Puncha, Purulia

Puncha is a village, with a police station, and a gram panchayat in the Puncha CD block in the Manbazar subdivision of the Purulia district in the state of West Bengal, India.

Location
Puncha is located at 23.163°N, 86.652°W.

Area overview
Purulia district forms the lowest step of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The general scenario is undulating land with scattered hills. Manbazar subdivision, shown in the map alongside, is located in the eastern part of the district. It is an overwhelmingly rural subdivision with 96.32% of the population living in the rural areas and 3.68% living in the urban areas. There are 3 census towns in the subdivision. The map shows the Kangsabati Project Reservoir. The Mukutmanipur Dam is in Bankura district but the upper portion of the reservoir is in Manbazar subdivision. The remnants of old temples and deities are found in the subdivision also, as in other parts of the district. The subdivision has a very high proportion of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Bandwan CD block has 51.86% ST population, Manbazar II CD block has 48.97% ST population. Manbazar I CD block has 22.03% ST and 22.44% SC. Puncha CD block has 24.74% ST and 14.54 SC. Writing in 1911, H. Coupland, ICS, speaks of the aboriginal races largely predominating in the old Manbhum district. He particularly mentions the Kurmis, Santhals, Bhumij and Bauri.

Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of India, Puncha had a total population of 5,404 of which 2,744(51%) were males and 2,660 (49%) were females. There were 573 persons in the age range of 0–6 years. The total number of literate persons in Puncha was 3,788 (78.41% of the population over 6 years).

Police station
Puncha police station has jurisdiction over parts of the Puncha and Manbazar I CD blocks. The area covered is 330.11 km2 and the population covered is 123,768.

CD block HQ
The headquarters of the Puncha CD block are located at Puncha.

Transport
Hura-Puncha Road and Puncha-Payrachali Road meet at Puncha.

Culture
Pakbirra, famous for its Jain temples, is located close by.

Healthcare
Puncha Rural Hospital, with 30 beds, is a major government medical facility in Puncha CD block.