Hazaribagh district is spread over a part of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The central plateau, averaging a height of, occupies the central part of the district. On all sides, except on the western side, it is surrounded by the lower plateau, averaging a height of, the surface being undulating. In the north and the north-west the lower plateau forms a fairly level tableland till the ghats, when the height drops to about and slopes down gradually. The Damodar and the Barakar form the two main watersheds in the district. DVC has constructed the Konar Dam across the Konar River. It is a forested district with cultivation as the main occupation of the people. Coal is the main mineral found in this district. China clay is also found in this district. Inaugurating the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in 2016, Raghubar Das, Chief Minister of Jharkhand, had indicated that there were 23 lakhBPL families in Jharkhand. There was a plan to bring the BPL proportion in the total population down to 35%.
Maoist activities
Right from its inception in 2000. Jharkhand was a “laboratory” for Naxalites to experiment with their ideas of establishing a parallel government. As of 2005, 16 of the 22 districts in the state, including Hazaribagh district, was transformed into a “guerrilla zone”. The movement was not restricted to armed operations but included kangaroo courts called Jan adalats, elected village bodies and people's police. Jharkhand, with a dense forest cover over a large part of the state, offers a favourable terrain for the Naxalites to build their bases and operate. Annual fatalities in Jharkhand were 117 in 2003 and 150 in 2004. In 2013 Jharkhand was considered one of the two states in the country most affected by Left wing extremism and Jharkhand police set up an exclusive cell to deal with Maoist activities. However, in the same year, when Jharkhand police identified 13 focus areas for combating Maoist extremism, Hazaribagh district was not one of them.
Geography
Bishnugarh is located at. It has an average elevation of. Bishnugarh CD Block is bounded by Bagodar CD Block, in Giridih district, on the north and a portion of the east, Dumri CD Block, in Giridih district, on a portion of the east, Nawadih, Bermo and Gomia CD Blocks, in Bokaro district, on the south, and Tati Jhariya and Barkatha CD Blocks on the west. As of 2001, Bishnugarh CD Block had an area of 519.55 km2. As of 2011, Bishnugarh CD Block had 24 gram panchayats, 89 inhabited villages and 2 census towns.Bishnugarh police station serves this CD Block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Bishnugarh. It is located 45 km east of Hazaribagh, the district headquarters.
Demographics
Population
As per the 2011 Census of India, Bishnugarh CD Block had a total population of 156,477, of which 146,351 were rural and 10,126 were urban. There were 79,009 males and 77,468 females. Population below 6 years was 27,438. Scheduled Castes numbered 17,254 and Scheduled Tribes numbered 15,685. Census towns in Bishnugarh CD Block are : Bishnugarh and Cherra. Large villages in Bishnugarh CD Block are : Gobindpur Kalan, Barai, Achaljamu, Nawada, Banaso, Chano, Marmo and Kharki.
is the official language in Jharkhand and Urdu has been declared as an additional official language. Jharkhand legislature had passed a bill according the status of a second official language to several languages in 2011 but the same was turned down by the Governor. The three most populous mother-tongues, as per data available from 2001 census in a Note on mother-tongue of earlier census, published in District Census Handbook Hazaribag, 2011, were: Khortha, Hindi and Urdu. Numerically, five important scheduled tribes in the district were: Santali, Oraon, Munda, Karmali and Bedia.
Economy
Livelihood
In Bishnugarh CD Block in 2011, amongst the class of total workers, cultivators numbered 35,492 and formed 48.10%, agricultural labourers numbered 22,559 and formed 30.57%, household industry workers numbered 2,222 and formed 3.01% and other workers numbered 13,519 and formed 18.32%. Total workers numbered 73,792 and formed 47.16% of the total population, and non-workers numbered 82,685 and formed 52.84% 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. 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 89 inhabited villages in Bishnugarh CD Block. In 2011, 61 villages had power supply. 2 villages had tap water, 88 villages had well water, 85 villages had hand pumps, and 1 village had no drinking water facility. 13 villages had post offices, 10 villages had sub post offices, 5 villages had telephones and 50 villages had mobile phone coverage. 89 villages had pucca village roads, 22 villages had bus service, 5 villages had autos/ modified autos, and 36 villages had tractors. 6 villages had bank branches, 3 villages had agricultural credit societies, no village had cinema/ video hall, 1 village had public library and public reading room. 32 villages had public distribution system, 8 villages had weekly haat and 38 villages had assemblypolling stations.
Forestry and agriculture
The main occupation of the people of Hazaribagh district is cultivation. While forests occupy around 45% of the total area, the cultivable area forms about 39% of the total area. The forests are uniformly spread across the district. Sal is the predominant species in the jungles. Other species are: bamboo, khair, sali, semal, mahua, tamarind, mango, black-berry, peepal, karnaj, jack-fruit, margosa, kusum, palas, kend, asan, piar and bhelwa. Hazaribag Wildlife Sanctuary is located around 19 km north of Hazaribag. Irrigation facilities in this hilly area are inadequate and generally farmers depend on rain for their cultivation. The land situated along the river banks, or low land, is fertile but the uplands are generally barren. May to October is Kharif season, followed by Rabi season. Rice is the main crop of the district. Other important crops grown are: bazra, maize, pulses and oilseeds. Limited quantities of cash crops, such as sugar cane, are grown.
Cottage industry
A center for brassware was or is planned to be established here since at least 20 July 2009
Hazaribagh district is listed as a backward region and receives financial support from the Backward Regions Grant Fund. The fund, created by the Government of India, is designed to redress regional imbalances in development. As of 2012, 272 districts across the country were listed under this scheme. The list includes 21 districts of Jharkhand.
Transport
The Gomia road meets Hazaribagh-Hazaribagh Road railway station road at Bishnugarh. The former goes near Konar Dam and the latter meets NH 19 at Bagodar, around 13 km away.
Education
In 2011, amongst the 89 inhabited villages in Bishnugarh CD Block, 17 villages had no primary school, 49 villages had one primary school and 23 villages had more than one primary school. 35 villages had at least one primary school and one middle school. 4 villages had at least one middle school and one secondary school.
Healthcare
In 2011, amongst the 89 inhabited villages in Bishnugarh CD Block, 5 villages had primary health centres, 11 villages had primary health sub-centres, 2 villages had maternity and child welfare centres, 3 villages had allopathic hospitals, 1 village had alternative medicine hospital, 2 village had dispensaries, 5 villages had medicine shops and 71 villages had no medical facilities.
