Dakshin Dinajpur district

South Dinajpur district

South Dinajpur or Dakshin Dinajpur (দক্ষিণ দিনাজপুর) is a district of West Bengal state of India. The district was created on April 1, 1992. The district comprises Balurghat, Gangarampur sub-divisions and Kushmandi and Banshihari blocks.

History

The erstwhile Dinajpur District, at the time of the partition of India, was split up into West Dinajpur and East Dinajpur. The East Dinajpur district, now called Dinajpur, is now in Bangladesh. The West Dinajpur district was enlarged in 1956 at the time of reorganisation of the State with the addition of some areas of Bihar. The district was bifurcated into Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur on April 1, 1992.

Economy

Dakshin Dinajpur is predominantly an agricultural district with large area of land being under cultivation. The district is drained by a number of North-South flowing river like Atreyee, Punarbhaba, Tangon and Brahmani, to give rise to a sizeable but unorganized fishing community. Dakshin Dinajpur is a "Non Industry" district having no large scale industry. The first industry in medium scale sector got off to a start in the district in November, 2003. Transport and Communication facilities are not very satisfactory. Communication facilities include wireless and mobile telephony. Internet access is available from most of the cities, even though broadband connections are not available. As for transport, there is one State Highway with only 3 km of National Highway No. 34 falling within the district. A new railway line has been laid between Eklakhi and Balurghat, the district headquarter. Train services has been started on December 30, 2004.

Demographics

Bengali is the principal language of the district. The principal communities are Hindus and Muslims, constituting the major portion of the population.

Education

The Dinajpur city does not have any Engineering or Medical College. But it does have a few good schools including the The Atreyee English Medium School, in Balurghat. Many other Government schools also exist throughout the district. Balurghat College is the most popular college in the district. A Government-funded girls' college also exists in Balurghat. Balurghat also has a law college and a B.Ed college.