Barrackpore subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

History

In 1757, the East India Company obtained the zamindari or land-holders rights of the 24 Parganas Zamindari from Mir Jafar, the new Nawab of Bengal. Full proprietary status was handed over to Robert Clive in 1759 by a sanad or deed granting him the 24 Parganas as a jagir. After Clive's death in 1774, full proprietary rights of the 24 Parganas zamindari reverted to the East India Company. In 1814, the district consisted of two parts – the suburbs of Kolkata (referred to as Dihi Panchannagram) and the rest. In 1834, several parganas of Jessore and Nadia were added to the 24 Parganas. The district was divided into two divisions. The Alipore division comprised territories originally ceded to the company and the Barasat division comprised territories added from Jessore and Nadia. The two divisions were replaced by eight subdivisions in 1861 – Diamond Harbour, Baruipur, Alipore, Dum Dum, Barrackpore, Barasat, Basirhat and Satkhira. The Satkhira subdivision was transferred to the newly formed Khulna district in 1882, the Baruipur subdivision was abolished in 1883 and the Dum Dum and Barrackpore subdivisions in 1893. Barrackpore subdivision was reconstituted in 1904 with portions of Barasat and Alipore subdivisions.

Geography

Physical features

Barrackpore subdivision is part of the North Hooghly Flat, one of the three physiographic regions in the district located in the lower Ganges Delta. The country is flat. It is a little raised above flood level and the highest ground borders the river channels.

Subdivisions

North 24 Parganas district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions:

Administrative units

Barrackpore subdivision has 16 police stations, 2 community development blocks, 2 panchayat samitis, 14 gram panchayats, 64 mouzas, 53 inhabited villages, 16 municipalities, 24 census towns and 4 outgrowths. The subdivision has its headquarters at Barrackpore. The municipalities are at Kanchrapara, Halisahar, Naihati, Bhatpara, Garulia, North Barrackpur, Barrackpore, Titagarh, Khardaha, Panihati, New Barrackpore, Kamarhati, Baranagar, Dum Dum, North Dumdum and South Dumdum. The census towns are: Palladaha, Palashi, Nagdaha, Jetia, Balibhara, Dogachhia, Garshyamnagar, Noapara, Kaugachhi, Paltapara, Ichhapur Defence Estate, Babanpur, Jafarpur, Mohanpur, Telenipara, Chak Kanthalia, Ruiya, Patulia, Bandipur, Talbandha, Bilkanda, Muragachha, Teghari and Chandpur.

Religion

Given below is an overview of the religion-wise break-up of the population across the subdivisions of North 24 Parganas district, as per 2011 census: North 24 Parganas district with 24.22% Muslims (in 2001) has been identified as a minority concentrated district by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. A baseline survey on religious minority population has been carried out under the aegis of Indian Council of Social Science Research and funded by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. For information on the survey see North 24 Parganas: minority concentrated district.

Population movement

North 24 Parganas district is densely populated, mainly because of the influx of refugees from East Pakistan (later Bangladesh). With a density of population of 2,182 per km2 in 1971, it was 3rd in terms of density per km2 in West Bengal after Kolkata and Howrah, and 20th in India. According to the District Human Development Report: North 24 Parganas, "High density is also explained partly by the rapid growth of urbanization in the district. In 1991, the percentage of urban population in the district has been 51.23". As per the Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Department of the Government of West Bengal, the census figures show the number of refugees from East Pakistan in 1971 was nearly 6 million and in 1981, the number was assessed at 8 million. A district-wise break-up in 1971, shows the main thrust of the refugee influx was on 24-Parganas (22.3% of the total refugees), Nadia (20.3%), Bankura (19.1%) and Kolkata (12.9%). The North 24 Paraganas district has a 352 km long international border with Bangladesh, out of which 160 km is land border and 192 km is riverine border. Only a small portion of the border has been fenced and it is popularly referred to as a porous border. There are reports of Bangladeshi infiltrators. The CD Block pages carry Decadal Population Growth information. An estimate made in 2000 places the total number of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India at 15 million, with around 0.3 million entering every year. While many immigrants have settled in the border areas, some have moved on, even to far way places such as Mumbai and Delhi. The border is guarded by the Border Security Force. During the UPA government, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, had made a statement in Parliament on 14 July 2004, that there were 12 million illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators living in India, and West Bengal topped the list with 5.7 million Bangladeshis. More recently, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs in the NDA government has put the figure at around 20 million.

Kolkata Urban Agglomeration

The following Municipalities, Census Towns and other locations in Barrackpore subdivision were part of Kolkata Urban Agglomeration in the 2011 census: Kanchrapara (M), Jetia (CT), Halisahar (M), Balibhara (CT), Naihati (M), Bhatpara (M), Kaugachhi (CT), Garshyamnagar (CT), Garulia (M), Ichhapur Defence Estate (CT), North Barrackpur (M), Barrackpur Cantonment (CB), Barrackpore (M), Jafarpur (CT), Ruiya (CT), Titagarh (M), Khardaha (M), Bandipur (CT), Panihati (M), Muragachha (CT) New Barrackpore (M), Chandpur (CT), Talbandha (CT), Patulia (CT), Kamarhati (M), Baranagar (M), South Dumdum (M), North Dumdum (M), Dum Dum (M), Noapara (CT), Babanpur (CT), Teghari (CT), Nanna (OG), Chakla (OG), Srotribati (OG) and Panpur (OG).

