Gonda district

Gonda district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city of Gonda is the district headquarters, and also the administrative centre for the Devipatan Division. The total area of Gonda district is 4,003 km2 (1,546 sq mi).[1]

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.

Gonda district
District of Uttar Pradesh
Statue of Rajendranath Lahiri at Gonda District Jail
Statue of Rajendranath Lahiri at Gonda District Jail
Location of Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh
Location of Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh
Country India
StateUttar Pradesh
DivisionDevipatan
Established1856 (1856)
HeadquartersGonda
Tehsils4
Colonelganj
Gonda
Mankapur
Tarabganj
Government
 • Lok Sabha constituenciesGonda
 • Vidhan Sabha constituencies7
Colonelganj
Mankapur
Gonda Sadar
Gaura
Mehnaun
Tarabganj
Katra Bazar
Area
 • Total4,003 km2 (1,546 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total3,433,919
 • Density860/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
 • Urban
225,029
Demographics
 • Effective literacy58.71%
 • Sex ratio921
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
Vehicle registrationUP-43
Major highways4 NH27, UPSH 30, UPSH 9, UPSH 1A
Average annual precipitation22.4 mm
Websitegonda.nic.in

History

Gonda was originally part of the Nizamat of Gorakhpur, but after Gorakhpur was ceded to the British in 1801, Gonda was united with Bahraich district.[2] It was created as a separate district by the British when they annexed Awadh in 1856.[2] In 1875, parts of Gonda district between Baghaura Tal and the Arrah river were ceded to Nepal by the British government.[2]

The territory covered by the present district of Gonda formed part of the ancient Kosala Kingdom. After the going of Lord Rama, the celebrated ruler of the Solar Dynasty who ruled Kosala, the kingdom was divided into two portions defined by the Ghaghara river. The northern portion was then ruled by his son, Lava with the city of Sravasti as his capital.[3]

More recently, ancient Buddhist remains dating to the early days of Buddhism have been found throughout the region, including at Sravasti.[4]

Gonda played a significant part in the Indian struggle for independence, with many people from the region actively involved: including Raja Devi Baksh Singh, who escaped to Nepal,[5] freedom fighters like Chandra Shekhar Azad took shelter in the district, and Rajendra Lahiri was incarcerated and hanged in the Gonda Jail.

In more recent times, the district received media attention throughout India due to the protracted court case surrounding the murder of 13 people known as the 1982 Gonda Encounter.[6][7]

Industry

There are several sugar mills, rice mills and many other small industries and handicraft industry. One of the India's six Indian Telephone Industries is situated at Mankapur, and the largest sugar mill in India is situated at Kundarkhi.[8]

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Gonda one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).[9] It is one of the 34 districts in Uttar Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[9]

Demographics

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901873,630—    
1911879,226+0.06%
1921917,115+0.42%
1931980,987+0.68%
19411,070,397+0.88%
19511,168,645+0.88%
19611,279,883+0.91%
19711,409,722+0.97%
19811,749,260+2.18%
19912,204,445+2.34%
20012,765,586+2.29%
20113,433,919+2.19%
source:[10]

According to the 2011 census Gonda district has a population of 3,433,919,[11] roughly equal to the nation of Panama[12] or the US state of Connecticut.[13] This gives it a ranking of 95th in India (out of a total of 640).[11] The total number of literates in the district is 1,679,99 which constitute 48.9% of the total population. Population in the age range of 0 to 6 years was 572,386. The effective literacy (population 7 years and above) was 58.7%.[11] The district has a population density of 857 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,220/sq mi).[11] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.17%,[11] higher than the average of Uttar Pradesh (20.09%). Gonda has a sex ratio of 921 females for every 1000 males,[11] and a sex ratio among children 0–6 years old of 926, both higher than the state average (908 and 899 respectively). Scheduled Castes made up 15.49% of the population.[11]

The human development index of the Gonda district is very low.[14]

Tehsils (Sub-district)

There are four Tehsils in Gonda district.[15]

  1. Colonelganj
  2. Gonda
  3. Mankapur
  4. Tarabganj

Blocks

Gonda district comprises 16 Blocks:[16]

