District Human Development Report - Paschim Medinipur

Abstract

The enormous size of the district repeatedly drew the attention of the administrators since the latter half of the nineteenth century for bifurcation. Finally, on the 1st of January, 2002, the twin districts of Paschim Medinipur and Purba Medinipur were carved out of the erstwhile "Midnapore" which was the largest Indian district in size and proportion till that day. Paschim Medinipur provides an endless canvass of opportunities. Featuring in the lower range of all-round development, it was brought under the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana of the Planning Commission in 2003-2004 during the Tenth Plan and later included under the Backward Regions Grant Fund in 2006-07, in order to usher in a series of multi-faceted programmes aimed at economic well being of a large section of the district population which was either living below the poverty line or on the edge of subsistence.