Jaigaon

Jaigaon Jaygaon Joygaon
Town
Jaigaon Location in West Bengal, India
Coordinates: 26°50′N 89°23′E / 26.83°N 89.38°E / 26.83; 89.38Coordinates: 26°50′N 89°23′E / 26.83°N 89.38°E / 26.83; 89.38
Country	India
State	West Bengal
District	Jalpaiguri
Population (2001)
• Total	38,664
Languages
• Official	Bengali,  English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Lok Sabha constituency	Alipurduars (ST)
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Kalchini (ST)
Website	jalpaiguri.gov.in

Jaigaon (Nepali: जयगाउँ) is a small town in Jalpaiguri district in the Indian state of West Bengal, near the Bhutan border. The town lies at the gateway to Bhutan – Phuentsholing, and is thus a very thriving place of trade. The main source of income for the vast majority of people here is through the Bhutanese citizens that come down to Jaigaon in order to buy their monthly and weekly ration.

The main entrance to Bhutan is through Jaigaon. As Bhutan is a Himalayan Kingdom, it does not have roads linking to all its towns. Thus, Bhutan uses Indian roads to reach some of its cities, namely Samtse, Gomtu and Samdrup Jongkhar. Bagdogra (Siliguri) is the nearest airport, and Kolkata its nearest port, where goods to Bhutan are brought to. India offers a free flow of goods from Kolkata port to Bhutan.

It lies on the banks of the [Torsa] river. It is a census town and a police station of Alipurduar subdivision ^[1]

Environment

Being a border town Jaigaon has a secular population who live in a brotherly manner within themselves.People from all parts of the country and have resided here just in search of job or to do business.The major population consists of Bengali, Bihari, Marwari, Nepali. Mech one of the scheduled tribes of the country resides in lower part of the city commonly called Mechia Basti. Also, the most preserved tribe of India the TOTOS reside on the other side of the river Torsha (also Torsa) beneath the mighty Himalayas,though that region doesn't fall in the part of the city but still is in the neighborhood of Jaigaon. Though the area is quite peaceful,some political uprisings in the Dooars in the recent years have added to the discontent of the local people. Strikes and political rallies affect the daily work schedule of the common masses. 

The weather of Jaigaon is pleasant and has a Mediterranean type of climate. The place gets a bounty of rainfall all throughout the year irrespective of the general climate pattern of the country.  

Hill Down View Of Jaigaon

Geography

Jaigaon is located at 26°50′N 89°23′E / 26.83°N 89.38°E / 26.83; 89.38.^[2]

However, with the younger generation taking over from their preceding generations, there are brightened hopes of a holistic development in the part of the world. We can expect to see more schools, hospitals and other basic infrastructure coming up in the near future.

Demographics

As of 2007 India census,^[3] Jaigaon had a population of 1,58,664. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Jaigaon has an average literacy rate of 90%, much higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 90%, and female literacy is 90%. In Jaigaon, 16% of the population is under 6 years of age. On the whole its a developing place.Jaigaon is a densely populated town, with Nepali speaking majority.

Education

Schools of Jaigaon have always provided decent learning facilities to students. Regional students and students from Phuentsholing, a city in Bhutan come to study in Jaigaon. There has been a decent growth in the number of schools. SHMD (Shri Hanuman Mandir Dharamsala School) is the best-equipped school here. St. Anthony Convent School,St. John's,B.D Memorial and Sunrise School are some of the other notable schools in Jaigaon. As the only college in Jaigaon caters to Humanities(Arts) stream, students from the surrounding towns also come here to pursue their studies. Most of the students from Jaigaon move to Kolkata And Siliguri for higher studies. Some students have achieved high excellence in engineering careers. After class 10 students relocate temporarily in favour of coaching hubs of the country like at Kota, Delhi, Hyderabad and Vizag to get trained and earn high academic excellence. Some study in colleges like IITs, NITs, Jadavpur University and have also been placed in PSU'S and MNC'S.

References

External links

• Japanese traveller on the Indo-Bhutanese border