List of districts of West Bengal

Districts of West Bengal

The Himalayas lies in the north of West Bengal and the Bay of Bengal is at the south. Between them, the river Ganga flows eastwards and its main distributary, the Hooghly River, flows south to reach the Bay of Bengal. The Siliguri Corridor, which connects North-East India with rest of the India, lies in the North Bengal region of the state. Geographically, West Bengal is divided into a variety of regions—Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, Terai and Dooars region, North Bengal plains, Rarh region, Western plateau and high lands, coastal plains, Sundarbans and the Ganga Delta. ^[1]

In 1947, when India gained independence, the state of West Bengal was formed, with 14 districts, as per partition plan of the then Bengal province of British India. ^{[2] [3]} The former princely state Koch Bihar joined as a district on 26 January 1950, ^[4] and the former French enclave Chandannagore joined as part of the Hooghly district in 1954. ^[5] The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 led to addition of Purulia district to the state and to enlargement of West Dinajpur district. ^[6] Later, larger districts such as West Dinajpur, 24 Parganas and Midnapore were bifurcated.

West Bengal is now divided into 23 districts which includes the newly formed Alipurduar district (formed on 25 June 2014), Kalimpong district (formed on 14 February 2017), Jhargram district (formed on 4 April 2017), and the splitting of the former Bardhaman district into Purba Bardhaman district and Paschim Bardhaman district (formed on 7 April 2017). The districts are grouped into five divisions. ^{[7] [8]}

Divisions are administered by Divisional Commissioners. ^[9] Kolkata, the capital of the state, constitutes the Kolkata district. Other districts are further divided into administrative units such as subdivisions and blocks, administered by SDO and BDO, respectively. The Panchayati Raj has a three-tier structure in the state. The atomic unit is called a Gram Panchayat, which is the Panchayat organisation for a collection of villages. ^[10] The block-level organisations are called Panchayat Samiti, ^[11] and the district-level organisations are named Zilla Parishad. ^[12]

The West Bengal cabinet has approved the creation of seven new districts on 1 August 2022. This will number district from 23 to 30. ^[13] New Sundarban District from existing South 24 Parganas District, new Ichhamati District and Basirhat District from existing North 24 Parganas District. New Ranaghat District from existing Nadia District and Bishnupur District from existing Bankura district. While new Jangipur District and Berhampore district from existing Murshidabad District will be carved out.

Geography

Main article: Geography of West Bengal

West Bengal is bordered by three countries: Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh; and five Indian states: Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Assam. Sikkim and Bhutan are located to the north of the state, Nepal to the northwest, Bihar and Jharkhand in the west, Odisha in the southwest, the Bay of Bengal to the south, and Bangladesh and Assam are in the east. West Bengal is the only state of India that has both snowy mountains (Himalayas in the north) and sea beaches (on the coast of the Bay of Bengal in the south). In between them, the river Ganga enters the state from west, before it branches off into its main distributaries: the Hooghly River, which flows southwards to reach the Bay of Bengal, and the Padma River, which flows eastwards into Bangladesh.

The districts that are located at the north of the Ganga—Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Alipurduar and Kalimpong — are often referred to collectively as North Bengal. Kalimpong is a newly added district of West Bengal. ^[1] Geographically, this area is divided into the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Terai and Dooars region, and the North Bengal plains. ^[1] The Siliguri Corridor, also known as Chicken's Neck, which connects North-East India with rest of the India, lies in this region. The Indo-Bangladesh enclaves are either enclaves or exclaves of the Cooch Behar district or the Jalpaiguri district. ^[14]

The districts on the south of the Ganges—Bankura, Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Bardhaman, Birbhum, Purulia, Murshidabad, Nadia, West Midnapore, Jhargram, East Midnapore, Hooghly, Howrah, Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas—constitute a variety of geographical regions such as the Rarh region, the Western plateau and high lands, the coastal plains, the Sunderbans and the Ganga Delta. ^[1] Kolkata, the capital of the state, constitutes the Kolkata district.

