Uttar Dinajpur district

Uttar Dinajpur district or North Dinajpur district (উত্তর দিনাজপুর জেলা) (uttar meaning North) came into existence on 1992-04-01 after the bifurcation of erstwhile West Dinajpur District.

Geography
Uttar Dinajpur district lies between latitude 25°11' N to 26°49' N and longitude 87°49' E to 90°00' E occupying an area of 3142 km² enclosed by Panchagarh, Thakurgaon and Dinajpur districts of Bangladesh on the east, Kishanganj, Purnia and Katihar districts of Bihar on the west, Darjeeling district and Jalpaiguri district on the north and Malda district and Dakshin Dinajpur district on the south. Uttar Dinajpur is well connected with the rest of the state through National Highways, State Highways and Railways. NH-31 and NH-34 pass through the heart of the district.

The regional topography is generally flat with a gentle southerly slope towards which the main rivers like Kulik, Nagar, Mahananda. The District forms a part of the basin lying between Rajmahal hills on the east. The older alluvium is estimated to be Pleistocene age. Uttar Dinajpur is bestowed with a very fertile soil. The soil is very rich in nature due to the alluvial deposition which helps to grow Paddy, Jute, Mesta and Sugarcane etc. Raiganj on the banks of the River Kulik is the District Headquarters where the "Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary", the second largest bird sanctuary in Asia, is situated.

In Uttar Dinajpur district, there are 2 sub-divisions, Raiganj and Islampur, 110 km apart from each other. There are 4 Municipalities, 9 Blocks and 99 Panchayats covering 1577 villages. The total population is nearly 25 lakh (2.5 million), consisting mainly of rural masses. Bengali is the main language but a sizeable number of Urdu, Hindi and Maithilispeaking people live in Islampur sub-division.

Subdivisions
The district comprises two subdivisions: Raiganj and Islampur. Raiganj consists of Raiganj municipality, Kaliaganj municipality and four community development blocs: Hemtabad, Itahar, Kaliganj and Raiganj. Islampur subdivision consists of Islampur and Dalkhola municipalities and five community development blocs: Chopra, Goalpokhar–I, Goalpokhar–II, Islampur and Karandighi. Raiganj is the district headquarters. There are 9 police stations, 9 development blocks, 4 municipalities, 98 gram panchayats and 1516 villages in this district.

Other than municipality area, each subdivision contains community development blocs which in turn are divided into rural areas and census towns. In total there are 10 urban units: 4 municipalities and 2 census towns. Raiganj and Kasba form an urban agglomeration. Dalkhola was a census town in census 2001, but it was promoted to be a municipality in 2003.

Raiganj subdivision

 * Raiganj: municipality
 * Kaliaganj: municipality
 * Hemtabad (Community development block) consists of rural areas only with 5 gram panchayats.
 * Itahar (Community development block) consists of rural areas only with 12 gram panchayats.
 * Kaliaganj (Community development block) consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats.
 * Raiganj (Community development block) consists of rural areas with 14 gram panchayats and two census towns: Nachhratpur Katabari and Kasba.

Islampur subdivision

 * Islampur: municipality
 * Dalkhola: municipality
 * Chopra (Community development block) consists of rural areas only with 8 gram panchayats.
 * Goalpokhar I (Community development block) consists of rural areas only with 14 gram panchayats.
 * Goalpokhar II (Community development block) consists of rural areas only with 11 gram panchayats.
 * Islampur (Community development block) consists of rural areas only with 13 gram panchayats.
 * Karandighi (Community development block) consists of rural areas only with 13 gram panchayats.

Assembly constituencies
The district is divided into 7 assembly constituencies:
 * 1) Chopra (assembly constituency no. 27),
 * 2) Islampur (assembly constituency no. 28),
 * 3) Goalpokhar (assembly constituency no. 29),
 * 4) Karandighi (assembly constituency no. 30),
 * 5) Raiganj (SC) (assembly constituency no. 31),
 * 6) Kaliaganj (SC) (assembly constituency no. 32) and
 * 7) Itahar (assembly constituency no. 34).

Raiganj and Kaliaganj constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Along with five assembly constituencies from Darjeeling district, Chopra and Islampur constituencies form the Darjeeling (Lok Sabha constituency). Goalpokhar, Karandighi, Raiganj and Itahar constituencies are part of the Raiganj (Lok Sabha constituency), which also contains three assembly constituencies from Malda district. Along with six assembly constituencies from South Dinajpur district, Kaliaganj forms the Balurghat (Lok Sabha constituency), which is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates.

