About the Panchayat

In 1935, the British Government introduced the Government of Bengal Act. Under this Act, elections were held in 1937 to elect representatives to the Provincial Legislative Assemblies in the provinces of British India.

In undivided Bengal, A. K. Fazlul Huq of the Krishak Praja Party formed a ministry with Syama Prasad Mukherjee of the Hindu Mahasabha. A. K. Fazlul Huq served as the Prime Minister of Bengal.

During that period, every district in Bengal had a District Board, and several villages were grouped together to form Union Boards. In our area, the Union Board was known as the Nehalpur-Dhanyakuria Union Board, with its office located at the residence of the Sau family in Dhanyakuria village. The first President of this Union Board was Pulin Bihari Sau.

The present-day Begampur Bibipur, Dhanyakuria, and Srinagar Matia Gram Panchayat areas together formed the Nehalpur-Dhanyakuria Union Board.

Later, elections were held for the representatives of the Union Board. From the villages of Srinagar, Chandannagar, Keshabpur, Debrajpur, Matia, Sangbaria, Purba Sangbaria, and Shibchandrapur, Sheikh Shahajuddin, Amjed Ali, and Bimal Biswas (of Dhanyakuria) were elected.

In the same election, Haji Elahi Bux of Begampur was elected President, and Abdul Latif of Bargobra was elected Vice-President. The Union Board office was shifted from the Sau residence in Dhanyakuria to a newly constructed two-storey wooden building at Matia Hat. The renowned lawyer Samu Miah of Nehalpur played a significant role in relocating the office.

In 1964, the Panchayati Raj Act was passed in India to extend democracy to the grassroots level. Accordingly, elections were held for Gram Panchayats, Anchalik Parishads, and Zilla Parishads. Block Development Offices replaced the Circle Offices, and Block Development Officers (BDOs) were appointed.

In January 1964, severe communal riots took place across West Bengal. At that time, Prafulla Chandra Sen was the Chief Minister of West Bengal.

To implement the new Panchayati Raj system, the newly appointed BDOs held public meetings during March and April. It was decided that the Nehalpur-Dhanyakuria Union Board would be dissolved and replaced by three Gram Panchayats. The Basirhat-II Block Anchalik Parishad and the North 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad, headquartered at Alipore, would also be established. A total of nine Gram Panchayats were to be formed in the Basirhat-II Block.

At a meeting held at Begampur Bibipur High School under the chairmanship of the BDO, it was decided that the Nehalpur-Dhanyakuria Union Board would be divided into three elected Gram Panchayats:

1. Begampur Bibipur
2. Dhanyakuria
3. Srinagar Matia

After the formation of the Srinagar Matia Gram Panchayat, Haji Md. Ziad Ali was elected as its first Pradhan (Head), and Md. Rowshan Ali of Sangbaria village was elected as the first Deputy Pradhan.

The Srinagar Matia Gram Panchayat is bounded on the north by Arbelia village of Baduria Municipality and the Tildanga and Dakshin Diyara villages of Jagannathpur Gram Panchayat; on the west by the Vidyadhari River and Dhanyakuria Gram Panchayat; on the south by Korapara village of Ghorarash Kulingram Gram Panchayat; and on the east by Ghorarash Kulingram Gram Panchayat.