About District

During British rule GUMLA was under LOHARDAGA district .In 1843 it was brought under BISHUNPUR province that was further named RANCHI .In fact Ranchi district came into existence in 1899. In 1902 Gumla became Sub-division under Ranchi district. Blessed with natures beauty , the district of Gumla is covered by dense forests, hills and rivers. It is situated in the southwest portion of the Jharkhand State. The District was carved out of Ranchi District on 18th May 1983. The district lies between 22 35 to 23 33 north. Blessed with nature’s beauty , the district of Gumla is covered by dense forests, hills and rivers. It is situated in the southwest portion of the Jharkhand State. The District was carved out of Ranchi District on 18th May 1983. Previously it was a sub-division of old Ranchi district. The district lies between 22′ 35″ to 23′ 33″ north latitude and 84′ 40″ to 85′ 1″ east longitude. The various legends are in currency regarding its name . The most popular one ascribes to its word ‘Gumla’ in Mundari language, which relates to the occupation of the local Tribes in rice processing work (dhan-kutna). The second legend ‘Gau-mela’ relates to cattle fair. Cattle fair was weekly held in Gumla town every Tuesday. In rural areas, Nagpuri and Sadri people still call it ‘gomila’. Till 30th April 2001, Gumla district consisted on 2 sub-divisions viz Gumla and Simdega. But after the creation of Jharkhand State , a new district of Simdega was carved out of Gumla district on 30th April, 2001. Now, Gumla district consists of three sub-division namely Gumla, Chainpur and Basia. Total area of the district is about 5327 sq. km. The total population of district as per 1991 census is 706489, out of which 355505 is male population and 350984 is female population. There is predominance of tribal people in Gumla district. The primitive tribe’s population is 11283, SC population is 24329, ST population is 476316, and BC population is 132610 and others population is 61951. Since obvious that the district has a total of 68% of tribal population, therefore ,it comes within scheduled area .

History of Gumla

MELA . This fair took place once in a year and continues for one week. Here all items of daily use, utensils , ornaments, grains, cattle etc were sold & exchanged . Since there was no other alternative to get the items , people make a long list of items required during the year ( whether it is for marriage ceremony or for any occasions ) and buy them in this MELA. People from distant places used to come here for buying & selling cattle such as cows & bullocks for agricultural purposes . Gradually people started to inhabit this place .It grew into a village and got the name GUMLA as a derivative of GAU’s MELA.

During medieval era Chhotanagpur region was reigned by Kings of NAGA dynasty. BARAIK DEVENANDAN SINGH was given right to rule over Gumla circle. It is said that during the KOLH REBEL in 1931-32 , VAKTAR SAY had played a prominent role . GANGA MAHARAJ, who built the KALI TEMPLE at Sri Ramnagar, had played active role in QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT in 1942. For this great contribution for Independence, he was honored with LIFE TIME PENSION by government of India.

On 18 MAY 1983 GUMLA DISTRICT came into existence .Sri Jagannath Mishra then ruling chief minister of Bihar inaugurated it and Sri Dwarika Nath Sinha acquired the post of 1st deputy commissioner of the just born district.

It is a matter of great regret that GUMLA is a territory of great historical importance has not been brought under research map.

Physical Feature

The terrain is highly undulating and there are existence of many rivers and streams. The forest cover of the district is 1.35 lakh hectares out of the total 5.21 lakh hectares of land i.e. round 27% of the total area of the district.

There are three major rivers, which flow through the Gumla district viz. South Koyel, North Koyel and Shankh River. There are various streams/ tributaries to the main rivers on which there are some picturesque waterfalls.

Sisai, Bharno and Kamdara blocks have plain lands while other areas are mostly undulating in nature. There is a hill range named as ‘Ghera-pahar’, which starts from Palkot block area and continues to Bishunpur block area. These elevated plateau areas of Bishunpur and Ghaghra blocks are locally known as ‘PAT’ area. These PAT areas are made-up of volcanic rock. The average height of these PAT areas is about 2500 ft. to 3000 ft. above the mean sea level.