Impact of delimitation of constituencies
As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the district will be divided into 9 assembly constituencies:
 * 1) Chopra (assembly constituency no. 28),
 * 2) Islampur (assembly constituency no. 29),
 * 3) Goalpokhar (assembly constituency no. 30),
 * 4) Chakulia (assembly constituency no. 31),
 * 5) Karandighi (assembly constituency no. 32),
 * 6) Hemtabad (SC) (assembly constituency no. 33),
 * 7) Kaliaganj (SC) (assembly constituency no. 34),
 * 8) Raiganj (assembly constituency no. 35) and
 * 9) Itahar (assembly constituency no. 36).

Hemtabad and Kaliaganj constituencies will be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. Along with six assembly constituencies from Darjeeling district, Chopra constituency will form the Darjeeling (Lok Sabha constituency). Islampur, Goalpokhar, Chakulia, Karandighi, Hemtabad, Kaliaganj and Raiganj constituencies will form the Raiganj (Lok Sabha constituency). Along with six assembly constituencies from South Dinajpur district, Itahar will form the Balurghat (Lok Sabha constituency).

NGO's
Whereas there are many NGOs working the district, the most prominent are Child In Need Institute (CINI)the Lions Club of Raiganj, the Social Welfare Institute and St. John's Ambulance Association and Jalpaiguri HRIDAY. It was during the Indo-Pak war of 1971, the Diocese of Dumka, feeling the need of relief operations, specially for the immigrants, began the Social Welfare Institute in the heart of the town. People began to call this as "Caritas". Following the massive relief operations, SWI began to focus its attention on strengthening of the people of West Dinajpur district as it was then known. Fr. Yvo La Ferla, S.J., who was the founder-director of the organization, mobilized the young and the volunteers of Raiganj town to form the Lions Club and St. John's Ambulance, later also the Young Men Association. This is the beginning of the story of NGOs in one of the backward districts of West Bengal. Child In Need Institute (CINI),national level non-profit organization has been facilitating few project in Uttar Dinajpur with its aim " Sustainable Development in Health, Education, Nutrition and Protection for Child, Adolescent and Woman in Need". Woman & child friendly community is CINI's Dream."Peoples health in peoples hand" is the main motto. Link workers Scheme is Addressing Rural High Risk group to halt the HIV infection and creating health society for positive people. it is supported By WBSAPCS and NACO. Community Health Care Management Infinitive (CHCMI) is another intervention to create urge among the people to take responsibility and make good health for all and raise voice our health is our hand. Capacity building of PRI,GUS and SHG is major thrust of this programme, supported By Panchayat & rural Develoment,West Bengal.

Shripur Mahila-O-Khadi Unnayan Samity (SMOKUS) developed as a women’s organization in 1990. It has provided health protection to the disabled people, support to rural women of SC, ST & Minority groups and increased mother and child health service. It focuses on rights of women and children, sustainable environment, literacy, youth affairs and natural calamities. Some of the activities are: • Anti-trafficking of women and young girls in 75 Villages and has rescued 52 women besides forming District level Anti Trafficking forum of women along with some CSOs. • Village and Panchayat level women groups’ alliances in 55 Villages to raise voice of marginalized community and to demand rights • Strengthened women SHGs on income generation, leadership, and disaster preparedness • Capacity building of 20 adolescent girls groups to prevent early marriage, create awareness on reproductive and sexual health and raise gender rights. • Established two schools for child laborers

SMOKUS has partnered with Center for Knowledge and Skills for development programs and networking towards eradication of extreme poverty from the masses.

The "Bharat Sevashram Sangha", a prominent charitable, philanthropic organisation founded by the illustrious patriot saint of modern India Acharya Srimat Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj (1896–1941) in 1917 at Bajitpur (Now in Bangladesh, Madaripur District), has a big regional centre in Raigunj and a functional one in Islampur. They are very active in flood relief work.

Jalpaiguri HRIDAY established a Ten Bedded Community Care Centre for HIV positive people i.e. PLWHA from CBCI with the partnership of the National AIDS Control Organisation, a ministry of Health & Family Welfare Department, Govt. of India & PFI for the care & support of PLHAs.