The uninhabited South Talpatti Island, which surfaced in the Bay of Bengal in the 1970s near the Indo-Bangladesh border, is claimed by both India and Bangladesh. ^[15]

History

After India gained independence in 1947, the province of Bengal was partitioned along religious lines. The western part remained in India (and was named West Bengal) while the eastern part joined newly formed Pakistan as a province called East Pakistan (later giving rise to Bangladesh in 1971). ^[2] At the time of its creation in 1947, the state of West Bengal was divided into 14 districts—Bankura, Birbhum, Burdwan, Calcutta (Kolkata), Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Hooghly, Howrah, Malda, Midnapore, Murshidabad, Nadia, West Dinajpur and 24 Parganas. ^[3] Cooch Behar district was a princely state named Koch Bihar till 20 August 1949, when the state formally agreed to join India. Transfer of administration was started on 12 September 1949 and was completed on 19 January 1950, when Cooch Behar became a district of West Bengal. ^[4] Chandannagar, which was earlier part of the French India, had voted to join India in a plebiscite in 1949. Formally, it joined India in 1952 and finally became a part of the Hooghly district of West Bengal on 2 October 1954. ^[5] The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 reorganised boundaries of the Indian states along linguistic lines. As this act was implemented, the then West Dinajpur district was enlarged with the addition of some areas from Bihar, and the Purulia district was formed on 1 November 1956 from parts of the Manbhum district of Bihar. ^[6]

Later, some large districts were divided into smaller districts. On 1 March 1986, the district of 24 Parganas was bifurcated into two districts—the North 24 Parganas district and the South 24 Parganas district. ^[16] On 1 April 1992, the West Dinajpur district was bifurcated into the Uttar Dinajpur district and the Dakshin Dinajpur district. ^{[17] [18]} On 1 January 2002, the erstwhile Midnapore district was bifurcated into the Purba Medinipur district and the Paschim Medinipur district. ^[19]

Since 2007, the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state has been revived by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and its supporters in the Darjeeling hills. ^[20] The Kamtapur People's Party and its supporters' movement for a separate Kamtapur state that covers the North Bengal has also gained momentum in the 2000s. ^[21]

Administrative structure

Divisions of West Bengal

A district is governed by a District Collector, who is better known as a District Magistrate (DM) in the state of West Bengal. ^[22] A DM is an officer from either Indian Administrative Service (IAS) or West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS), and is appointed by the State Government of West Bengal. ^[22] Each district is divided into subdivisions, except the Kolkata district, which contains urban area only, administered by Kolkata Municipal Corporation. A subdivision is governed by a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), better known as a Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO). ^[23] Other than urban units such as town municipalities, a subdivision contains 'community development blocks' (also known as CD blocks or blocks or Tehsil or Taluka). A block consists of urban units such as census towns and rural units called gram panchayats. A block is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO),who is similar as Tehsildar and who is appointed by the Government of West Bengal. ^[22]

A gram panchayat, which consists of a group of villages, is administered by a village council headed by a Pradhan . ^[10] As per the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973, each Block has a Panchayat Samiti, whose members include the Pradhans of the constituent gram panchayats, and the MLAs from the block. ^[11] A Panchayat Samiti is headed by a Sabhapati. ^[24] The third tier of the Panchayati Raj is Zilla Parishad, a district level organisation with the Sabhapatis of the constituent Panchayat Samitis and the MLAs from the district as its members. ^[12] A Zilla Parishad is headed by a Sabhadhipati. ^[25] For the Darjeeling district, the Zilla Parishad has ceased to exist, but a similar organisation for the Siliguri subdivision exists, which is designated as a Mahakuma Parishad. ^[26]

The Gorkha Hill Council, formed in 1988, administers three (out of four) subdivisions of the Darjeeling district: Darjeeling Sadar, Kalimpong and Kurseong. ^[27] Gorkha Hill Council manages the departments of Public Health, Education, Public Works, Transport, Tourism, Market, Small scale industries, Agriculture, Agricultural waterways, Forest (except reserved forests), Water, Livestock, Vocational Training and Sports and Youth services. ^[28] District administration of Darjeeling, which is still responsible for election, panchayat, law and order, revenue etc., also acts as an interface between the Council and the State Government. ^[28]

A District Superintendent of Police, better known as a Superintendent of Police, heads the District Police organisation of West Bengal Police. This is as per the Police Act of 1861, which is applicable to the whole of India. ^[29] The Superintendents of Police are officers of the Indian Police Service. ^[30] For every subdivision, there is a Subdivision Police, headed by a Police officer of the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police or Deputy Superintendent of Police. ^[31] Under subdivisions, there are Police Circles, each headed by an Inspector of Police. ^[31] A Police Circle consists of Police Stations, each headed by an Inspector of Police, or in case of rural areas, by a Sub-Inspector of Police. ^[31]

