Panskura I block had a total population of 298,163, out of which 152,618 were males and 145,545 were females. Panskura I block registered a population growth of 15.62 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. Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Panskura CD block (2011 census figures in brackets): Jiakhali (6,672), Kamila (4,369), Baharputa (4,660) and Radhaballav Chak (4,489). Other villages in Panskura CD block include(2011 census figures in brackets): Dakshin Maynadal (1,024), Purbba Gopalpur (1,110). Literacy As per 2011 census the total number of literates in Panskura CD Block was 209,614 (83.65% of the population over 6 years) out of which 116,589 (56%) were males and 93,025 (44%) 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 228,369 and formed 80.61% of the population in Panskura CD Block. Muslims numbered 54,538 and formed 19.25% of the population. Others numbered 396 and formed 0.14% 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. Panskura CD Block registered 21.00 on the MHPI scale. The CD Block-wise mean MHPI was estimated at 24.9. Eleven out of twentyfive CD Blocks were found to be severely deprived in