and 70,529 (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 136,789 and formed 65.82% of the population in Nandigram I CD Block. Muslims numbered 70,756 and formed 34.04% of the population. Others numbered 290 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. Nandigram I CD Block registered 25.91 on the MHPI scale. The CD Block-wise mean MHPI was estimated at 24.78. Eleven out of twentyfive CD Blocks were found to be severely deprived in respect of grand CD Block average value of MHPI (CD Blocks with lower amount of poverty are better): All the CD Blocks of Haldia and Contai subdivisions appeared backward, except Ramnagar I & II, of all the blocks of Egra subdivision only Bhagabanpur I appeared backward and in Tamluk subdivision none appeared backward. Economy Livelihood In Nandigram I CD Block in 2011, total workers formed 31.87% of the total population and amongst the class of total workers, cultivators formed 14.92%, agricultural labourers 43.89%, household industry workers 4.5% and other workers 36.69%. Infrastructure There are 98 inhabited villages in Nandigram I CD block. All 98 villages (100%) have power supply. All 98 villages (100%) have drinking water supply. 22 villages (22.45%) have post offices.