The Calcutta High Court has the jurisdiction of the state of West Bengal. Though most of the districts have more courts other than a District Court, not every subdivision of the state has a Court. ^[32]

A group of districts forms a division, which is administered by a 'Divisional Commissioner'. West Bengal is now divided in twenty three districts, grouped under five divisions: ^[9]

Malda division	Burdwan division	Jalpaiguri division	Presidency division	Medinipur division
Malda district Uttar Dinajpur district Dakshin Dinajpur district Murshidabad district	Birbhum district Hooghly district Paschim Bardhaman district Purba Bardhaman district	Alipurduar district Cooch Behar district Darjeeling district Jalpaiguri district Kalimpong district	Howrah district Kolkata district Nadia district North 24 Parganas district (Uttar 24 Parganas) South 24 Parganas district (Dakshin 24 Parganas)	Bankura district Jhargram district Purulia district Purba Medinipur district Paschim Medinipur district

Alphabetical listing of West Bengal Districts

Sl no.	Code [33]	District	Headquarters [34]	Established [35]	Subdivisions [9]	Area [36]	Population 2011 [update] [36]	Population Density	Map
1	AD	Alipurduar	Alipurduar	2014 [19]	Alipurduar Sadar	3,383 km2 (1,306 sq mi)	1,491,250	441/km2 (1,140/sq mi)
2	BN	Bankura	Bankura	1947	Bankura Sadar Khatra Bishnupur	6,882 km2 (2,657 sq mi)	3,596,674	523/km2 (1,350/sq mi)
3	BR	Paschim Bardhaman	Asansol	2017	Asansol Sadar Durgapur	1,603.17 km2 (618.99 sq mi)	2,882,031	1,798/km2 (4,660/sq mi)
4	BR	Purba Bardhaman	Bardhaman	2017	Kalna Katwa Bardhaman Sadar North Bardhaman Sadar South	5,432.69 km2 (2,097.57 sq mi)	4,835,532	890/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
5	BI	Birbhum	Suri	1947	Suri Sadar Bolpur Rampurhat	4,545 km2 (1,755 sq mi)	3,502,404	771/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
6	KB	Cooch Behar	Cooch Behar	1950 [4]	Cooch Behar Sadar Dinhata Mathabhanga Mekhliganj Tufanganj	3,387 km2 (1,308 sq mi)	2,819,086	833/km2 (2,160/sq mi)
7	DA	Darjeeling	Darjeeling	1947	Darjeeling Sadar Kurseong Siliguri Mirik	2,092.5 km2 (807.9 sq mi)	1,595,181	732/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
8	DD	Dakshin Dinajpur	Balurghat	1992 [18]	Balurghat Sadar Gangarampur	2,219 km2 (857 sq mi)	1,676,276	755/km2 (1,960/sq mi)
9	HG	Hooghly	Chinsura	1947	Chinsurah Sadar Chandannagore Srirampore Arambagh	3,149 km2 (1,216 sq mi)	5,519,145	1,753/km2 (4,540/sq mi)
10	HR	Howrah	Howrah	1947	Howrah Sadar Uluberia	1,467 km2 (566 sq mi)	4,850,029	3,306/km2 (8,560/sq mi)
11	JP	Jalpaiguri	Jalpaiguri	1947	Jalpaiguri Sadar Malbazar	2,844 km2 (1,098 sq mi)	2,381,596	837/km2 (2,170/sq mi)
12	JH	Jhargram	Jhargram	2017 [4]	Jhargram Sadar	3,037.64 km2 (1,172.84 sq mi)	1,136,548	374/km2 (970/sq mi)
13	KO	Kolkata	Kolkata	1947	Kolkata	185 km2 (71 sq mi)	4,496,694	24,306/km2 (62,950/sq mi)
14	KA	Kalimpong	Kalimpong	2017 [19]	Kalimpong Sadar	1,044 km2 (403 sq mi)	251,642	241/km2 (620/sq mi)
15	MA	Malda	English Bazar	1947	Chanchal Malda Sadar	3,733 km2 (1,441 sq mi)	3,988,845	1,069/km2 (2,770/sq mi)
16	ME	Paschim Medinipur	Medinipur	2002 [19]	Kharagpur Medinipur Sadar Ghatal	6,308 km2 (2,436 sq mi)	4,776,909	757/km2 (1,960/sq mi)
17	ME	Purba Medinipur	Tamluk	2002 [19]	Tamluk Sadar Haldia Egra Contai	4,736 km2 (1,829 sq mi)	5,095,875	1,076/km2 (2,790/sq mi)
18	MU	Murshidabad	Baharampur	1947	Barhampur Sadar Domkol Lalbag Kandi Jangipur	5,324 km2 (2,056 sq mi)	7,103,807	1,334/km2 (3,460/sq mi)
19	NA	Nadia	Krishnanagar	1947	Krishnanagar Sadar Kalyani Ranaghat Tehatta	3,927 km2 (1,516 sq mi)	5,167,601	1,316/km2 (3,410/sq mi)
20	PN	North 24 Parganas	Barasat	1986 [16]	Barrackpore Barasat Sadar Bangaon Basirhat Bidhannagar	4,094 km2 (1,581 sq mi)	10,009,781	2,445/km2 (6,330/sq mi)
21	PS	South 24 Parganas	Alipore	1986 [16]	Baruipur Canning Diamond Harbour Kakdwip Alipore Sadar	9,960 km2 (3,850 sq mi)	8,161,961	819/km2 (2,120/sq mi)
22	PU	Purulia	Purulia	1956 [6]	Purulia Sadar Manbazar [37] Raghunathpur Jhalda	6,259 km2 (2,417 sq mi)	2,930,115	468/km2 (1,210/sq mi)
23	UD	Uttar Dinajpur	Raiganj	1992 [17]	Raiganj Sadar Islampur	3,140 km2 (1,210 sq mi)	3,007,134	958/km2 (2,480/sq mi)
—	Total	23	—	—	69	88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi)	91,347,736	1,029/km2 (2,670/sq mi)	West Bengal located in India

