Uttar Pradesh ('Home' page)
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly |
Contents |
The source of this article
INDIA 2012
A REFERENCE ANNUAL
Compiled by
RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION
PUBLICATIONS DIVISION
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Uttar Pradesh
Area : 2,40,928 sq km
Population : 16,61,97,921 (Census 2001) 19,95,81,477 (Prov. Census 2011)
Capital : Lucknow
Principal Languages : Hindi and Urdu
HISTORY
The history of Uttar Pradesh is very ancient and interesting. It is recognised in the later Vedic Age as Brahmarshi Desha or Madhya Desha. Many great sages of the Vedic times like Bhardwaja, Gautam, Yagyavalkaya, Vashishtha, Vishwamitra and Valmiki flourished in this state. Several sacred books of the Aryans were also composed here. Two great epics of India, Ramayana and Mahabharata, appear to have been inspired by Uttar Pradesh.
In the sixth century BC Uttar Pradesh was associated with two new religions— Jainism and Buddhism. It was at Sarnath that Buddha preached his first sermon and laid the foundations of his order and it was in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh where Buddha breathed his last. Several centres in Uttar Pradesh like Ayodhya,
Prayag, Varanasi and Mathura became reputed centres of learning. In the medieval period Uttar Pradesh passed under Muslim rule and led the way to new synthesis of Hindu and Islamic cultures. Ramananda and his Muslim disciple Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas and many other intellectuals contributed to the growth of Hindi and other languages.
Uttar Pradesh preserved its intellectual excellence even under the British administration. The British combined Agra and Oudh into one province and called it United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. The name was shortened to the United Provinces in 1935. In January 1950 the United Provinces was renamed as Uttar Pradesh.
The State is bounded by Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the north, Haryana in the west, Madhya Pradesh in the south and Bihar in the east. Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two distinct regions (i) Southern Hills and (ii) Gangetic Plain.
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is the main occupation of 66 per cent of the population of the State. The net cultivated area in the state is 164.17 lakh hectare.
INDUSTRY AND MINERALS
There were 6,12,338 Small Scale Industries with involving a total investment of 7172 crores, as per earlier records.
Under the public sector, mining of limestone, magnesite, coal, rock phosphate, dolomite and silicon-sand is carried out. The bulk production of minor and some of the major minerals like limestone, silica-sand, magnesite, pyrophyllite and diaspore is mostly with the private sector. Important mineral based industries include large cement plants in Sonebhadra.
IRRIGATION AND POWER
UP Power Corporation, UP State Power Generation and UP Hydel Power Corporation had been formed by reorganising UP State Electricity Board on 14 January 2000. During 2001-02 the total installed capacity was 4659 MW, in 2006-07 it was 5011 MW which has now been raised upto 5077 MW. During 2001-02 the total power production was 226330 lakh KW and in the year 2006-07 it was 229692 which is at present 227099 during the year 2007-08. The total consumption of power during the year 2001-02 was 253302 lakh KW.
Power is an important input to accelerate the process of economic growth. The installed capacity of re-organized Uttar Pradesh during Tenth Five Year Plan was 7821.82 MW. Only 56.6 per cent of 97135 villages were electrified and 7.88 lakh private tubewells were energized. At the time of inception the total installed capacity of UPSEB, including thermal and hydro, was 2,635 MW which has now been raised to 5414 MW (derated 5,885.75 MW).
TRANSPORT
Roads : The total road length of PWD in the State is 146728 km. This includes 3820 km of national highways, 8391 km of state highways, 119726 of other district roads and 134517 km of rural roads.
Railways: Lucknow is the main junction of the northern network. Other important railway junctions are Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, Mughalsarai, Jhansi, Moradabad, Varanasi, Tundla, Gorakhpur, Gonda, Faizabad, Bareilly and Sitapur.
Aviation: There are airports at Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi, Bareilly, Hindon (Ghaziabad), Gorakhpur, Sarsawa (Saharanpur) and Fursatganj (Rae-Barelli).
