Assasuni Upazila

Assasuni Upazila (satkhira district) with an area of 220.96 sq km is bounded by satkhira sadar and tala upazilas on the north, shyamnagar upazila on the south,paikgachha and koyra upazilas on the east and kaliganj and debhata upazilas on the west. Main rivers are kobadak, Kholpetua, Morischap and Malancha.

Assasuni Town consists of one mouza. The area of the town is 6.81 sq km. It has a population of 7611; male 53.05%, female 46.95%; population density per sq km 1118. Literacy rate among the town people is 43.8%. There are one duckbanglow.

Administration Assasuni thana was established in 1891 and was turned into an upazila in 1983. The upazila consists of 10 unions, 143 mouzas and 241 villages.

Archaeological heritage and relics Dargah of Buro Pir and Shiva Kali Mandir (1146) at Budhata.

Population 220957; male 50.07%, female 49.93%. Muslim 67.7%; Hindu 31.8%, Christian 0.36%, Buddhist 0.01% and others 0.13%.

Religious institutions Mosque 200, tomb 4, temple 74, church 2, most noted of which Budhata Jami Mosque, Budhata Shiva Kali Mandir and Baradal Church.

Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 30.3%; male 41% and female 19.6%. Educational institutions: college 2, high school 34, madrasa 19, government primary school 89, non-government primary school 58. Noted educational institutions: Assasuni High School (1911), Budhata High School (1952), Budhata Government Primary School (1926).

Cultural organisations Club 46, public library 1, theatre group 2, cinema hall 1, opera party 1, literary society 1.

Locally published newspapers and periodicals Monthly- Pralagava; quarterly-Pratya and Shradhanjali; extinct- Jagarani.

Main occupations Agriculture 37.74%, fishing 1.76%, pisciculture 2.02%, agricultural labour 25.12%, wage labour 5.69%, industry 2.82%, Business 11.79%, construction 1.16%, service 3.03% and others 8.87%.

Land use Cultivable land 17750 hectares; single crop 87.32%, double crop 6.76% and treble crop land 5.92%.

Land control Among the peasants 49% are landless, 25% small, 20% intermediate and 6% rich.

Main crops Paddy, wheat, potato, patal, betel leaf and kachu.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Linseed, sesame, sweet potato, mungbean andkhesari.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, black berry, jamrul and kul.

Fisheries, dairies, poultries Poultry 15, fishery 2780, shrimp 1125, hatchery 3.

Communication facilities Roads: pucca road 25 km and mud road 238 km.

Traditional transport palanquin (extinct), horse carriage (nearly extinct), boat.

Manufactories Rice mill 7, ice factory 4.

Cottage industries Goldsmiths 60, blacksmiths 100, potteries 300, mat works 172.

Main hats, bazars and fairs Total number of hats and bazars is 45 the most noted of which are Budhat and Baradal Hat.

Main exports Shrimp, betel leaf, madur, kul and kachu.

NGO activitie Operationally important NGOs are brac, CARE, asa, grameen bank, Rupantar.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, family welfare centre 7, rural health centre 1. [Sachhida Nanda De, Banglapedia]