Police stations

Police stations in Barrackpore Police Commissionerate have the following features and jurisdiction: Note: The police website does not mention the jurisdiction of the police stations and therefore, we are using the jurisdiction outlined in the District Statistical Handbook 2013.

Blocks

Community development blocks in Barrackpore Subdivision are:

Gram panchayats

The subdivision contains 14 gram panchayats under 2 community development blocks:

Municipal towns/ cities

An overview of the municipal towns and cities in Barrackpore subdivision is given below. Note: The data used in this table in mainly from the District Human Development Report, based on 2001 census data, and may be at variance with the data used in municipal city/ town pages utilising≤ data from District Census Handbook 2011 or other sources. Please bear with the variance.

Education

North 24 Parganas district had a literacy rate of 84.06% (for population of 7 years and above) as per the census of India 2011. Bangaon subdivision had a literacy rate of 80.57%, Barasat Sadar subdivision 84.90%, Barrackpur subdivision 89.09%, Bidhannagar subdivision 89.16% and Basirhat subdivision 75.67%. Given in the table below (data in numbers) is a comprehensive picture of the education scenario in North 24 Parganas district for the year 2012-13: Note: Primary schools include junior basic schools; middle schools, high schools and higher secondary schools include madrasahs; technical schools include junior technical schools, junior government polytechnics, industrial technical institutes, industrial training centres, nursing training institutes etc.; technical and professional colleges include engineering colleges, medical colleges, para-medical institutes, management colleges, teachers training and nursing training colleges, law colleges, art colleges, music colleges etc. Special and non-formal education centres include sishu siksha kendras, madhyamik siksha kendras, centres of Rabindra mukta vidyalaya, recognised Sanskrit tols, institutions for the blind and other handicapped persons, Anganwadi centres, reformatory schools etc. The following institutions are located in Barrackpore subdivision: See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Healthcare

The table below (all data in numbers) presents an overview of the medical facilities available and patients treated in the hospitals, health centres and sub-centres in 2013 in North 24 Parganas district. .* Excluding nursing homes. **Subdivision-wise break up for certain items not available. Medical facilities available in Barrackpore subdivision are as follows: Hospitals: (Name, location, beds) B.N.Bose Subdivisional Hospital, Barrackpore, 200 beds Barrackpore Cantonment Hospital, Barrackpore, 48 beds Barrackpore Police Case Hospital, Barrackpore, 6 beds Police Brigade Hospital, Barrackpore, 120 beds Naihati State General Hospital, Naihati, 131 beds Lalit Mohan Maternity Home, Naihati, 11 beds Bhatpara State General Hospital, Bhatpara, 119 beds Matri Mangal Pratisthan, Bhatpara, 15 beds Kanchrapara Railway Hospital, Kanchrapara, 220 beds Shibani Arogya Niketan, Kanchrapara, 8 beds Municipal Maternity-cun-Child Welfare Hospital, Halisahar, 10 beds ESI Hospital, Kamarhati, 350 beds Sagar Dutta State General Hospital, Kamarhati, 131 beds Panihati State General Hospital, Panihati, 150 beds Panihati Municipal Maternity Home, Panihati, 10 beds Shree Balaram Seva Mandir, Khardaha, 100 beds Baranagar State General Hospital, Baranagar, 100 beds Baranagar Maternity Hospital, Baranagar, 40 beds Dum Dum Central Jail Hospital, Dum Dum, 100 beds Dum Dum Municipal Specialised Hospital, Dum Dum, 105 beds North Dumdum Municipal Hospital, North Dumdum, 32 beds South Dumdum Maternity Home, South Dumdum, 15 beds Rural Hospitals: (Name, block, location, beds) Nanna Rural Hospital, Malancha (via Hazinagar), 30 beds Block Primary Health Centres: (Name, block, location, beds) Bandipur BPHC, Bandipur, 15 beds Primary Health Centres: (CD Block-wise)(CD Block, PHC location, beds) Barrackpore I CD Block: Narayanpur PHC, Kakinara (via Jagatdal) (6) Barrackpore II CD Block: Bilkanda (Teghari) PHC, Muragachha (6), Sultanpur PHC (6) Private Medical Facilities (Name, location, speciality) Sarada Seva Sadan, 114, Barasat Road, Barrackpore (general medicine, gynecology) Disha Eye Hospital, 88 (63A), Ghoshpara Road, Barrackpore (ophthalmology, pediatric ophthalmology) Disha Cataract and Refractive Surgi Centre, 130B, Ghoshpara Road, Barrackpore (ophthalmology, pediatric ophthalmology) ILS Hospitals, Mall Road, Khudiram Bose Sarani, Dum Dum (cardiology, nephrology, general medicine, dermatology, urology etc.)

Electoral constituencies

Lok Sabha (parliamentary) and Vidhan Sabha (state assembly) constituencies in Barrackpore subdivision were as follows: