Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday declared Jhargram as the 22nd district of Bengal. “A long-standing demand of the people has been fulfilled. The days of violence and bloodshed are gone. Peace reigns in Jhargram now. April 4 will be celebrated as Jhargram Divas from now on,’’ Ms Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting at Jhargram.

Jhargram has been formed by bifurcating West Midnapore, which has a population of more than 11.37 lakh. The district has one mahakuma, eight blocks, one municipality and nine police stations. R. Arjun has been appointed the district magistrate while Abhisek Gupta has been made the police superintendent.

She announced a budget of Rs 200 crore for the development of Jhargram. “We have plans to set up a university in Jhargram in the future. We will build a new stadium at Nayagram and renovate the Jhargram stadium. Multi-speciality hospitals as well as schools and colleges will be built in all the blocks of the new district,” she said.

Ms Banerjee said nearly 35,000 persons were recruited in the police from Junglemahal (comprising large areas of Bankura, West Midnapore, Purulia and Jhargram districts).” Locals have special skills in archery. We will set up an archery academy in Jhargram to train talented youths. Special emphasis will be given to the promotion of Chau dance. If people here are trained, they will be unmatched in archery and Chau dance,” she added.

On November 28, 2016, the Calcutta High Court had given the necessary permissions to set up three new districts — Kalimpong, Jhargram and Asansol. On the same day, Ms Banerjee had announced that the new districts will be “officially” created before Poila Boisakh, the Bengali New Year, which falls on April 15. Earlier, the chief minister had declared Kalimpong as the 21st district on February 14. A new district, Paschim Burdwan, comprising the industrial zone of Burdwan, will be declared the 23rd district of Bengal on April 7, 2017.

Recalling the days of unrest when Maoists dominated Jhargram, she said, “There was a time when people feared passing beside the Jhitka forest. Many innocent lives were lost. But now I am proud to say that peace has returned. I am grateful to the people here for braving the past days.”