KARIMGANJ DISTRICT

Karimganj District is an administrative district in the state of Assam. The district occupies an area of 1809 sq. km. It is bounded on the northeast by Cachar District, on the east by Hailakandi District, on the south by Mizoram state, on the southwest by Tripura state, and on the west and northwest by Bangladesh. Karimganj Town, the administrative headquarter and main town of the district also bears the same name, that is, Karimganj. Together with two other neighboring districts - Cachar and Hailakandi - it constitutes the Barak Valley zone in Southern Assam.  Karimganj town is located on the northern fringe of the district adjoining Bangladesh, by the river Kushiyara. Its distance from Guwahati - the state capital of Assam - is approximately 330 km by road and about 350 km by rail. Distances of other important places are : Silchar - 55 km, Shillong - 220 km, Agartala - 250 km. Flanked on two sides by the rivers Kushiyara and Longai, Karimganj town is located just on the Bangladesh border with the river Kushiyara flowing in between. One prominent feature of the place is a long and winding canal called Noti Khal meandering through the town. Earlier, it used to be a connecting river way between Kushiyara and Longai facilitating river communication and also balancing of water-levels between the two rivers. Now, however, this canal has been blocked at several places through embankments and land-fills to pave way for road transport and construction works.Latu is one of the historically interesting village of Karimganj.

The Sub-division of Karimganj under the Sylhet District was created in 1878 with Karimganj town as its headquarters. The sub-division played an important role in the freedom movement. The famous Chargola exodus, one of the earliest organised labour movements of the country, had its origin in the Chargola valley tea-belt of Karimganj sub-division. At the time of partition of the country, in 1947, the district of Sylhet was transferred to East Pakistan barring three-and-half thana areas (Ratabari, Patherkandi, Badarpur and half of Karimganj thana) of the Karimganj sub-division. This truncated Karimganj sub-division was incorporated in the Cachar District of Assam as a full-fledged sub-division. This sub-division was upgraded to a district on the 1st of July, 1983, vide Govt. Notification no. GAG15/83/1 dated June 14, 1983.

Economy

Developmental scenario of Karimganj district is not very bright. In fact, it is one of the most backward districts of India in terms of socio- economic development. The CMIE index (a comparative index of development generated by the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy with index for India as base of 100) for Karimganj District stands at 39 in comparison to 54 for state (Assam) and 100 for India. Geographical remoteness from the main part of the country coupled with poor communication and other infra-structural facilities are the main factors behind the low level of development. Econony of Karimganj district is agrarian in character with as much as 60% of the active workforce engaged in cultivation. Together with Farming, Livestock, Fishery, Forestry etc, the Primary sector of economy engages a total of 68% of active workforce. But the net area sown at around 35% of the total land area has remained more or less stagnant for years due to low rate of multiple cropping, which again, is the result of poor irrigation facility, even though the district is fed by three perennial rivers, large swamps and watersheds. As a consequence, the productivity is rather low.

The language spoken in this part of the world is Bengali, especially Sylheli that is spoken by the people of syleth, now in Bangladesh. Other languages spoken in the region are Hindi, Manipuri, Dimasa, and Khasi etc.

People are religious and half of the populations are Hindu and rests are Muslim, Christian, Buddhists, Shiks, and Jains etc.

Education

1) Gurucharan College :  Gurucharan College, Silchar, abbreviated as G.C.College, was established on 15th July 1935 Originally the College was housed in a deserted bungalow of Mr. Promode Chandra Dutta at Rongpur on the bank of river Barak. Unfortunately, the riverbank erosion began to engulf the College premises and Gurucharan College was shifted temporarily to the campus of Silchar Normal School. However, this temporary phase of crises of accommodation was soon over and with the help of insistence from different quarters, it was able to acquire a vast area of about 7.1 acres within the land of Silchar Municipal area. The institute is enlisted under 2(F) and 12 (B) by the University Grants Commission (UGC), and accredited by NAAC & graded B++. The institute presently enjoys the status of College with Potential for Excellence for its remarkable achievements in many fields of human endeavor.

2) Karimganj College :  Karimganj college was established in the year 1946. It is affiliated to the Assam University and accredited by the "National Assessment and Accreditation Council(NACC)" with a Grade of B+. It was previously affiliated to the Calcutta University, then to the Guwahati University and at present to the Assam University since 1994. The Founder Principal of the College was Late Pramesh Chandra Bhattacharjee. Karimganj College is situated on the banks of the Kushiara river setting the boundaries of India and Bangladesh. Phone: 03843-262108.

3) Ramkrishna Nagar College : Ramkrishna nagar is a remote place in north east India. Ramkrishna Nagar college was established in 1964. The college is located at a distance of 55 km from headquarter of Karimganj district. Sisir ranjan Sastri was the founder principal of the college.
The college has science and arts streams up to degree level. The college is situated on 36 bigha track donated by adjacent H.S school R.K. Vidyapith. The college building includes administrative block, science block, and Arts block. There is also a canteen, a library, a conference hall and a girl's hostel.

4) Ramanuj Gupta Junior College : ISKCON Mandir Road,Silchar, Assam 788004, Phone : 03842 267096

Banks

1) Axis Bank, TARUNIMA BUILDING OPP. FIRE SERVICE STATION MAIN ROAD, Phone : 03843 - 264082
2)   Central Bank Of India, MAIN ROAD (BRIDGE ROAD), Phone: (03843) 262236
3)  Central Bank Of India, CHARGOLA BAZAR, Phone : (03843) 263234
4)  ICICI Bank, TARUNIMA BUILDING, OPP FIRE SERVICE STATION, MAIN ROAD
5)  Punjab National Bank (PNB), OLD STATION ROAD KARIMGANJ, Phone : 03843-262175
6)  State Bank Of India (SBI), MAIN RD, Phone : 03843- 266995/262132/266085
7)  State Bank Of India (SBI), KARIMGANJ BAZAR EVENING BRANCH, MASJID ROAD, Phone : 03843-262593
8)  Union Bank Of India (UBI), MAIN ROAD, Phone: 03843 - 262381
9)  United Bank Of India (UBI), STATION ROAD, Phone : (03843) 262029
10) UCO Bank, STATION ROAD, Phone : 03843 - 262016
11) Allahabad Bank, BAZAR ICHERRA, VILL. & P.O. BAZARICHERRA, Phone: 03843-287929
12) Allahabad Bank, OLD STATION ROAD, Phone: 03843-262110