of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate Language and religion In the 2001 census, Bengali was the mother tongue for 97.9% of the population of the district, followed by Hindi with 1.5%, Urdu 0.3%, Odia and Telugu (0.1% each). According to the West Bengal Official Language Act 1961 and the West Bengal Official Language (Amendment Act) 2012, the Bengali language is to be used for official purposes in the whole of West Bengal. In addition to Bengali, the Nepali language is to be used for official purposes in the three hills subdivisions, namely Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong, in the district of Darjeeling, and Urdu is to be used for official purposes in district/subdivision/ block/ municipality where the population speaking Urdu exceeds 10% of the total population. The English language will continue to be used for official purposes as it was being used prior to the enactment of these laws. The West Bengal Official Language (Second Amendment) Bill, 2012, included Hindi, Santhali, Odiya and Punjabi as official languages if it is spoken by a population exceeding 10 per cent of the whole in a particular block or sub-division or a district. Subsequently, Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi and Kurmali were also included in the list of minority languages by the West Bengal Official Language (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018. However, as of 2019, there is no official / other reliable information about the areas covered. In the 2011 Census of India, Hindus numbered 295,027 and formed 88.91% of the population in Patharpratima CD block. Muslims numbered 35,566 and formed 10.72% of the population. Others numbered 1,230 and formed 0.37% of the population. The proportion of Hindus in South Twenty-four Parganas district has declined from 76.0% in 1961 to 63.2% in 2011. The proportion of Muslims in South Twenty-four Parganas district has increased from 23.4% to 35.6% during the same period. Christians formed 0.8% in 2011. Rural poverty As per the Human Development Report for South 24 Parganas district, published in 2009, in Patharpratima CD block the percentage of households below poverty line was 49.13%. The poverty rates were very high in the Sundarban region with all thirteen CD blocks registering poverty ratios above 30% and eight CD blocks had more than 40% of the population in the BPL category. The Sundarban region remains the most backward region in terms of quality of life. As per rural household survey in 2005, the proportion of households