Kushmandi is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Gangarampur subdivision of Dakshin Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
In 1947, the Radcliffe Line placed the Sadar and Thakurgaon subdivisions of Dinajpur district in East Pakistan.
In order to restore territorial links between northern and southern parts of West Bengal which had been snapped during the partition of Bengal, and on the recommendations of the States Reorganisation Commission a portion of the erstwhile Kishanganj subdivision comprising Goalpokhar, Islampur and Chopra thanas (police stations) and parts of Thakurganj thana, along with the adjacent parts of the erstwhile Gopalpur thana in Katihar subdivision were transferred from Purnea district in Bihar to West Bengal in 1956, and were formally incorporated into Raiganj subdivision in West Dinajpur.
Dakshin Dinajpur district is physiographically a part of the Barind Tract.
[9] Approximately 252 km of the international border is in Dakshin Dinajpur district.
As per 2011 Census of India, Kushmandi CD Block had a total population of 198,752, all of which were rural.
[15] Other villages in Kushmandi CD Block included (2011 population in brackets): Maligaon (1,472), Udaypur (2,378), Akcha (711), Berail (2,459), Deul (1,781), Kushmundi (3,948), Karangi (3,772) and Kalikamora (689).
[18] The large scale migration of the East Bengali refugees (including tribals) started with the partition of Bengal in 1947.
The steady flow of people into Dakshin Dinajpur has continued over the years from erstwhile East Pakistan and subsequently from Bangladesh.
[15] See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate
It includes factory, mining, plantation, transport and office workers, those engaged in business and commerce, teachers, entertainment artistes and so on.
217 villages (95.18%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones).
[29] The land is fertile for agricultural production, particularly in the southern part of the district.
The Tebhaga movement by the share croppers, towards the end of British rule, is widely known.
[30] Kushmandi CD Block had 192 fertiliser depots, 14 seed stores and 39 fair price shops in 2013-14.
The fund, created by the Government of India, is designed to redress regional imbalances in development.
[32][33] Kushmandi CD Block has 4 ferry services and 6 originating/ terminating bus routes.
Kushmandi CD Block had 321 institutions for special and non-formal education with 10,808 students.
[36][37] Mahishbathan in South Dinajpur's Kushmandi block is famous for masks (Made by Gamari Wood) based on popular folk and mythological characters like Moshan, Narorakshas, Hanuman, Chamkali, Chamunda etc., with bamboo vases, trays, incense stands, pen stands also being manufactured by the artisans here.
Mask-making began not too long ago, when artisans across the region practiced this art form; from 1990 attempts were made to unify them under the wings of the Mahishbathan Gramin Hostoshilpo Samiti, and scholars from different parts of the world come here to observe the age-old intricate process of bamboo-carving.
The price of a mask depends on the type of wood it is carved from - with timber varieties such as Gamari, Sal, Mango, Pakur, and Mahogany mainly being used.
These ornate wooden masks adorn a large number of homes in Bengal and beyond, with a large number of these masks being exported to the USA, and even enjoying pride of place at the annual State Handicrafts Fair.
In 2014, Kushmandi CD Block had 1 rural hospital and 2 primary health centres with total 40 beds and 8 doctors (excluding private bodies).
[38] The first web media of Kushmandi, Pratidin 24 Ghanta[39] (Bengali: প্রতিদিন ২৪ ঘন্টা), is a Bengali-language newspaper published from West Bengal, India 2019.