offices, 8 villages had a sub post office, 17 villages had telephones (land lines) and 179 villages had mobile phone coverage. 263 villages had pucca (paved) village roads, 47 villages had bus service (public/ private), 22 villages had autos/ modified autos, and 57 villages had tractors. 23 villages had bank branches, 11 villages had agricultural credit societies, 2 villages had cinema/ video halls, 7 villages had public library and public reading room. 77 villages had public distribution system, 29 villages had weekly haat (market) and 108 villages had assembly polling stations. Agriculture Hills occupy a large portion of Giridih district. The soil is generally rocky and sandy and that helps jungles and bushes to grow. The forest area, forming a large portion of total area, in the district is evenly distributed all over. Some areas near the rivers have alluvial soil. In Gandey CD block, the percentage of cultivable area to total area is 23.87%. The percentage of cultivable area to the total area for the district, as a whole, is 27.04%. Irrigation is inadequate. The percentage of irrigated area to cultivable area in Gandey CD block is 13.35%. May to October is the Kharif season, followed by the Rabi season. Rice, sown in 50% of the gross sown area, is the main crop in the district. Other important crops grown are: maize, wheat, sugar cane, pulses and vegetables. Backward Regions Grant Fund Giridih 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. Education Gande CD block had 105 villages with pre-primary schools, 215 villages with primary schools, 78 villages with middle schools, 7 villages with secondary schools, 2 villages with senior secondary schools, 47 villages with no educational facility. .*Senior secondary schools are also known as Inter colleges in Jharkhand Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was established in 1994 at Gandey. It is a co-educational residential school for children from class VI to class XII. These schools provide free high quality education plus ample extra-curricular activities, boarding, lodging etc. for talented rural children. Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, an autonomous body under the HRD Ministry, Government of India, manages these schools. Healthcare Gande CD block had 1 village with