  1. Babhanjot
  2. Belsar
  3. Chhapia
  4. Colonelganj
  5. Haldharmau
  6. Itiathok
  7. Jhanjhari
  8. Katra Bazar
  9. Mankapur
  10. Mujehana
  11. Nawabganj
  12. Pandri Kripal
  13. Paraspur
  14. Rupaidih
  15. Tarabganj
  16. Wazirganj

Religion
Religions in Gonda district (2011)[17]
Religion Percent
Hindus
 
 79.77%
Muslims
 
 19.76%
Other or not stated
 
 0.47%

Gonda district is Hindu-majority, but with a significant Muslim minority.[17]

Languages

Languages of Gonda district (2011)[18]

  Hindi (61.03%)
  Awadhi (26.04%)
  Urdu (12.68%)
  Others (0.25%)

The official language of the district is Hindi and additional official language is Urdu. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 81.03% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 16.04% Awadhi and 2.68% Urdu as their first language.[18]

Languages spoken in the district include Awadhi, a tongue of the Hindi continuum spoken by over 38 million people, mainly in the Awadh region;[19] and Hindi.

Education

The effective literacy rate (7+) is 58.71%, the state average (69.72%).[11][20] The government of India has created a special scheme for underdeveloped districts through the "Backward Region Grant Fund". Gonda is one of the recipients of this fund.[21]

Institutions
  • LBS Degree College
  • Meena Shah Institute of Technology and Management (MSITM) Degree College[22]
  • Saraswati Devi Nari Gyansthali P.G. College

Public health

Gonda has 15 hospitals, 27 Ayurvedic hospitals, 11 Homeopathic hospitals and 2 Unani hospitals, in addition to 66 Government Primary Health Centres. Gonda is one of the districts in the list of top 100 districts in order of Infant Mortality Rate in 2011 census data. It also comes in the top 57 districts with the highest maternal mortality rate[23]

Gonda has been listed as cleanest Nagar Palika in entire Uttar Pradesh according to the Swachhta Sarvekshan 2022 overturning its last position in the country as per the 2017 survey.[24][25]

Notable people

References
  1. "District Gonda, Government of Uttar Pradesh | GREEN GONDA CLEAN GONDA | India". Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  2. Nevill, H.R. (1905). Gonda: A Gazetteer, Being Volume XLIV Of The District Gazetteers Of The United Provinces Of Agra And Oudh. Allahabad: Government Press. pp. 115–6, 149–50, 156–7. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  3. Gonda District at The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908, v. 12, p. 312.
  4. "Excavations at Sravasti". IndiaDivine.org.
  5. 1857:The Oral Tradition, Pankaj Rag, Rupa Publication,2010
  6. "3 cops get death, 5 life term for Gonda fake encounter". Pioneer. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  7. Rai, Rajat (5 April 2014). "3 cops get death penalty, life term to 5 in Uttar Pradesh fake encounter case". India Today. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  8. Official Site Archived 9 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (8 September 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme" (PDF). National Institute of Rural Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  10. Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
  11. "District Census Handbook: Gonda" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  12. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011. Panama 3,460,462 July 2011 est.
  13. "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 30 September 2011. Connecticut 3,574,097
  14. Planning commission release
  15. "Tehsil | District Gonda, Government of Uttar Pradesh | India". Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  16. "Subdivision & Blocks | District Gonda, Government of Uttar Pradesh | India". Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  17. "Table C-01 Population by Religion: Uttar Pradesh". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  18. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Uttar Pradesh". www.censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  19. M. Paul Lewis, ed. (2009). "Awadhi: A language of India". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (16th ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  20. Provisional Population Totals Paper 2 of 2011 - Uttar Pradesh
  21. "Press information release". pib.nic.in. 11 August 2006. Archived from the original on 24 May 2007.
  22. Wahak, The Sandesh (24 March 2021). "गोण्डा : मीना शाह इंस्टिट्यूट ऑफ टेक्नोलॉजी एंड मैनेजमेंट डिग्री कॉलेज में मेधावियों को किया गया सम्मानित". The Sandesh Wahak. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  23. "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in.
  24. "India's 'dirtiest city' Gonda ranks bottom in Swachh Bharat survey". hindustantimes.com. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  25. "Cleanest City: स्‍वच्‍छता रैंक‍िंंग में गोंडा यूपी का सबसे स्‍वच्‍छ शहर, स्वच्छता सर्वेक्षण की रैकिंग जारी". Dainik Jagran.

27°15′N 82°00′E

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