FESTIVALS
The biggest congregation, perhaps of the world, Kumbha Mela is held at Allahabad every twelfth year and Ardh kumbh Mela every sixth year. Magh Mela is also held at Allahabad in January when the people come in large numbers to have a dip in the holy Sangam. Among other fairs is the fortnight long Jhoola fair of Mathura, Vrindavan and Ayodhya, when dolls are placed in gold and silver jhoolas or cradles. A dip in the Ganga on Kartik Poornamasi is supposed to be the holiest and there are big congregations at Garhmukteshwar, Soran, Rajghat, Kakora, Bithur, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Ayodhya. A famous cattle fair is held at Bateswar in Agra district. Dewa in Barabanki district has become famous because of the Muslim saint Waris Ali Shah. Besides, important festivals of the Hindus, Muslims, etc., are widely celebrated in the state.
TOURIST CENTRES
Uttar Pradesh has varied attractions for all kinds of tourists. Besides ancient places of pilgrimage like Varanasi, Vindhyachal, Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Prayag, Naimisharanya, Mathura, Vrindavan, Dewa Sharief, Dargah of Sheikh Saleem Chisti in Fatehpur Sikri, Sarnath, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Sankisa, Kampil, Piprahwa and Kaushambi, places like Agra, Ayodhya, Sarnath, Varanasi, Lucknow, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kannauj, Mahoba, Devgarh, Bithur, and Vindhyachal have rich treasures of Hindu and Islamic architecture and culture.
GOVERNMENT
Governor : Shri B.L. Joshi
Chief Secretary : Shri Anoop Mishra (2012)/ Sh Jawed Usmani
Chief Minister : Kumari Mayawati
Jurisdiction of High Court
- Uttar Pradesh
AREA, POPULATION AND HEADQUARTERS OF DISTRICTS
Sl. No. District Area (sq km) Population (Census 2001) Headquarters
1. 2 3 4 5
1. Agra 4,027 36,20,436 Agra
2. Aligarh 3,650 29,92,286 Aligarh
3. Allahabad 5,482 49,36,105 Allahabad
4. Azamgarh 4,054 39,39,916 Azamgarh
5. Bahraich 4,420 23,81,072 Bahraich
6. Balia 2,981 27,61,620 Balia
7. Banda 4,460 15,37,334 Banda
8. Barabanki 4,402 26,73,581 Barabanki
9. Bareilli 4,120 36,18,589 Bareilli
10. Basti 2,688 20,84,814 Basti
11. Bijnore 4,561 31,31,619 Bijnore
12. Badaun 5,168 30,69,426 Badaun
13. Bulandshahar 4,352 29,13,122 Bulandshahar
14. Deoria 2,538 27,12,650 Deoria
15. Etah 4,446 27,90,410 Etah
16. Etawah 2,311 13,38,871 Etawah
17. Faizabad 2,341 20,88,928 Faizabad
18. Ambedkar Nagar 2,350 20,26,876 Akbarpur
19. Fatehpur 4,152 23,08,384 Fatehpur
20. Farukkhabad 2,181 15,70,408 Fatehgarh
21. Gaziabad 1,148 32,90,586 Gaziabad
22. Gautam Buddha Nagar 1,442 12,02,030 Noida
23. Gazipur 3,377 30,37,582 Gazipur
24. Gonda 4,003 27,65,586 Gonda
25. Gorakhpur 3,321 37,69,456 Gorakhpur
26. Hamirpur 4,282 10,43,724 Hamirpur
27. Hardoi 5,986 33,98,306 Hardoi
28. Jalaun 4,565 14,54,452 Orai
29. Jaunpur 4,038 39,11,679 Jaunpur
30. Jhansi 5,024 17,44,931 Jhansi
31. Kanpur (Dehat) 3,021 15,63,336 Akbarpur Mati
32. Kanpur (City) 3,155 41,67,999 Kanpur
33. Lakhimpur Kheri 7,680 32,07,232 Kheri
34. Lalitpur 5,039 9,77,734 Lalitpur
35. Lucknow 2,528 36,47,834 Lucknow
36. Mainpuri 2,760 15,96,718 Mainpuri
37. Mathura 3,340 20,74,516 Mathura
38. Meerut 2,590 29,97,361 Meerut
39. Mirzapur 4,521 21,16,042 Mirzapur
40. Moradabad 3,718 38,10,983 Moradabad
