Gonda District

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).

Gonda district गोंडा
District of Uttar Pradesh
Statue of Rajendranath Lahiri at Gonda District Jail
Location of Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh
Country	India
State	Uttar Pradesh
Division	Devipatan
Town	1620; 404 years ago (1620)
District	1856; 168 years ago (1856)
Founded by	Raja Maan Singh
Named for	Gonard
Headquarters	Gonda
Tehsils	4 Colonelganj Gonda Mankapur Tarabganj
Government
• Type	Municipal council
• Body	Gonda Nagar Palika Parishad
• Mayor	Uzma Rashid
• Lok Sabha constituencies	Gonda
• Vidhan Sabha constituencies	7 Colonelganj Mankapur Gonda Sadar Gaura Mehnaun Tarabganj Katra Bazar
Area
• Total	4,003 km2 (1,546 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	3,433,919
• Density	860/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
• Urban	225,029
Demonym(s)	Gondvi, Gondvian
Demographics
• Effective literacy	58.71%
• Sex ratio	921
Time zone	UTC+05:30 (IST)
Area code	0-5262
Vehicle registration	UP-43
Major highways	4 NH27, UPSH 30, UPSH 9, UPSH 1A
Average annual precipitation	22.4 mm
Website	gonda.nic.in

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. It was created as a separate district by the British when they annexed Awadh in 1856. In 1875, parts of Gonda district between Baghaura Tal and the Arrah river were ceded to Nepal by the British government.

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

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, freedom fighters like Chandra Shekhar Azad took shelter in the district, and Rajendra Lahiri was incarcerated and hanged in the Gonda Jail.^{[citation needed]}

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.

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.

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

Population

According to the 2011 census Gonda district has a population of 3,433,919, roughly equal to the nation of Panama or the US state of Connecticut. This gives it a ranking of 95th in India (out of a total of 640). 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%. The district has a population density of 857 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,220/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 24.17%, higher than the average of Uttar Pradesh (20.09%). Gonda has a sex ratio of 921 females for every 1000 males, and a sex ratio among children 0–6 years old of 926, both higher than the state average (908 and 899 respectively). 6.55% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes made up 15.49% of the population.

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

Languages

The official language of the district is Hindi and additional official language is Urdu. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 51.03% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 16.04% Awadhi and 32.68% Urdu as their first language.

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

There are four Tehsils in Gonda district.

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

Gonda district comprises 16 Blocks:

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

The effective literacy rate (7+) is 58.71%, the state average (69.72%). 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.

Institutions and Schools

• LBS Degree College
• Meena Shah Institute of Technology and Management (MSITM) Degree College
• Saraswati Devi Nari Gyansthali P.G. College
• St Xaviers Senior Secondary School (Worst Private school)

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

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.