West Bengal. More than 11,000 people live near/ around the zero line in Dakshin Dinajpur. Approximately 252 km of the international border is in Dakshin Dinajpur district. Gangarampur CD Block has an area of 315.52 km2.It has 1 panchayat samity, 11 gram panchayats, 161 gram sansads (village councils), 203 mouzas and 198 inhabited villages. Gangarampur police station serves this block. Headquarters of this CD Block is at Gangarampur . Gram panchayats of Gangrampur block/ panchayat samiti are: Asokgram, Basuria, Belbari I, Belbari II, Chaloon, Damdama, Gangarampur, Jahangirpur, Nandanpur, Sukdevpur and Uday. Demographics Population As per 2011 Census of India, Gangarampur CD Block had a total population of 237,628, of which 230,612 were rural and 7,016 were urban. There were 122,941 (52%) males and 114,687 (48%) females. Population below 6 years was 29,914. Scheduled Castes numbered 72,262 (30.41%) and Scheduled Tribes numbered 307 (0.13%). As per 2001 census, Gangarampur block had a total population of 206,621, out of which 106,487 were males and 100,134 were females. Gangarampur block registered a population growth of 1.03 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for the district was 22.11 per cent. The only census town in Gangarampur CD Block was (2011 population in brackets): Gopalpur (7,016). Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Gangarampur CD Block were (2011 population in brackets): Kathalhat Hosenpur (4,068), Narayanpur (5,883), Shukhdebpur (5,115), Patan (5,127), Jaypur (7,928) and Belbari (7,216). Other villages in Gangarampur CD Block included (2011 population in brackets): Ashokgram (2,632), Gangarampur (1,396), Chalun (2,527), Uday (1,481), Jahangirpur (2,560) and Nandanpur (1,626). Decadal growth of population in Gangarampur CD Block for the period 2001-2011 was 15.00%. Decadal growth of population in Dakhin Dinajpur district during the same period was 11.52% down from 22.15% in the previous decade. Decadal growth of population in West Bengal for the corresponding periods was 13.93% and 17.77% respectively. The large scale migration of the East Bengali refugees (including tribals) started with the partition of Bengal in 1947. Up to around 1951, two-fifths of the refugees settled in South Bengal, the balance settled in the North Bengal districts of West Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar. Erstwhile West Dinajpur alone received around 6.5% of the early entrants. The steady flow of people into Dakshin Dinajpur has continued over the years from erstwhile East Pakistan and subsequently from Bangladesh. Literacy As per the 2011 census, the total number of literates in Gangarampur CD Block was