Khatra is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the Khatra subdivision of the Bankura district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

From around the 7th century AD till around the advent of British rule, for around a millennium, history of Bankura district is identical with the rise and fall of the Hindu Rajas of Bishnupur.

First, the Maharaja of Burdwan seized the Fatehpur Mahal, and then the Maratha invasions laid waste their country.

Khatra CD block is located in the western part of the district and belongs to the hard rock area.

[8] According to the 2011 Census of India, Khatra CD block had a total population of 117,030, of which 104,592 were rural and 12,438 were urban.

[9] Villages in Khatra CD block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Dahala (2,681), Dhanara (1,534), Gorabari (1,063), Supur (3,198) and Baidyanathpur (1,706).

[9] See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate Primary Census Abstract Data

In the 2011 census Hindus numbered 98,404 and formed 84.08% of the population in Khatra CD block.

[12] Others include Addi Bassi, Marang Boro, Santal, Saranath, Sari Dharma, Sarna, Alchchi, Bidin, Sant, Saevdharm, Seran, Saran, Sarin, Kheria,[13] and other religious communities.

Another study shows that around 23% of the people from the under-privileged blocks in the western and southern Bankura migrate.

Most people migrate to meet their food deficit and go to Bardhaman and Hooghly districts but some go to Gujarat and Maharashtra as construction labour.

It includes factory, mining, plantation, transport and office workers, those engaged in business and commerce, teachers, entertainment artistes and so on.

[20] There are 146 inhabited villages in the Khatra CD block, as per the District Census Handbook, Bankura, 2011.

133 villages (91.10%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones).

[16] There were 39 fertiliser depots, 10 seed stores and 37 fair price shops in the Khatra CD block.

[23] In 2013-14, persons engaged in agriculture in Khatra CD block could be classified as follows: bargadars 3.69%, patta (document) holders 8.55%, small farmers (possessing land between 1 and 2 hectares) 3.99%, marginal farmers (possessing land up to 1 hectare) 22.67% and agricultural labourers 61.11%.

[23] The handloom industry engages the largest number of persons in the non farm sector and hence is important in Bankura district.

The handloom industry is well established in all the CD blocks of the district and includes the famous Baluchari saris.

The fund, created by the Government of India, is designed to redress regional imbalances in development.