For a bureaucrat sitting in Delhi, Purulia, located in the eastern part of Chotanagpur plateau is yet another backward place. The region, which was earlier known as Junglemahal district owing to its vast forest cover, saw a new district, Manbhum, carved out in 1833. In 1956 Manbhum district was partitioned between Bihar and West Bengal. According to the 2011 census, Purulia has a population of 29.3 lakh out of which 87.26 per cent are in rural areas. Purulia has a sex ratio of 957, and a literacy