Harit Pradesh is a proposed new state of India comprising the western parts of the state of Uttar Pradesh. The etymology derives from harit, meaning 'green', and pradesh, meaning 'state'. Other proposed names include Braj Pradesh (which would include only parts of this region) and Paschim Pradesh. It consists of an area of 79,832 km2, which is 33.14% of UP and a population of 7.42 crores, which is roughly 35-36% of UP. The region has some demographic, economic and cultural patterns that are distinct from other parts of Uttar Pradesh, and more closely resemble those of Haryana, Punjab and North Rajasthan areas. For instance, dialects of Hindi spoken here (Khadiboli and Braj Bhasha) are distinct from Bhojpuri spoken in Purvanchal and Awadhi in Central UP. Similarly, some of the festivals like Chhath puja are also significantly more popular in Purvanchal compared to Western Uttar Pradesh.

Proposed capital

Meerut has been constantly proposed as the capital of this state by many leaders, including Dr. B.R Ambedkar, former Chief Minister Mayawati, and Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan. However, possibility of making a Tricity type of capital near Agra is also there. When the reorganisation happens, some other city may also emerge as the capital of state. Due to industrialisation and presence of infrastructure there are plenty of good candidates for a state capital in this region.

History

In his 1955 critique of the proposed States Reorganisation Act, Thoughts on Linguistic States, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar had advocated the division of Uttar Pradesh into three states – Western, Central, and Eastern, with capitals at Agra, Kanpur and Prayagraj, respectively – in order to prevent excessively large states from dominating politics at the national level. Later, socialists like Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan and Acharya Kripalani favoured a re-drawing of the administrative map of India. However, Jawaharlal Nehru, the prime minister at the time, supported the States Reorganisation Commission's (SRC) recommendation of re-forming states on a linguistic basis. K.M. Panikkar, in his dissenting note to the SRC report, however, opposed linguistic states and preferred the formation of a state of western Uttar Pradesh. In 1972, fourteen MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh state assembly supported an unsuccessful resolution to divide the state into three units (Braj Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh and Purvi Pradesh). A similar resolution, however, was successfully passed from the state assembly in 2011 under then Chief Minister Mayawati.

Regional disparities

Western UP alone accounts for more than 50% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Uttar Pradesh. By comparison, Bundelkhand contributes just 5.2%, Central UP 17.52% and Eastern UP 28%. Out of top 10 districts that contribute the most to state GSDP, 7 are from Western UP. In terms of Per Capita Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) as well, 7 out of top 10 districts in the state are from Western UP. These include (in descending order): In FY 21–22, the total GDDP of Western UP region on market prices was 9.44 lakh crores while that of entire UP was 19.17 lakh crores. Constant GDDP of Western UP during the same period was 5.89 lakh crores, and for entire UP it was 11.81 lakh crores. Based on these figures, the per capita GDDP of Western UP turns out 79,425.47 INR, much higher than that of all UP at around 59,065 INR. Western UP is also ahead of the rest of UP in terms of infrastructure, industrialisation, urbanisation, and overall quality of life. Some of its cities (i.e. Noida and Greater Noida) are on par with largest metro cities of the country. Even among smaller cities the quality of life is better compared to the rest of UP, as most of them are Tier-2 cities. Nine out of 15 tier-2 cities in the state are in Western UP. Additionally, Western UP also accounts for almost 54% of all court cases reaching Allahabad High Court, which is on average around 500 km away from the cities of this proposed state and requires travelling all day for a simple hearing. Residents of western Uttar Pradesh have been demanding a high court bench in Meerut from a long time, but so far it hasn't been heard. These huge economic disparities give people in Western UP a sense of having to pay up for the economic backwardness of other regions in their state. Additionally, the prospect of being clubbed with economically backward state of Bihar in general conversation with terms like "UP-Bihar", despite having a far more developed and advanced economy than Bihar, also doesn't go down well with the people in this region. These feelings, when combined with cultural differences and other incidents, such as having to struggle for a high court bench for decades, and allegations of lower allocations in state budget, further increase the discontent among politically aware people of the state, thus fuelling the demand for statehood of this region.

