GENERAL BACKGROUND
Administrative Status and Physical Features Bounded by China (Tibet) and Nepal in the north, Himachal Pradesh in the north-west, Punjab in the west, Rajasthan in the south-west, Madhya Pra- desh in the south & Bihar in the east, Uttar Pradesh has the largest population among all the states in India. It is situated in the north of the country between 31.08' and 23.52' north latitudes and between 77.04' & 84.38' east longitudes. Its captical is Lucknow. It has its own legislature, ministry, governor, high court and public service commission.
The state covers an area of 2,94,413 sq. kms. It stands fifth in respect of forest area among all the states of the country, the first four being Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in that order. The total area under forests in the state is 49,532. sq. kms., which is 8.6 per cent of total area of the state. The hilly regions in the northern part of the state experience mild summers and very cold winters with temperature often dropping several degrees below the freezing point. The mountains of the high Himalayas contain ice- capped peaks all the year round. Except for hill areas, the state has a tropical monsoon climate with an average temperature from a minimum of about 3-4x C in January to 43-44x in May and June. Gene- rally the districts of Agra & Jhansi have the highest temperature and Bareilly and Saharanpur the lowest.
The important rivers are Ganga, Yamuna, Ghaghara, Gomti, Ramganga and Kosi. In doabs of the rivers flowing in the well known Gangetic plain there are a large number of streams, lakes and ponds which provide good potential for the development of irrigation and fisheries. The Gangetic plains cover nearly 75 per cent of the state.
The Population The population of Uttar Pradesh according to the census data of 1971 is 8,83,41,144 (Rural- 7,59,52,548 and Urban-1,23,88,596). The density of population per sq. km. is 300. As indicated above, the state ranks first in population but fourth in area. Population of the state constitutes 16.1 per cent of India's population and its area forms 9.1 per cent of the total area of the country. The sex ratio is 879 females for every 1000 males. The growth rate of the population during the decade 1961-71 has been 19.79 per cent. Nearly 86% of the population resides in rural areas. The sche- duled castes and scheduled tribes form 21.0 and 0.2 per cent of the population respectively.
Tables I-V give information on certian aspects of the population relevant to educational planning and administration and based on the 1971 census.
With respect to table I it may be mentioned that the names of the district headquarters are the same as those of the districts except in the following 4 cases:-
Name of District Name of Headquarters
Farrukhabad Fatehgarh
Pauri Garhwal Pauri
Jalaun Orai
Tehri Garhwal Narendranagar
It will be noted that the predominant section (81.4%) of the population in Uttar Pradesh speaks Hindi, which is also the states' official language. Hindus form the majority (83.76 per cent) of the states' population, muslims coming next (15.40 per cent)
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Table I
Districts, Their Area & Population
S.N. Name of Area in Population
District sq. km.
(1) (2) (3) (4)
1. Agra 4,816 23,08,638
2. Aligarh 5,024 21,11,829
3. Allahabad 7,255 29,37,278
4. Almora 7,023 7,50,038
5. Azamgarh 5,714 28,57,484
6. Bahraich 6,871 17,26,972
7. Ballia 3,183 15,88,935
8. Banda 7,645 11,82,215
9. Bara Banki 4,422 16,35,593
10. Bareily 4,125 17,79,861
11. Basti 7,309 29,84,090
12. Bijnaur 4,852 14,90,185
13. Badaun 5,158 16,45,967
14. Bulandshahre 4,895 20,73,343
15. Chamoli 9,125 2,92 571
16. Dehradun 3,088 5,77,306
17. Deoria 5,400 28,12,350