41. Muzaffarnagar 4,008 35,43,362 Muzaffarnagar
42. Pilibhit 3,499 16,45,183 Pilibhit
43. Pratapgarh 3,717 27,31,174 Pratapgarh
44. Raibareilli 4,609 28,72,335 Raibareilli
45. Rampur 2,367 19,23,739 Rampur
46. Jyotiba Phule Nagar 2,249 14,99,068 Jyoitba Phule Nagar
47. Saharanpur 3,689 14,99,068 Saharanpur
48. Shahjahanpur 4,575 25,47,855 Shahjahanpur
49. Sitapur 5,743 36,19,661 Sitapur
50. Unnao 4,558 27,00,324 Unnao
51. Sultanpur 4,436 32,14,832 Sultanpur
52. Varanasi 1,535 31,38,671 Varanasi
53. Mau 1,713 18,53,997 Mau
54. Siddharthnagar 2,895 20,40,085 Navgarh
55. Firozabad 2,361 20,52,958 Firozabad
56. Sonbhadra 6,788 14,63,519 Robertsganj
57. Maharajganj 2,952 21,67,041 Maharajganj
58. Sant Ravidas Nagar 1,015 13,53,705 Bhadohi
59. Mahoba 2,884 7,08,447 Mahoba
60. Hathras 1,840 13,36,031 Hathras
61. Kaushambi 1,780 1293154 Kaushambi
62. Kushinagar 2,906 28,93,196 Podraune
63. Chandauli 2,541 16,43,251 Chandauli
64. Balrampur 3,349 16,82,350 Balrampur
65. Shrawasti 2,458 11,76,391 Shrawasti
66. Chitrakoot 3,164 7,66,225 Chitrakoot
67. Baghpat 1,321 11,63,991 Baghpat
68. Kannauj 2,093 13,88,923 Kannauj
69. Orriya 2,015 11,79,993 Orraiya
70. Sant Kabir Nagar 1,646 14,20,226 Khalilabad
71. Kanshi Ram Nagar - 92,485 Kanshi Ram Nagar
72. Chattrapati Sahuji 3,044 18,87,120 Gauriganj Maharaj Nagar
Developmental indicators
West UP vis-à-vis East UP
Subodh Varma , How UP is split down its middle, March 1, 2017: The Times of India
The last two phases in UP are gearing up to vote in what has been a bitterly fought 7-phase Assembly elections. Polling started in west UP almost three weeks ago.Although bound by politics and administration, east and west UP are vastly different in history and culture. But the biggest difference is of economic development.
The per person income (domestic product) of west UP is a stunning 76 % higher than that of east UP . Urbanisation is almost three times, number of factories are seven times more, 20% more land is irrigated, every hectare of land yields 24% more food grains, 48% more potatoes and 76% more oilseeds, and power consumption per person is more than double in the west compared to east.
The UP government defines west UP as 28 districts from Saharanpur to AuraiyaEtawah and east UP as 30 districts from Bahraich in the north-west to Sonabhadra in the southeast corner. Population sizes are not too different and literacy rates are similar. But here the similarity ends.
The most striking difference between the two regions is in industrialisation. There are nearly 13 registered working factories per one lakh population in the west compared to just about pared to just about 2 in the east. As a result, the number of industrial employees per lakh population is 812 per lakh population in west, not a very high figure but over eight times the figure for east.
A key difference is of land holding size. For every rural resident in west UP , 0.12 hectares of land is sown for cultivation. In east UP this measure plummets to just 0.08 hectares per rural person. e This means that agriculture in east UP bears the burden of one and a half times more people than in west UP. Over 86% of land in east UP is cultivated by small and marginal farmers with less than a hectare of land, compared to 74% in the west.
