Darbhanga district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the eastern Indian state of Bihar. The city of Darbhanga is the administrative headquarters of this district and 5th largest city of Bihar as well. Darbhanga district lies in the Darbhanga division, within the historical Mithila region. The district is bounded on the north by Madhubani district, on the south by Samastipur district, on the east by Saharsa district and on the west by Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur districts. The district covers an area of 2,279 km2 (880 sq mi). There are several locations related to the epic Ramayana. The Ahalya Sthan, Gautam Ashram and Gautam Kund are major destinations for the Ramayana circuit in the district.
Contents
History
1976 saw the creations of two districts from Darbhanga's territory: Madhubani and Samastipur.
Geography
Darbhanga district occupies an area of 2,279 square kilometres (880 sq mi). It is part of larger Indo-Gangetic plains. It has vast, fertile alluvial plain, best suited for agriculture. Perennial rivers like Kamla, Bagmati, Koshi and Kareh originating from Himalayas water this region. Alluvial soil type is found here.
Economy
Agriculture is the largest source of employment. Rice, wheat, maize and pulses are most grown crop. Mangoes are also grown in large quantity. Recently Makhana(foxnuts) are grown in large quantity and exported to the rest of the country.
Due to fewer options for employment, most of the educated professional migrate to metro cities.
In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Darbhanga one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).
Education
Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary Education
As per 2015-16 report by UNICEF and Bihar Education Project Council, there are 2,796 schools. Out of these 2,418 are govt, 131 govt-aided and 247 are private schools.
There are 1,567 primary schools(upto class 5), 1,079 upper-primary schools(upto class 8), 144 secondary and higher-secondary schools(upto 10-12).
Total 6,03,913 students were enrolled - 3,07,499 boys, and 2,96,414 girls. Out of these 5,41,797 were in govt, 18,831 in govt-aided and 43,285 in private schools.
As per the same report, pupil teacher ratio is heavily skewed, there are hundreds of school where ratio exceeds 100, and also there are severe lack of basic amenities like washrooms, boundary wall, playground and ramp.
These schools provide free education, mid-day meal, books and school dress.
Undergraduate
Lalit Narayan Mithila University(LNMU), a NAAC B++ accredited university, established in 1972 has 22 constituent colleges spread all over Darbhanga, prominent one being C.M college, C.M Science college, C.M Law college, Marwari college, etc.
Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University established in 1961 provides courses in Sanskrit language and related subjects like Vyakarana, Sahitya, Veda, Jyotish, Dharmashastra and Darshan. It also provides UG courses in Mithila Lok kala, Tabla, Sitar, Painting, etc.
It has 7 constituent colleges and few other affiliated colleges spread across Darbhanga.
Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) established in 1925 is one of the oldest medical college of India and the only medical institute.
Darbhanga College of Engineering, established in 2008, affiliated to Bihar Engineering University is the only major engineering college of this district.
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Women's Institute of Technology, affiliated to Lalit Narayan Mithila University offer courses like B.Tech CS/IT, MCA for female students.
Lack of technical institutes forces student to migrate to other parts of India for education.
Postgraduate, Doctoral, Post-Doctoral
LNMU has 21 PG departments in subjects such as Botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Zoology, Ancient Indian History, Economics, Geogrophy, History, Home Science, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Commerce, English, Hindi, Maithili, Philosophy, Sanskrit, Urdu, Music, Dramatics.
University provides opportunities for doctoral and post-doctoral programmes.
Art & Culture
Popular festivals like Chhat, Dussehra and Diwali are celebrated with great enthusiasm. Thousands of migrants come back home during these festivals and celebrate with friends and family.
Darbhanga is part of broader region called Mithila(or Mithilanchal) which has unique form of its art - Madhubani painting, which originated in Madhubani region, now a separate district carved out of Darbhanga. Chitwarpur village(now in Madhubani) has hundreds of artist working on this art form and 3 person from this village has received Padma Shree for the same. Govt of Bihar has started an institute - Mithila Chitrakala Sansthan dedicated to promote awarness and teach this art form.
Museum
Chandradhari Museum in Darbhanga city near railway station has impressive collection of arts, rare paintings and historical artifacts.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, Darbhanga district has a population of 3,937,385, roughly equal to the nation of Liberia or the US state of Oregon. This gives it a ranking of 64th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 1,721 inhabitants per square kilometre (4,460/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 19%. Literacy rate of the district is 56.56% (male 66.83%, female 45.24%). 9.74% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 15.64% and 0.07% of the population respectively.
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 72.75% of the population in the district spoke Maithili, 20.67% Urdu and 5.96% Hindi as their first language.
Health
The table below shows the data from the district nutrition profile of children below the age of 5 years, in Darbhanga, as of year 2020.
The table below shows the district nutrition profile of Darbhanga of women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, as of year 2020.
Politics
Parliamentary elections
Currently Gopal Jee Thakur of Bhartiya Janta Party is the Member of Parliament from Darbhanga Lok Sabha Constituency.
Bihar Legislative Council elections
Under the upper house of the Bihar Legislature, there are three regional seats associated with Darbhanga.
Though it's named Darbhanga, it covers 4 districts - Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur and Begusarai.
It follows the same four district boundary - Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur and Begusarai.
This follows Darbhanga district boundary, elected local bodies representatives from Darbhanga vote.
Administration
The administrative headquarters of the district is Darbhanga city. Current District Magistrate of Darbhanga is Kaushal Kumar. Senior Superintendent of Police is Jagunath Raddi.
Darbhanga is divided into three subdivisions - Sadar, Benipur and Biraul, and it is further divided into 18 blocks and circle. Each subdivision is headed by one Sub Divisional Officer and DCLR.
Block handles rural development and planning. Circle takes care of Land Records and Revenue Collection.
Each block is headed by Block Development Officer (BDO) and circle is headed by Circle Officer (CO). For agriculture, every block is headed by one Block Agriculture Officer.
Transportation
Air
Darbhanga has a airport in main city which has regular flights to cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Rail
Darbhanga railway station lies in Eastern Central Railway Zone and has good connectivity with major cities of India.
Road
India's second longest national highway NH27(also known as East West Corridor) crosses Darbhanga, which provides smoother connectivity to the eastern and western part of India. Other national highway like NH322, NH527E connects it with rest of Bihar. There are multiple state highway providing inter district connectivity. One expressway is under construction, it'll connect Darbhanga directly to Patna.