III. BACK GROUND INFORMATION

OF THE DISTRICT

3.1 GENERAL FEATURES OF THE DISTRICT

West Singhbhum came into being in the year 1989-90, after East Singhbhum, district was carved out of the erstwhile-undivided Singhbhum district. Again in April 2001 the West Singhbhum was divided into two districts, North part of the West Singhbhum i.e. eight Blocks of Seraikela division was separated and became Seraikela-Kharswan district. Geographically, the district is situated between north latitude 21⁰ 58’ and 23⁰ 56’and East longitude 85⁰ & 86⁰. The district forms part of the southern fringe of the Chhotanagpur plateau and is highly upland tract. There are hills alternating with plains, steep mountains, and deep forests on the mountain slope. The altitude varies 205 to 610 meters above mean sea level with hills and hillocks, valleys and rivers. The average elevation (altitude) is 244 meters above mean sea level. In the North side of the district is Seraikella-Kharswan district, south side of the district in surrounded by parts of Orissa state in its east side East Singhbhum and parts of orissa state and in the West side it has Ranchi district and part of orissa state. The geographical area of the district is 5.19 lakh hectare.

For administrative convenience, the district has been divided into two subdivisions namely Chaibasa Sadar and Chakradharpur. Chaibasa being the districts headquarter all district level office are located here. The district has 15 blocks, 204 Panachayats and 1692 revenue villages .The detailed description was given in the table No. 3.1 The important towns of the district are Chaibasa and Chakradharpur.

Agriculture is the main stay of the economy of the district. However, the agriculture is mainly for subsistence and it is yet to be taken up on a commercial basis due to lack of irrigation and other infrastructure bottlenecks.

The district is endowed with abundant mineral and forest resources. Iron ore mines are located in Noamundi, Manoharpur blocks. Other minerals those are available in the district include limestone, china clay, Manganese, soapstones etc.

West Singhbhum is one of the richest districts of Jharkhand in forest resources.

The species of forest trees, which are found in the district, include Sal, Dhaura, Mahua ,

Kendu, Bamboo, Asan, Karan etc. The major products of forest include timber, poles, firewood, Sal Seed, Mahua Seed, Sabai grass.

The district prominently figures in the industrial map of Jharkhand .The industrial centers include Jhinkpani (ACC cement Plant) , Chakradharpur (SSI industy like LOC Industry , Biscuit Manufacturing Industry etc.)

Table 3.1 Block Wise Geographical Information of Villages & Panchayat

Sl. No.	Name of the Block	Geographical Area	No. of Gram Panchayat	No. of villages
1	Chaibasa	15778.36	9	77
2	Khuntpani	35129.65	12	116
3	Tantnagar	20808.10	11	76
4	Manjhari	31371.64	12	64
5	Manjhgaon	27988.18	12	88
6	Kumardungi	37801.30	12	83
7	Jhinkpani	27874.48	10	51
8	Jagannathpur	30891.96	14	89
9	Tonto	38934.04	11	84
10	Noamundi	41130.32	11	71
11	Chakradharpur	38756.25	18	183
12	Sonua	47215.86	18	172
13	Goilkera`	31583.26	18	166
14	Manoharpur	56046.74	20	156
15	Bandgaon	38515.22	16	216
	Total	519825.36	204	1692

3.2 Socio-Economic Features

Demographic Pattern : The total population of the district is 12,31,958 as per 2001 census, of which 6,18,073 are male 6,13,885 are female. The population density per square KM is 237 with sex ratio of 993 per 1000 males. The scheduled tribe population constitutes 65.31% and scheduled cast constitutes 4.68% of the total population of the district. The block wise demographic pattern of the district is given in table 3.2

Table 3.2 Block Wise Area Demographic Pattern Of West Singhbhum

Sl.No	Block	Total Population (Census 2001)	% of Literacy	Sex wise		Workers No.		Category wise
Sl.No	Block	Total Population (Census 2001)	% of Literacy	Total No. of Male	Total No. of Female	Agriculture	Non-Agriculture	SC	ST	Others
1	Sadar Chaibasa	136006	57.84	69844	66162	19929	18086	5788	59615	48667
2	Khuntpani	63544	33.85	31431	32113	20309	2473	779	47642	8904
3	Tantnagar	48654	33.45	24183	24471	14630	870	647	32966	9786
4	Manjhgaon	54093	28.43	26751	27342	19015	859	1005	37555	4839
5	Manjhari	56670	32.70	27953	28717	19100	1698	1124	35275	12504
6	Kumardungi	66696	28.76	32793	33903	23239	1476	1385	44269	2846
7	Jhinkpani	72901	34.58	36200	36701	18455	5091	2619	40421	21237
8	Jagannathpur	84565	39.09	42252	42313	22039	5370	4714	41493	26686
9	Tonto	53911	24.52	26921	26990	16584	1287	1520	38143	6739
10	Nuamundi	99812	44.85	50986	48826	14578	13400	7105	46520	32607
11	Chakradharpur	168922	49.73	85099	83823	35910	16237	9214	69313	71813
12	Sonua	81266	33.20	40649	40617	25633	4148	4432	48529	20319
13	Goelkera	76535	25.91	38278	38257	23897	2121	1318	56223	8821
14	Manoharpur	103096	36.75	51925	51171	27824	5786	5295	59787	24649
15	Bandgaon	65287	31.17	32808	32479	20958	1723	3549	48419	8566
*TOTAL*		*1231958*	*35.66*	*618073*	*613885*	*322100*	*80625*	*50494*	*706170*	*308983*

LITERACY : The block wise literacy rate was given in table 3.2. The overall literacy rate of the district is 38.54%

OCCUPATION : The percentage of main workers to total population of the district is 37.2 and the percentage of agricultural labour to total main workers is 79.98%. The block wise information on workforce engaged in different occupations is given in table 3.2

HOUSEHOLDS : There are total 1692 villages in the district in which 47 villages are un-inhabited. The block wise details are given in table 3.3

Table 3.3 Block wise Information on Villages

Sl. No.	Block	No. of Villages		Total
Sl. No.	Block	Inhabited	Un-inhabited	Total
1	Sadar Chaibasa	76	01	77
2	Khuntpani	116	-	116
3	Tantnagar	76	-	76
4	Manjhgaon	87	01	88
5	Manjhari	64	-