Gumla district enjoys a good climate characterized by a pleasant cold and temperate weather conditions. The average temperature is about 23 degree Celsius. Earlier the average annual rainfall in the district was 1400-1600 mm. but the recent statistics has shown a decline in the average annual rainfall to about 1000-1100 mm.

Natural Resources

Minerals :

In Gumla District the important minerals like Bauxite and Laterite (Aluminium ore) are found in villages of Amkipani, Langdatanr, Chirodih, Jalim, Narma, Bahagara and Gurdari of Bishunpur block, Langatanr, Lupungpat and Chota-Agiatu in Chainpur block and Harup, Serengdag and Jalim in Ghaghra block. The total number of Bauxite mines is Twenty one . Beside these china clay is also found in some part of the district. Other mining activities like stone crusher, Brick kiln and stone chip mining lease are also available in different part of the district.

Soil:

The major component of soil is Laterite, which comes from abrasion of ancient Lava and finally comes into existence in form of Laterite & Bauxite. In fact, there are different types of rocks in the whole district. These rocks are of different Physical, Chemical and organic properties. The humidity of the soil in hilly area is less than that of the plain area. In local language the higher land is known as ‘ TANR ‘ where as the lower land is known as ‘DON’.

Flora & Fauna:

Gumla district has about 27% of forest area . Important forest products are Saal seeds, Kokun, Lac, Tendu leaves, Karanj, Chiraunji etc. The major trees are Sal Bija, Gamhar, Kathal, Jamun, Mango , Bamboo , Neem etc.

River System:

There are three main rivers i.e. North Koyel , South Koyel and Sankh. Sankh River emerges from Rajadera village of Chainpur block.

Gumla district is predominantly a backward district as compared to other district of the State, besides having rich natural resources and climatic conditions. Some of the basic indicators such as human, economic and infrastructure are describe below:-

HUMAN

The district has total population of 706489 and total families of 133131. Out of 133131 families 99512 families live below poverty line i.e. they are BPL families, as per survey conducted in the year 1997. It shows that the poverty ratios are 74.75%. There are only 1929 skilled workers in the district. The details are annexed as annexure-III. The birth rate of Gumla district as per 2001 census is 32.6 per thousand and death rate is 16.0 per thousand. Therefore percentage of decadal growth rate for 1991-2001 is 16.60 which was 13.44 for 1981-91 against the state average of 23.19 in 1991-2001 and 24.03 in 1981-91. The main cause of low decadal growth rate is high death rate prevalent in these areas due to various reasons.

The infant mortality rate is 18 per thousand and the maternal mortality rate is 3.8 per thousand.

The main cause of high death rate is due to high intake of the country made liquor among rural people and various endemic diseases like Malaria, TB etc. The entire area is Malaria Prone Zone. Several cases of death are reported due to Malaria every year Diarrhoea is also prevalent in these areas.

ECONOMIC

Out of 133131 families, about 99512 families are below poverty line as per survey conducted for 1997-2002 five-year plan. Therefore, it is obvious that the majority of the families do not earn enough to provide basic economic necessities to their families. The average income of a family would be around 10000-15000 per annum.

The main economy of the district depends upon agriculture, forest produce, cattle development, mining activities and other commercial activities. Agriculture is in very primitive stage in rural area due to lack of irrigation facilities, scientific inputs, marketing, infrastructure etc. Statistic shows that out of 3.296 lakh hectare of cultivable land only 22056 hectares of land is irrigated. Therefore agriculture is mainly dependent on rain. District has average rainfall of 1000-1100 mm but due to lack of rain water harvesting techniques most of the rainy water is not utilized.

Mining

In Gumla district there are 23 Bauxite mines and 68 Stone mines. Besides these there is good number of brick makers. A total number of 1549 labourers are engaged in Bauxite & Stone mines. In the mining sector. The per capita income of a labour is about Rs. 65/- per day. In Gumla District the important minerals like Bauxite and Laterite (Aluminium ore) are found in villages of Amkipani, Langdatanr, Chirodih, Jalim, Narma, Bahagara and Gurdari of Bishunpur block, Langatanr, Lupungpat and Chota-Agiatu in Chainpur block and Harup, Serengdag and Jalim in Ghaghra block. There are Twenty one Bauxite mines in Gumla district . Beside these china clay is also found in some part of the district. Other mining activities like stone crusher, Brick kiln and stone chip mining lease are also available in different part of the district.