“Feudal stranglehold survived in east UP till very late and its remnants are entrenched even today ,“ says DM Diwakar, a Patna-based academic who has extensively researched east-west UP differences. “In the west land relations were different and hence development has been different.“
Diwakar also stresses that west UP saw the Green Revolution which boosted production and further changed the agrarian structure while east UP continued to grind under traditional cultivation and landlordism.
Huge investment in agriculture spurred industrial growth and urbanisation in the west but the east remained frozen, he said. “If effective land reforms had been implemented, east UP would have changed,“ Diwakar asserted.
This chasm reflects in political and electoral processes too. The more homogenous east UP has flipped through the three big political parties -SP, BSP and BJP -in the last three elections showing a deep urge to change things.
West UP has become an intense battleground with SP and BSP sharing the spoils in previous Assembly elections and BJP sweeping the Lok Sabha elections, as it did elsewhere in the state.
Power (electric)
Technical and commercial (AT&C) losses
Out of every five electricity consumers in Etawah, the home district of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, only one pays the bill. The situation is almost similar in Kannauj, the parliamentary constituency of SP president Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple.
The parliamentary constituency and home district of UP chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath, Gorakhpur too reports very high rate of power theft.In fact, in Kauriram division of Gorakhpur, power pilferage is to the tune of over 80%.
These startling findings are from an internal assess ment report on aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses prepared by the UP Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL).The report has data till December 2016, a month before the notification for the UP assembly election came into effect. The report, that poses a challenge at a time when the UP govern ment is gearing up to implement the Centre's flagship `24x7 power for all' scheme, categorically highlights that of the total power supplied, almost 31% got pilfered in the 13 months between December 2015 and December 2016. This was over double the 15% man dated by the Central Electricity Authority . The report shows that almost 16,000 million units of power, accounting for over Rs 6,500 crore, were lost in pilferage and transmission losses.
According to the report , the highest power theft rate of around 44% was recorded in the Dakshinanchal Distribution Company which supplied power to districts like Agra and Mathura. This meant almost every second consumer did not pay for electricity consumed. Industry experts said 24x7 electricity for all will not materialise until power theft is not checked. Sources said UPPCL was planning to carry out an exhaustive anti-theft drive in several districts.
Awadh region
Status in 2017
Subodh Varma, Feb 18, 2017: The Times of India
Ashokan relics jostle with medieval mosques and forts and colonial ruins in this vast plain farmed for millennia, watered by numerous tributaries of the Ganga and Yamuna.
This history is not just in the ruins. It is reflected in occupations -floral essences are still distilled in Kannauj, cotton durries and carved wooden doors crafted in Sitapur, Lucknow is known for its zardozi embroidery and leather saddles are being made in Kanpur and Unnao.Modernity too rubs shoulders with this artisanal history .Barabanki is a top mentha and opium growing centre, Farrukhabad is UP's highest potato growing district with many cold storages.
WEALTHY CITIES
The region is dominated by two metropolises. Lucknow, the state capital and Kanpur, one of India's oldest industrial cities now in decline. Between the two, they account for over 57% of the urban population in this region, 41% of its domestic product and 60% of its business or manufacturing establishments. They together produce over 7% of UP's domestic product, despite Kanpur's leather industry suffering a decline.If wealth and productive capacity, and all that goes with it -urban life, hospitals and colleges, malls and cinema theatres -is so concentrated in the two cities, what's there in the rest of the region?
SINKING REGION
Farming is the main occupation with very little industry except for the small sweat shops producing ittar in Kannauj and menthol in Barabanki, besides agroprocessing units scattered in the region. Water from the braided rivers, canals and also ponds and lakes in the Barabanki-Sitapur belt is plentiful. Cultivation of mainly wheat, followed by paddy , pulses, oilseeds, vegetables and mangoes is ubiquitous, with some farmers even sowing five crops in a year. But with 73% cultivated area operated by small and marginal farmers and a large presence of the landless, all this has not translated in to overall prosperity.