18. Etah 4,449 15,70,925
19. Etawah 4,327 14,47,702
20. Faizabad 4,427 19,27,281
21. Farrukhabad 4,349 15,56,930
22. Fatehpur 4,168 12,78,254
23. Pauri Garhwal 5,440 5,53,028
24. Ghazipur 3.381 15,31,654
25. Gonda 7,331 23,02,029
26. Gorakhpur 6,316 30,38,177
27. Hamirpur 7,199 9,88,215
28. Hardoi 6,012 18,49,519
29. jalaun 4,549 8,13,490
30. Jaunpur 4,040 20,05,434
31. Jhansi 4,934 8,43,058
32. Kanpur 6,121 29,96,232
33. Kheri 7,691 14,86,590
34. Lucknow 2,528 16,17,846
35. Lalitpur 5,135 4,64,000
36. Mainpuri 4,254 14,45,534
37. Mathura 3,797 12,90,307
38. Meerut 5,944 33,66,953
39. Mirzapur 11,301 15,41,088
40. Moradabad 5,946 24,28,971
41. Muzaffarnagar 4,245 18,02,289
42. Nainital 6,792 7,90,080
43. Pilibhit 3,504 7,52,114
44. Pithoragarh 7,217 3,13,747
45. Pratapgarh 3,730 14,22,707
46. Rae Bareli 4,603 15,10,812
47. Rampur 2,372 9,01,209
48. Saharanpur 5,526 20,45,834
49. Shahjahanpur 4,581 12,86,104
50. Sitapur 5,738 18,84,400
51. Sultanpur 4,424 16,42,928
52. Tehri-Garhwal 4,421 3,97,385
53. Unnao 4,586 14,84,393
54. Uttarkashi 8,016 1,47,805
55. Varanasi 5,091 28,52,459
All Districts 2,94,413 8,83,41,144
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Table II
Distribution of Population by Age Group
Population (1971) in Thousands
Age Group -------------------------------------
Urban Rural Total
0-14 5,095 31,870 36,965
15-19 1,224 5,961 7,185
20-24 1,099 5,432 6,531
25-29 939 5,536 6,475
30-39 1,515 9,570 11,085
40-49 1,134 7,280 8,414
50-59 707 4,995 5,702
60+ 676 5,301 5,977
Age not stated 2 63 65
Total 12,389 75,952 88,341
Source : Pocket Book of Population Statistics, Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, New Delhi, 1972.
Table III
Distribution of Population by Language
Language No. of Persons % of Total
Speaking Population
(1) (2) (3)
Assamese 974 0.00
Bengali 131,432 0.15
Gujarati 7,990 0.01
Hindi 7,19,24,071 81.42
Kannada 3,064 0.00
Kashmiri 1,461 0.00
Malayalam 11,035 0.01
Marathi 12,681 0.01
Oriya 1,841 0.00
Punjabi 5,11,884 0.58
Sanskrit 508 0.00
Sindhi 76,399 0.09
Tamil 9,222 0.01
Telugu 6,394 0.01
Urdu 92,73,089 10.50
Others 63,69,099 7.21
Total 88,341,144 100.00
Table IV
Distribution of Population by Religion
Religion No. of Followers Percentage of Total
in Thousands Population
Buddhism 40 0.05
Christianity 132 0.15
Hinduism 73,997 83.76
Islam 13,676 15.48
Jainism 125 0.14
Sikhism 370 0.42
Others 1 -
Total 8,3418 100.00
Table V
Number of Persons in Different Fields
of Work
S.No. category of Number of Workers
Workers in Thousands
---------------------------
Rural Urban Total
1. Cultivators 15,510 188 15,698
2. Agricultural
Labourers 5,311 143 5,454
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(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
3. Livestock, Forestry,
Fishing Plantation,
etc. 139 28 167
4. Mining and Quar-
rying 9 2 11
5. Manufacture & Pro-
cessing (Household
Industry) 741 261 1,002
6. Manufacture & Pro-
cessing of other In-
dustries 355 635 990
7. Construction 85 81 166
8. Trade & Commerce 421 690 1,111
9. Transport, Storage
& Communication 116 358 474
10. Other services 1219 1042 2261
Total 23,906 3,428 27,334
Non-workers 52,046 8,961 61,007
Grand Total 75,952 12,389 88,341
Agriculture, Irrigation and Power The economy of Uttar Pradesh is mainly agricultural. Nearly 86% of the population of the state lives in villages. The total cultivable area is 2,14,39,000 hectares. The principal food crops are wheat, gram, rice, barley, maize, sesamum, bajra and mustard. Cotton, linseed, groundnut, sugarcane, tea and tobacco are the important cash crops. jute is also cultivated in some areas. Uttar Pradesh is the main opium growing state of India. The production of foodgrains was 181.3 lakh tonnes in 1973 as against 1 76.7 lakh tonnes in 1972.