Demographics

The following is a list of the basic demographic data for the districts of West Bengal at the time of the 2011 census by their population rank in India ^[38]

Rank	District (West Bengal)	Population (2011 census)	Bengali (Bangla) Speakers	Percentage (%) of Bengali Speakers	Growth Rate	Sex Ratio	Literacy	Density/KM
1	Uttar 24 Parganas (Dumdum Naihati Barrackpore)	10,009,781	8,899,696	88.91%	12.86	955	84.53	2,445
2	Dakshin 24 Parganas (Sundarban)	8,161,961	7,984,030	97.82%	18.17	956	77.51	819
3	Murshidabad	7,103,807	6,996,539	98.49%	21.09	958	66.59	1,334
4	Paschim Medinipur (Kharagpur)	5,913,457	5,153,577	87.15%	14.44	960	79.04	636
5	Hooghly (Bandel)	5,519,145	4,828,699	87.49%	9.49	958	82.55	1,753
6	Nadia (Nabadwip)	5,167,600	5,065,281	98.02%	12.24	947	75.58	1,316
7	Purba Medinipur (Haldia)	5,095,875	5,009,754	98.31%	15.32	936	87.66	1,076
8	Howrah	4,850,029	4,122,039	84.99%	13.31	935	83.85	3,300
9	Purba Bardhaman (Burdwan)	4,841,632	4,495,939	92.86%	11.92	945	76.21	1,099
10	Kolkata	4,496,694	2,763,218	61.45%	−1.67	908	86.31	24,306
11	Malda	3,988,845	3,631,444	91.04%	21.50	939	62.71	1,071
12	Jalpaiguri (New Jalpaiguri)	3,872,846	2,539,037	65.56%	13.77	954	73.79	621
13	Bankura	3,596,674	3,261,463	90.68%	12.64	954	70.95	523
14	Birbhum (Bolpur)	3,502,404	3,235,520	92.38%	16.15	956	70.90	771
15	Uttar Dinajpur	3,007,134	2,046,655	68.06%	22.90	936	60.13	956
16	Purulia	2,930,115	2,360,500	80.56%	15.43	955	65.38	468
17	Paschim Bardhaman (Asansol Durgapur Raniganj)	2,882,031	1,676,765	58.18%	11.92	945	76.21	1,099
18	Cooch Behar	2,819,086	2,672,211	94.79%	13.86	942	75.49	833
19	Darjeeling (Siliguri Bagdogra)	1,846,823	489,592	26.51%	14.47	971	79.92	585
20	Dakshin Dinajpur	1,676,276	1,414,944	84.41%	11.16	954	73.86	753

Economy

The following is a list of basic economic data for the districts of West Bengal as of 2013–2014, the latest year for which data is available: ^[39]

