population growth of 13.43 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for the combined Midnapore district was 14.87 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent. Census Towns in Chandipur CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Kotbar (6,083) and Erashal (5,332). Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Chandipur CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Brajalalchak (9,612), Nandapur (7,397), Bara Ghuni (7,000), Khagda (4,827), Jalpai Part I (4,042), Jalpai Part II (3,627) and Kulbari (6,906). Other villages in Chandipur CD Block (2011 census figures in brackets): Chandipur (2,343), Brindabanpur (2,676), Usmanpur (1,322) and Dibakarpur (3,466). Literacy As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Chandipur CD Block was 144,893 (87.81% of the population over 6 years) out of which 78,686 (54%) were males and 66,207 (46%) were females. As per 2011 census, literacy in Purba Medinipur district was 87.02%. Purba Medinipur had the highest literacy amongst all the districts of West Bengal in 2011. See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate Language and religion As per the 2001 census, Bengali was the mother-tongue of 90.5% of the population of Purba Medinipur district, followed by Santali (4.6%), Hindi (1.4%), Kurmali Thar (0.7%), Urdu (0.6%), Telugu (0.6%), Odiya (0.4%), Mundari (0.2%), Koda/ Kora (0.1%), Munda (0.1%), Nepali (0.1%) and others (0.3%). Census information about language is available at the district level or above only. 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 2011 census Hindus numbered 161,915 and formed 86.07% of the population in Chandipur CD Block. Muslims numbered 26,063 and formed 13.85% of the population. Others numbered 141 and formed 0.08% of the population. Rural poverty The District Human Development Report for Purba Medinipur has provided a CD Block-wise data table for Modified Human Poverty Index of the district. Chandipur CD Block registered 21.84 on the MHPI scale. The CD Block-wise mean MHPI was estimated at 24.78. Eleven out of twentyfive CD Blocks were found