rural profile, a large Muslim population and deep concentration of rural poverty"... Persisting regional disparities in access to education and infrastructure, rather than the response and enthusiasm of the local people are largely responsible for making Uttar Dinajpur the least literate district in West Bengal. "Thus, a major challenge facing the district relates to the improvement of educational attainments of the weaker social sections and women, especially among the Muslim community which has a dominant presence in the Islampur SD region… A huge gulf separates the Muslim literacy rate of 36 percent in Uttar Dinajpur from the Muslim literacy rate of 58 percent achieved by West Bengal as a whole." See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate See also - Literacy in Bihar Language and religion The Human Development Report for Uttar Dinajpur describes the Islampur subdivision as “a region where Urdu and Hindi are widely spoken as a first language because of the prior transfer of this territory to West Bengal from Bihar” As per the West Bengal Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2012, which came into force from December 2012, Urdu was given the status of official language in areas, such as subdivisions and blocks, having more than 10% Urdu speaking population. In Uttar Dinajpur district, Goalpokhar I and II blocks, Islampur block and Islampur municipality were identified as fulfilling the norms set In 2014, Calcutta High Court, in an order, included Dalkhola municipality in the list. In the 2011 census, Muslims numbered 225,448 and formed 72.13% of the population in Islampur CD Block. Hindus numbered 85,039 and formed 27.56% of the population. Christians numbered 781 and formed 0.25% of the population. Others numbered 150 and formed 0.05% of the population. In Islampur CD Block, as per the District Statistical Handbook for Uttar Dinajpur, while the proportion of Muslims increased from 68.93% in 1991 to 71.08% in 2001, the proportion of Hindus declined from 30.84% in 1991 to 28.69% in 2001. In the 2011 census, Uttar Dinajpur district had 1,501,170 Muslims who formed 49.92% of the population, 1,482,943 Hindus who formed 49.31% of the population, 16,702 Christians who formed 0.56% of the population and 6,319 persons belonging to other religions who formed 0.23% of the population. While the proportion of Muslim population in the district increased from 45.3% in 1991 to 49.9% in 2011, the proportion of Hindu population declined from 54.2% in 1991