District	Gross District Domestic Product (as of 2013–14, at Constant (2004–05) Prices)	Gross District Domestic Product Per Capita (as of 2013–14, at Constant (2004–05) Prices)
Bardhaman	₹38,923.07 crore (equivalent to ₹1.3 trillionorUS$17 billion in 2023)	₹40,634.07 (equivalent to ₹140,000orUS$1,700 in 2023)
Birbhum	₹10,291 crore (equivalent to ₹350 billionorUS$4.4 billion in 2023)	₹25,426.29 (equivalent to ₹86,000orUS$1,100 in 2023)
Bankura	₹11,729.33 crore (equivalent to ₹400 billionorUS$5.0 billion in 2023)	₹28,345.12 (equivalent to ₹96,000orUS$1,200 in 2023)
Purba Medinipur	₹26,978.96 crore (equivalent to ₹920 billionorUS$11 billion in 2023)	₹44,654.60 (equivalent to ₹150,000orUS$1,900 in 2023)
Paschim Medinipur	₹18,930.11 crore (equivalent to ₹640 billionorUS$8.1 billion in 2023)	₹27,575.49 (equivalent to ₹94,000orUS$1,200 in 2023)
Howrah	₹22,817.15 crore (equivalent to ₹780 billionorUS$9.7 billion in 2023)	₹39,313.99 (equivalent to ₹130,000orUS$1,700 in 2023)
Hooghly	₹24,371.33 crore (equivalent to ₹830 billionorUS$10 billion in 2023)	₹35,920.65 (equivalent to ₹120,000orUS$1,500 in 2023)
Uttar 24 Parganas	₹48,035.5 crore (equivalent to ₹1.6 trillionorUS$20 billion in 2023)	₹37,010.24 (equivalent to ₹130,000orUS$1,600 in 2023)
Dakshin 24 Parganas	₹29,238.58 crore (equivalent to ₹990 billionorUS$12 billion in 2023)	₹29,745.60 (equivalent to ₹100,000orUS$1,300 in 2023)
Kolkata	₹36,031.93 crore (equivalent to ₹1.2 trillionorUS$15 billion in 2023)	₹67,993.29 (equivalent to ₹230,000orUS$2,900 in 2023)
Nadia	₹18,205.56 crore (equivalent to ₹620 billionorUS$7.7 billion in 2023)	₹29,006.54 (equivalent to ₹99,000orUS$1,200 in 2023)
Murshidabad	₹21,280.12 crore (equivalent to ₹720 billionorUS$9.1 billion in 2023)	₹25,416.46 (equivalent to ₹86,000orUS$1,100 in 2023)
Jalpaiguri	₹14,240.17 crore (equivalent to ₹480 billionorUS$6.1 billion in 2023)	₹29,692.58 (equivalent to ₹100,000orUS$1,300 in 2023)
Darjeeling	₹10,664.32 crore (equivalent to ₹360 billionorUS$4.5 billion in 2023)	₹45,808.78 (equivalent to ₹160,000orUS$1,900 in 2023)
Uttar Dinajpur	₹6,843 crore (equivalent to ₹230 billionorUS$2.9 billion in 2023)	₹18,836.95 (equivalent to ₹64,000orUS$800 in 2023)
Dakshin Dinajpur	₹4,955.3 crore (equivalent to ₹170 billionorUS$2.1 billion in 2023)	₹23,599.48 (equivalent to ₹80,000orUS$1,000 in 2023)
Malda	₹12,023.94 crore (equivalent to ₹410 billionorUS$5.1 billion in 2023)	₹25,412.24 (equivalent to ₹86,000orUS$1,100 in 2023)
Cooch Behar	₹7,895.18 crore (equivalent to ₹270 billionorUS$3.4 billion in 2023)	₹24,973.51 (equivalent to ₹85,000orUS$1,100 in 2023)
Purulia	₹8,340.2 crore (equivalent to ₹280 billionorUS$3.5 billion in 2023)	₹24,749.26 (equivalent to ₹84,000orUS$1,100 in 2023)
West Bengal	₹371,795.04 crore (equivalent to ₹13 trillionorUS$160 billion in 2023)	₹36,293.33 (equivalent to ₹120,000orUS$1,500 in 2023)

