the Scheduled Tribes numbered 259.
According to the 2001 census, Sitalkuchi block had a total population of 163,802, out of which 84,477 were males and 79,325 were females. Sitalkuchi block registered a population growth of 7.81 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade.
Large villages in the Sitalkuchi CD block are : Mahishmuri, Bhogdabri, Sitalkuchi, Golenaohati, Petlaepra, Bara Gadaikhora, Nagar Lalbazar and Bara Masia.
Other villages in the Sitalkuchi CD block include : Bhair Thana, Bara Kaimari and Chotta Salbari.

Literacy

According to the 2011 census, the total number of literate persons in the Sitalkuchi CD block was 12,572 out of which males numbered 62,693 and females numbered 49,879. The gender disparity was 13.61%.
See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Language and religion

According to the District Census Handbook, Cooch Behar, 2011 census, as of 2001, Bengali was the mother-tongue of 90.3% of the population of Cooch Behar district, followed by Hindi, Telugu, Sadan/ Sadri, Bhojpuri, Kurukh/ Oraon, Nepali/ Gorkhali and Santali. Marwari, Rajbansi, Munda, Rabha, Rajasthani, Assamese and Koch were the mother- tongues of smaller proportion of the population. People with other mother-tongues formed 6.9% of the population. The proportion of those whose mother-tongue was Bengali declined from 96.1% in 1961 to 90.3% in 2001 and the proportion of those with other mother tongues increased from 0.2% in 1961 to 6.9% in 2001.
According to the West Bengal Official Language Act 1961 and the West Bengal Official Language 2012, the Bengali language is to be used for official purposes in the whole of West Bengal. In addition to Bengali, the Nepali language is to be used for official purposes in the three hills subdivisions, namely Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, in the district of Darjeeling, and Urdu is to be used for official purposes in district/subdivision/ block/ municipality where the population speaking Urdu exceeds 10% of the total population. The English language will continue to be used for official purposes as it was being used prior to the enactment of these laws.
The West Bengal Official Language Bill, 2012, included Hindi, Santhali, Odiya and Punjabi as official languages if it is spoken by a population exceeding 10 per cent of the whole in a particular block or sub-division or a district. Subsequently, Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi and Kurmali were also included in the list of minority languages by the West Bengal Official Language Bill, 2018.However, as of 2020, there is no official / other reliable information about the areas covered. Census 2011 provides language data only at the district and above level.
In the 2011 Census of India, Hindus numbered 119,603 and formed 64.53% of the population of Sitalkuchi CD block. Muslims numbered 65,446 and formed 35.31% of the population. Christians numbered 136 and formed 0.07% of the population. Others numbered 168 and formed 0.09% of the population.

Rural poverty

Based on a study of the per capita consumption in rural and urban areas, using central sample data of NSS 55th Round 1999-2000, Cooch Behar district had a rural poverty ratio of 25.62%.
According to a World Bank report, as of 2012, 20-26% of the population of Cooch Behar, Birbhum, Nadia and Hooghly districts were below poverty line, marginally higher than the level of poverty in West Bengal, which had an average 20% of the population below poverty line.

Economy

Livelihood

In the Sitalkuchi CD block in 2011, among the class of total workers, cultivators numbered 41,464 and formed 56.59%, agricultural labourers numbered 21,937 and formed 29.94%, household industry workers numbered 1,436 and formed 1.96% and other workers numbered 8,440 and formed 11.52%.Total workers numbered 73,277 and formed 39.53% of the total population, and non-workers numbered 112,076 and formed 60.47% of the population.
Note: In the census records a person is considered a cultivator, if the person is engaged in cultivation/ supervision of land owned by self/government/institution. When a person who works on another person's land for wages in cash or kind or share, is regarded as an agricultural labourer. Household industry is defined as an industry conducted by one or more members of the family within the household or village, and one that does not qualify for registration as a factory under the Factories Act. Other workers are persons engaged in some economic activity other than cultivators, agricultural labourers and household workers. It includes factory, mining, plantation, transport and office workers, those engaged in business and commerce, teachers, entertainment artistes and so on.

Infrastructure

There are 67 inhabited villages in the Sitalkuchi CD block, as per the District Census Handbook, Cooch Behar, 2011. 100% villages have power supply. 66 villages have drinking water supply. 15 villages have post offices. 58 villages have telephones. 35 villages have pucca approach roads and 19 villages have transport communication. 4 villages have agricultural credit societies and 5 villages have banks.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the primary mode of living in the district. The entire Cooch Behar district has fertile soil and around half of the cultivated land in the district is cropped twice or more. Paddy and jute are the largest producing crops, followed by potatoes, vegetables and pulses. There are 23 tea gardens on glided slopes. There are some coconut, areca nut and betel leaf plantations. 77.6% of the land holdings are marginal.
In 2012-13, there were 100 fertiliser depots, 2 seed stores and 30 fair price shops in the Sitalkuchi CD block.
In 2012–13, the Sitalkuchi CD block produced 47,185 tonnes of Aman paddy, the main winter crop, from 21,223 hectares, 16,575 tonnes of Boro paddy from 5,285 hectares, 525 tonnes of Aus paddy from 341 hectares, 5 tonnes of wheat from 3 hectares, 112,736 tonnes of jute from 8,247 hectares and 35,272 tonnes of potatoes from 1,089 hectares. It also produced pulses and oilseeds.
In 2012-13, the total area irrigated in the Sitalkuchi CD block was 4,637 hectares, out of which 237 hectares were irrigated by private canal water, 395 hectares by tank water, 462 hectares by river lift irrigation, 165 hectares by deep tube wells, 2,574 hectares by shallow tube wells, 86 hectares by open dug wells, 721 hectares by other means.

Pisciculture

Being a river-bound district, pisciculture is an important economic activity in the Cooch Behar district. Almost all the rivers originating in the Himalayas have a lot of fish. The net area under effective pisciculture in 2010-11 in the Sitalkuchi CD block was 120.55 hectares. 18,565 persons were engaged in the profession and approximate annual production was 7,973 quintals.

Banking

In 2012-13, Sitalkuchi CD block had offices of 3 commercial banks and 2 gramin banks.

Transport

Sitalkuchi CD block has 3 originating/ terminating bus routes. The nearest railway station is 36 km from block headquarters.

Education

In 2012-13, Sitalkuchi CD block had 125 primary schools with 18,486 students, 25 middle schools with 12,522 students, 6 high schools with 5,885 students and 9 higher secondary schools with 15,100 students. Sitalkuchi CD block had 1 general degree college with 822 students, 1 technical/ professional institution with 96 students, 332 institutions for special and non-formal education with 18,197 students.
See also – Education in India
According to the 2011 census, in the Sitalkuchi CD block, among the 67 inhabited villages, 5 villages did not have schools, 36 villages had two or more primary schools, 19 villages had at least 1 primary and 1 middle school and 12 villages had at least 1 middle and 1 secondary school.

Healthcare

In 2013, Sitalkuchi CD block had 1 block primary health centre and 2 primary health centres with total 40 beds and 5 doctors. It had 30 family welfare subcentres. 5,356 patients were treated indoor and 34,262patients were treated outdoor in the hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD block.
Sitalkuchi Rural Hospital, with 30 beds at Sitalkuchi village, is the major government medical facility in the Sitalkuchi CD block. There are primary health centres at Chotosalbari and Jatamari.