Proponents and opponents

Political parties and leaders

Among the most prominent advocates for the creation of the new state in recent days have been BSP Supremo Mayawati and Late Chaudhary Ajit Singh, the son of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh and leader of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). After coming to power, Mayawati wrote letters to the prime minister three times in 2007, March 2008, and December 2009 regarding partitioning of Uttar Pradesh. In November 2011, Mayawati's cabinet also passed a resolution in State assembly to partition the state into four different states—Harit Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal—for better administration and governance. However, since creating states is the domain of Central Government and the proposal wasn't actively taken by the UPA Government of that time, it couldn't be implemented. Similarly, RLD also pushed for the statehood of Harit Pradesh in 2011. Pushpendra Singh, former General Secretary of Youth wing of RLD, even launched a political party called Harit Pradesh Party to demand the creation of a separate state of Western Uttar Pradesh. In 2011, Chaudhary Ajit Singh of RLD said: "'Western UP contributes to a large chunk – nearly 72% – of the state's total income. In turn, what western UP gets is not enough. Just 18% of the state's budget is spent on developing west UP. This anomaly, understandably, makes the people of this area dissatisfied'."He also alleged that in most years, funds allocated to west Uttar Pradesh were never spent. Other Jat leaders, such as Om Prakash Chautala in Haryana, the leader of the Indian National Lok Dal, have also made efforts to involve themselves in the politics of creating a separate state. Of the other main political forces in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party has opposed the proposal, while the Indian National Congress and BJP have adopted a non-committal stance. Individual leaders of both Congress as well as BJP, however, have time and again spoken in favour of the statehood for Harit Pradesh. For instance: "'From an administrative point of view, a state of over 200 million people, 75 districts, over 800 blocks ... It's just not governable. It is my personal view...Its politics is a separate issue.'" In April 2024, while campaigning for Lok Sabha elections Mayawati again raised the issue of statehood for Western Uttar Pradesh, promising to take "concrete steps" for the same if her government came to power.

Communities

The creation of three new states in 2000 (Jharkhand from the division of Bihar, Uttarakhand from the division of Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh from the division of Madhya Pradesh) gave new impetus to the demand for Harit Pradesh among communities. The support further increased after formation of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh in 2013. The Jats of this region, who are a dominant political and agricultural community spread across Pakistan, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, have found themselves in a "politically disadvantageous position" in western Uttar Pradesh. Therefore, they are largely in support of statehood for Harit Pradesh. Also, since the Muslim population in western Uttar Pradesh (24%, according to 2011 census) is higher than in Uttar Pradesh as a whole (17%), the proposal has found support from Muslim organisations as well.

Geography

Soil conditions

Western Uttar Pradesh's soil and relief has marked differences from that of the eastern part of the state. The soil tends to be lighter-textured loam with some occurrences of sandy soil. Some loess soil is continuously deposited by winds blowing eastwards from Rajasthan's Thar Desert.

Precipitation

Harit Pradesh receives rain through the monsoon and western disturbances. The monsoon carries moisture northwards from the Indian Ocean, occurs in late summer and is important to the Kharif or autumn harvest. Western disturbances carry moisture eastwards from the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. They primarily occur during the winter season and are important for the main staple of the region, wheat, which is classified as a rabi crop.

Demographics

People of Harit Pradesh

According to the 2011 census of India, the total population of Western Uttar Pradesh is 71,740,055 people. It is composed of a varied set of communities and tribes, including Tyagis, Jats, Yadavs, Gurjars, and Rajputs. Yadavs have a very small presence in this region. Jat and Brahmins, including Tyagis, make up to 30% of the population of the western region of Uttar Pradesh. The region's Jat are descended from immigrant groups from centuries ago, and a large subregion of western Uttar Pradesh, Jatland, takes its name from that Jats tribe. Sikh Jats came from West Punjab, who migrated from Pakistan after partition, also settled in this area in large numbers.

Administrative divisions

Western Uttar Pradesh includes 26 districts in six divisions:

Education

Special economic zones

Transport networks

Major state and national highways and other public transport systems in the proposed area include: The major highways running through the intrastate region include:

Most populous cities

In pop culture

In 2022, a social comedy film titled Dasvi showed protagonist Abhishek Bachchan as the Chief Minister of Harit Pradesh. The film was premiered on Netflix and JioCinema.