The state has some of the oldest canal systems in the country, among which are the Eastern Yamuna Canal, the Upper and Lower Ganga canals, Agra Canal, Betwa Canal, Sarda Canal and Ken Canal. Important irrigation projects implemented since 1947 are Matatilla Dam, Ramganga, Western Gandak Canal and Sarda Sagar, besides a number of small and medium irrigation projects.
The total installed capacity of power, both hydrel and thermal, was 1,680 MW. on 31 March 1973. An atomic power station is to be set up at Narora in Bulandshahr district. The state had 29,389 electrified village by 1971. For irrigation, 2,15,000 pumpsets and tube wells were commissioned by the end of March 1973.
Industry The state is one of the main sugar producing states. Apart from handloom industry, which is the largest cottage industry, cotton and woollen textiles, leather and footwear, distilleries and bre- weries, paper, chemicals, glass and glass products, electrical goods, cycle and cycle parts, and television sets are some of the other important industries. Among the big public sector undertakings mention may be made of Bharat Heavy Electricals at Hardwar, Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals at Rishikesh, Diesel Locomotive factory at Varanasi, fertilier factory at Gorakhpur, Triveni Structurals at Naini, the deep-freeze meat plant at Tundla, Hindustan Aeronautics at Lucknow and two cement factories at Churk and Dalla.
Among the traditional handicrafts may be mentioned : silk-fabrics, metal-ware, wood-work, ceramics, stone work, dolls, artistic leather goods, ivory items, papier mache, perfumes and musical instruments. There are nearly 60 industrial estates with about 2,075 built-in sheds and developed plots. As for handloom, there are about 2,88,430 registered looms in the state producing nearly 45 crore metres of cloth annually and giving employment to 12 crores people, directly and indirectly.
Minerals Uttar Pradesh is the largest silica sand produc- ing state in India. This is 80 per cent of the all India production. Limestone, silica, magnesite, fine clay, asbestos, marble sulphur and graphite are some other minerals found in the state. The state has also the second largest reserves of' limes- tone in the counrty-about 700 crore, tonnes. It is found in Khajrahat in Mirzapur district and
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in Dehradun and Garhwal districts. Marble suitable for cement manufacture has been found in Lucknow, Barabanki. Unnao, Rai Bareli, Mirzapur and Dehradun districts. Copper, cobalt and iron ore are found in the Bundelkhand region.
Communications The total mileage of metalled roads built by the public works department in Uttar Pradesh is 37,917.6 kms. The total route length is 1,06,916 kms and the number of routes operated are 1,026. As for the railways, about 61 per cent of the route mileage is broadgauge and the rest is metre and narrow gauges. The railway mileage within the state is 15.3 per cent of the total route mileage of 35,395 in the whole country. So far as the number of vehicles in the state is concerned, there are 4,253 buses, 410 trucks and nearly 200 taxis operated by the Uttar Pradesh Government Roadways. In addition, there are 6,179 other buses, 22,085 lorries, trucks and private carriers and 6,071 taxis including contract carriages.
Press The state has quite a few leading daily news- papers in English, Hindi and Urdu. Their names and circulation figures are given below
English
National Herald (Lucknow and
Delhi) - 43,377
Northern India
Patrika (Allahabad) -37,313
Pioneer (Lucknow) -20,185
Hindi
Aj (Varanasi) -41,930
Amar Ujala (Agra) -36,911
Bharat (Allahabad) -12,894
Daily Jagaran (Kanpur) -49,685
Navjivan (Lucknow) -14,685
Swatantra
Bharat (Lucknow) -25,436
Urdu
Quami Awaz (Lucknow) - 9,186
Map of the State The map of the state indicates that there are 55 districts*. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the headquarters of the districts have the same names except in some cases. It may also be noted in this connection that the education district in Uttar Pradesh is co-terminus with the revenue district.