ANAEMIC PEOPLE
Health indicators collected for the annual health survey by the Census office reveal a chilling state of affairs indicative of extreme poverty, even next door to the twin cities. In most districts, in particular Barabanki, Sitapur, Hardoi, Auraiya and Kannauj, undernourishment is pervasive with 35-40% of working age population affected. Anemia affects around 80% of children going up to 89% in Barabanki. In the adult population, especially women, anaemia was found in around 90% of the population. Infant mortality rates are almost a third higher than the state average of 68 child deaths for every 1000 live births while death rates of mothers due to pregnancy or child birth complications is at a staggering 311 per one lakh births in the Lucknow division comprising five districts. That the healthcare delivery system is cracked across the region is shown by the fact that 10%-20% children in districts like Farrukhabad or Hardoi are not immunised at all.
Northeast UP
Status in 2017
Subodh Varma, March 3, 2017: The Times of India
Northeast UP votes on March 4 in the sixth phase. The region touches the forested terai at the Himalaya foothills in the north extending southward braided with rivers Rapti, Tamsa and Ghagra. Its population density averages 1,165 persons per square kilometre, the highest in the state. But this density is not from urbanisation that's only 11%. It's an ancient land, always with large populations of cultivators and traditional industries, but now straining under the burden.
Small-holding agriculture -wheat, paddy , pulses, and sugarcane the main produce -dominates the local economy . Average land holding size is just 0.55 hectares. Across Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Mau and Ballia districts, dying embers of traditional industry including weaving and garment manufacture, wooden artifacts, black pottery are visible. Gorakhpur remains a hub for trade in hides and leather, but a pale shadow of its past. Mau became a boom town after the power loom was introduced in the 1970s as it competed with Varanasi in making saris. But it's now reduced to mostly family-based handloom or powerloom units.In Palki cluster, there are 21,000 such units registered but they employ just 40,000 workers -about two workers apiece. Mostly out contracted by traders, locals are involved in home-based and micro level work across the region. The pitifully lowpaying work ranges from bidi-making to bindi-making in Deoria, or wooden furniture in Ballia. Small agro-processing units are in abundance, fed by the surrounding sown fields. As a result, though the region has about 10% of the state's enterprises, only about 4.5% of the state's workers are employed here, indicating how tiny these enterprises are.
Stagnation has left the region with a per capita income a third lower than the state average.District level income fig ures are a revelation: Mau, which boasts of only very small textile enterprises still emerges with a better income than Azamgarh or Ballia, and of course, much better than pure farm economies as in Kushi Nagar or Maharajganj in the north.
One deadly feature of the region that highlights the extreme neglect by successive governments is the annual toll from encephali tis. Spread by mosquitoes, which thrive in this heavy rainfall region dotted with lakes and ponds, over 4,000 people, mostly children, have died of this disease in the past six years. There is only one place to go to for `brain fever' as it is called: the Baba Raghav Das Hospital at Gorakhpur. Though of late it's been given equipment and personnel, it is woefully short.
South-eastern UP
Status in 2017
This includes two sharply distinct belts: one is the Gangetic plains dominated by Varanasi and surrounded by Jaunpur, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Bhadohi and parts of Mirzapur districts and the second is the hilly tribal district of Sonbhadra, beyond the plains, around the river Sone and its tributaries. The plains area is typically agrarian, foodgrain and sugarcane the main crops.
Everything moves around the ancient city of Varanasi, which draws millions not just for pilgrimage or tourism but also employment seekers from the hinterland. Bhadohi district is India's biggest handknotted carpet-making centre, with an estimated 2.2 million employed in this export-oriented industry . Like the famed weavers of Banarasi sarees in Varanasi, the carpet weavers of Bhadohi and Mirzapur too suffer ill-paying drudgery for products beautiful and costly .
