villages had hand pumps, and all villages had drinking water facility. 10 villages had post offices, 11 villages had sub post offices, 20 villages had telephones (land lines), 21 villages had public call offices and 78 villages had mobile phone coverage. 136 villages had pucca (paved) village roads, 6 villages had bus service (public/ private), 10 villages had autos/ modified autos, 39 villages had taxis/ vans, 81 villages had tractors, 5 villages had navigable waterways. 6 villages had bank branches, 3 villages had agricultural credit societies, 37 villages had cinema/ video halls, 15 villages had public libraries, public reading room. 73 villages had public distribution system, 19 villages had weekly haat (market) and 9 villages had assembly polling stations. Agriculture Pakur is predominantly a hilly district. There is a narrow fertile alluvial tract bordering the Ganges Feeder Canal. While the hills stretch from the north to the south-east, the rest is rolling area, which is less conducive to agricultural operations than the alluvial strip. The net sown area of the district is around 28%. Thus though the district is predominantly agricultural it offers only limited opportunities to the people. Many people from the district migrate to the neighbouring districts of West Bengal during the agricultural seasons. In Pakur CD block 34.25% of the total area is cultivable area and 8.73% of the cultivable area is irrigated area. Stone chips industry Pakur is a centre of mining of black stone which is in great demand in the construction industry. There are four circles for mining of stone – Pakur, Hiranpur, Mahespur and Pakuria. Stone chips are mined in Pakur circle at villages such as Barhabad, Barmesia, Matiyara, Basmata, Bishanpur, Durgapur, Gokulpur, Harirampur, Jogigaria, Kalidaspur, Kashila, Kanhupur, Khaprajora, Kulapahari, Kusmadanga, Kumarpur, Lakhipahari, Malpahari, Mangalpara, Mateyapahari, Patrapahari, Piplajori, Rajbandh, Ramchandrapur, Ramnagar, Saharkol, Salboni, Sitagarh, Sonajori, Sree Rampur, Sundarpahari and Takatola. Pakur stone industry has about 585 mines/quarries and around 800 crushers are in operation. Backward Regions Grant Fund Pakur 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 Pakur is on the Sahibganj Loop. It is part of Howrah Division of Eastern Railway, which handles predominantly passenger traffic.