In the east, the flood plains of the major rivers, such as the Ajay, Bakreshwar, Mayurakshi and Brahmani, have soft alluvial soil.

Although coal is found in the district and Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station has a capacity of 2,010 MW, the economic condition of Birbhum is dominated by agriculture.

[2] In Birbhum district, 19,968 hectares of vested agricultural land has been distributed amongst 161,515 beneficiaries, till 2011.

[3] Culturally rich Birbhum, with such traditional landmarks as Jaydev Kenduli and Chandidas Nanoor, is home to Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan, having close association with two Nobel laureates – Rabindranath Tagore and Amartya Sen.[4] Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay, the noted author, was born at Labhpur on 23 July 1898.

[7][8] Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, 2012-2017, was born on 11 December 1935 and spent his childhood at Mirati.

Labpur CD Block is part of the Suri-Bolpur Plain, one of the four sub-micro physiographic regions of Birbhum district.

[15] As per the 2011 Census of India, Labpur CD Block had a total population of 201,901, of which 196,482 were rural and 5,419 were urban.

[16] Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in Labpur CD Block are (2011 census figures in brackets): Hatia (5,193), Chauhata (7,969), Kurumba (6,507), Shekhampur (6,561), Madhugram (5,608), Danrka (10,897), Ganutia (4,696) and Kurnahar (4,058).

[16] Other villages in Labpur CD Block include (2011 census figures in brackets): Laghosa (3,980, Jamna (1,446), Thiba (2,776), Bipratikuri (2,060), Indas (3,448), Mahodari (947) and Mirati (1,098).

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

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

[25] There are 160 inhabited villages in Labpur CD Block, as per District Census Handbook, Birbhum, 2011.

152 villages (95.00%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones).

Other crops grown in Birbhum are gram, masuri, peas, wheat, linseed, khesari, til, sugarcane and occasionally cotton.

Other rivers such as Ajoy, Brahmani, Kuskurni, Dwaraka, Hingla and Kopai are also helpful for irrigation in the district.

[28][29] In 2013-14, there were 75 fertiliser depots, 15 seed stores and 47 fair price shops in Labhpur CD block.

Bakreshwar Thermal Power Station is the only large-scale industry in the district and employs about 5,000 people.

According to the District Human Development Report, “more people are now engaged in non-agricultural activities, such as fishing, retail sales, vegetable vending, selling milk, and so on.

As all these activities are at the lower end of the spectrum of marketable skills, it remains doubtful if these activities generate enough return for their family’s sustenance.”[32] Birbhum district is listed as a backward region and receives financial support from the Backward Regions Grant Fund.

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

[39][40] In 2014, Labhpur CD block had 1 rural hospital and 5 primary health centres with total 64 beds and 9 doctors (excluding private bodies).