Commercial Sector in Gumla

The main commercial activities is based on agriculture and forest products .The farmers mainly sale paddy, vegetables, pulses and produces based on forest products. Besides these necessary goods such as clothes, grocery items are imported from different places. Most people of this area are engaged in agriculture, it is necessary to promote the people for commercial activities, so that they can earn money and improve their economic status.Scope for development and constraints to growth.

There is lot of scope for development of economic activities in Gumla

Creation of irrigation scheme
Watershed management.
Using Scientific methods such as modern techniques, improved varieties of seeds , use of fertiliser, land development program etc in agriculture.
Cattle improvement program
Cottage and SSI
Using new methods for collection, processing and marketing of NTFP
Food & vegetable processing units
Mineral based industry
The main constraints to growth are

Sparse population
Difficult terrain
Poor infrastructure facilities
Low literacy & education awareness among people.
The habit of drinking and non-saving attitude of tribal poor.
The naxalite and other extremist’s activities.
Woman & Child Welfare in Gumla

Integrated child development program is sponsored by World Bank. All the Blocks of Gumla district is covered under this scheme. The children of 0-6 years age & pregnant /lactating mothers, are the beneficiaries of the scheme and people below the poverty line are especially being benefited by this scheme.

In this scheme , 65 Gms of CSB & 18 gms of S.S. oil per beneficiary is being distributed among the beneficiaries. Double ration is being distributed to pregnant/lactating mothers & malnourished children. Besides this, pre school education is being given to the children of 3 ‘ 6 yrs of age & nutritious food is being served to them in the Anganbari centers by the Sevika / Sahaika.

The no. of Anganbari centers is 1002, in which 150 Anganbari centers have been constructed 136 are under construction & 716 is still to be constructed. The supply of CSB/S.S. Oil is irregular . It needs a regular supply & Number of Dr./ANM required for medical check-up of children & women should be increased.

Agriculture

Blessed with nature’s beauty , the district of Gumla is covered by dense forests, hills and rivers. It is situated in the southwest portion of the Jharkhand State. The District was carved out of Ranchi District on 18th May 1983. Previously it was a sub-division of old Ranchi district. The district lies between 22′ 35″ to 23′ 33″ north latitude and 84′ 40″ to 85′ 1″ east longitude.

The various legends are in currency regarding its name . The most popular one ascribes to its word ‘Gumla’ in Mundari language, which relates to the occupation of the local Tribes in rice processing work (dhan-kutna). The second legend ‘Gau-mela’ relates to cattle fair. Cattle fair was weekly held in Gumla town every Tuesday. In rural areas, Nagpuri and Sadri people still call it ‘gomila’.

Till 30th April 2001, Gumla district consisted on 2 sub-divisions viz Gumla and Simdega. But after the creation of Jharkhand State , a new district of Simdega was carved out of Gumla district on 30th April, 2001. Now, Gumla district consists of only one sub-division namely Gumla. Total area of the district is about 5327 sq. km. The total population of district as per 1991 census is 706489, out of which 355505 is male population and 350984 is female population. There is predominance of tribal people in Gumla district.

The primitive tribe’s population is 11283, SC population is 24329, ST population is 476316, and BC population is 132610 and others population is 61951. Since obvious that the district has a total of 68% of tribal population, therefore ,it comes within scheduled area .

Electricity

The access to electricity is the back bone for improvement of the living condition of the rural market. The extension of the technological inputs depends on the status of rural electrification. It increases the capacity and capability of the development process. It has major role in poverty alleviation and employment generation. In Gumla District, electricity supply comes from Patratu Thermal Power Station, Hazaribag. Some of the rural habitations of Gumla district are located in hilly and interior areas. The role of non-conventional source of power is very important for the upliftment of the quality of life of the rural people.

There is only one Electrical Grid Station situated at Kamdara block.

Out of 948 revenue village, only 416 revenue villages have rural electrification and Out of 11 block 2 block namely Chainpur and Dumri do not have proper electrification. Gumla district does not have any thermal power plant, power generation plant and hydro electricity plant. The non conventional energy source is also not available.