See also

• List of RTO districts in West Bengal

References

1. David Christiana (1 September 2007). "Arsenic Mitigation in West Bengal, India: New Hope for Millions" (PDF). Southwest Hydrology. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
2. Harun-or-Rashid (2012). "Partition of Bengal, 1947". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
3. Chatterji, Joya (2007). The Spoils of Partition: Bengal and India, 1947–1967. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN   978-0-521-87536-3 . Retrieved 8 December 2008.
4. "Brief History of Cooch Behar". Official website of Cooch Behar District. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2008.
5. "States of India since 1947". World Statesmen website. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
6. "District profile". Official website of Purulia District. Archived from the original on 9 December 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
7. "The Statesman: Alipurduar to become Bengal's 20th dist". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
8. "Roy Alipurduar: Alipurduar a new district on June 25 | Kolkata News – Times of India". The Times of India .
9. "Directory of District, Sub division, Panchayat Samiti/ Block and Gram Panchayats in West Bengal, March 2008". West Bengal. National Informatics Centre, India. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
10. "Section 9 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973". Department of Panchayat and Rural Department, West Bengal. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
11. "Section 94 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973". Department of Panchayat and Rural Department, West Bengal. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
12. "Section 140 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973". Department of Panchayat and Rural Department, West Bengal. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
13. "Explained: 7 new districts in West Bengal — how and why are districts created or abolished in India?". The Indian Express. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
14. Evgeny Vinokurov (2005). "Theory of Enclaves, Chapter 6: Enclave stories and case studies" (PDF). Evgeny Vinokurov's website. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
15. A.G. Noorani (31 August 2001). "Of Indo-Bangladesh distrust". Frontline magazine. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
16. Mandal, Asim Kumar (2003). The Sundarbans of India: A Development Analysis. Indus Publishing. pp. 168–169. ISBN   81-7387-143-4 . Retrieved 4 September 2008.
17. "Home page". Official website of Uttar Dinajpur District. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
18. "Historical Perspective". Official website of South Dinajpur District. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
19. Jana, Naresh (31 December 2001). "Tamluk readies for giant's partition". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Archived from the original on 13 August 2004. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
20. "Call for Gorkhaland renewed". Darjeeling Times. 7 October 2007. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
21. Indo Asian News Service (25 June 2008). "West Bengal faces another blockade, this time for Kamtapur state". AOL India News. Archived from the original on 29 March 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
22. "Section 2 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973". Department of Panchayat and Rural Department, West Bengal. Retrieved 9 December 2008.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
23. Ramesh Kumar Arora, Ramesh Kumar Arora Rajni Goyal (1995). Indian Public Administration: Institutions and Issues. New Age Publishers. p. 298. ISBN   81-7328-068-1 . Retrieved 9 December 2008.
24. "Section 98 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973". Department of Panchayat and Rural Department, West Bengal. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
25. "Section 143 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973". Department of Panchayat and Rural Department, West Bengal. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
26. "Section 185 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973". Department of Panchayat and Rural Department, West Bengal. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
27. "Memoranda of Settlement – DGHC". Darjeeling Times. Archived from the original on 29 March 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
28. "History of Darjeeling: Darjeeling-Today". Official website of Darjeeling District. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
29. "The Police Act, 1861". India Code Legislative Department. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
30. "Indian Police Service (Uniform) Rules". Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
31. "Police Organisation of India" (PDF). Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. p. 9. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
32. "Different Courts in West Bengal (Other than High Courts, Kolkata)". Judicial Department, Government of West Bengal. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
33. "NIC Policy on format of e-mail Address: Appendix (2): Districts Abbreviations as per ISO 3166–2" (PDF). Ministry Of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India. 18 August 2004. pp. 5–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
34. "Districts : West Bengal". Government of India portal. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
35. Here 'Established' means year of establishment as a district of West Bengal. The state of West Bengal was established in 1947 with 14 districts of erstwhile Bengal province of British India.
36. "Area, Population, Decennial Growth Rate and Density for 2001 and 2011 at a glance for West Bengal and the Districts" (XLS). 2011 census of India. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
37. "We are developing Purulia as a tourism hub: Mamata Banerjee : All India Trinamool Congress". Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Archived 13 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine
38. "Indian Districts by Population, Growth Rate, Sex Ratio 2011 Census". Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
39. Department of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of West Bengal (6 May 2016). "State Domestic Product and District Domestic Product of West Bengal 2014–15" (PDF).

External links

• Official website of Government of West Bengal
• New Districts List of West Bengal