Ghazipur was famous for its rose attar and gulab jal (rosewater). Jaunpur is home to several 14-15th century Indo-Iranian mosques and buildings, relics of the Sharqui kingdom. Further south lies UP's second largest district, Sonbhadra, where the Gangetic plain peters out against the Chhota Nagpur plateau.
Nearly 36% of the area here is forested although most of it is now “open forest“ made up of scrub and scattered trees.This panhandle is home to 10 super thermal power stations and dozens of industries attracted by the cheap power. At 11000 MW , these giant plants at Obra, Anpara, Renukoot, Bijpur, Rihandsagar, Singrauli produce about 10% of India's total power. Other major industries include the Hindalco aluminium factory , chemicals, carbon, and cement plants.
Sonbhadra's industries should have transformed lives of people here that includes 16 tribal groups. While per capita net district domestic product (proxy for income) is higher than other districts in the belt, except Varanasi, and industrial employment is higher, for the mass of people in hamlets across the hills, life has not changed much.
Under-5 mortality is 99 in Sonbhadra, higher than the state average of 90. Nearly 68% children are not fully immunised compared to 47% statewide. Clearly , the ultramodern industry in Sonbhadra has had an unequal relationship with the locals, taking their labour and their land for the country's greater good, but giving them virtually nothing. Questions are now being raised about the staggering impact of pollution -air and chemical contamination of water -by these industries.
In 2011, a CSE study had found high levels of mercury , fluoride, chromium, lead and arsenic in soil, water, cereals and even nails and hair of people. Infertility , eczema, joint pains, tremors and fits, anxiety , teeth disorders etc.are rife in villages according to several studies and media reports.
Villages with strange names
Mar 17 2015
Eram Agha
From `posterior' of UP, calls for a name change
Just how some villages in Uttar Pradesh got their names, no one now knows or remembers. But dozens across the state continue to live with the ignominy of names that translate into everything from `posterior' to `genitalia', from `excrement' to `rotten'. MP of Aligarh Satish Gautam has an interesting story to tell. When he first went to Parliament, he needed to fill some documents and give his address. Asked the name of his village, he said, “Sada“. The woman at the desk could not believe her ears, the MP recalls, and repeatedly asked him to spell it out. “Finally, I said, `Take a guava, keep it out for 10 days.It will rot. That is what my village is called'.“
Gautam is keen that his village be renamed to ` Anand Nagar'. But he's lucky that he's getting away with just `rotten'. Other villages have names that cannot even be mentioned. Like the one in Rehmatpur, Aligarh, that has `posterior' prefixed to it.
Another one in Hathras translates into `excreta' in English.
“These names have passed down several generations and there are traditions and legends associated with them that have somehow slid into oblivion,“ said Shamim Ahmad Khan, district magistrate of Hathras, trying to explain. “Some of these were nicknames and now continue as official names. People want to live in a village with a nice name. That is understandable. If people demand change and pursue their demands, the name could be changed -through a decision of the government after an inquiry into what the panchayat seeks.“
Changing a village name, however, could prove a longdrawn affair. Ask Pawan Sisodia, who lives in, let's just say, `Excreta'. In 2000, local people sought that the village be renamed Prem Nagar. Sisodia, now 27, is still at it.
“Changing the name of a village requires consistency and patience,“ Sisodia said. “Villagers thought the name could be changed in a matter of weeks. That is just not possible. If we had pursued the matter, our vil lage might have been called Prem Nagar.“ While the village in Hathras could not be renamed as the matter was not diligently pursued, the renaming of `Posterior' got stuck for quite another reason. There was no consensus on an alternative name.
Former pradhan Surender Kumar said, “Our village has a mix of castes -Brahmins, Baghel, Dalits.Everyone wants to choose the name in honour of each group's ancestors or heroes.The matter got stuck.“
So women from the village who visit doctors outside or commute elsewhere are still teased by auto-drivers and rickshaw-wallahs, even bus drivers and conductors.
