Uttar Pradesh, spread over as many as 75 districts, needed to be divided into three smaller states with around 17 districts, including Meerut, being included in the national capital to form ‘Greater Delhi’, said participants at the Greater Delhi Construction Conference organised at the Chaudhary Charan Singh University here on Sunday.
Bharatiya Janata Party member Mukhiya Gurjar, also the founder of social organisation ‘Pathik Sena’, led the participants in calling for the inclusion of western UP districts in ‘Greater Delhi’.
Addressing a gathering of hundreds of participants, Gurjar, said, “With a population of 25 crore, Uttar Pradesh is densely populated. This is a big reason why its development has been hindered. So, we want reconstruction of the state. We want the state to be divided into three smaller states and 17 districts, including Meerut, to be included in Delhi, making it ‘Greater Delhi’.”
“It will be easier to work towards the development of smaller states. Citizens who have been neglected for years can become a part of the mainstream if a few districts are included in Delhi.”
Talking about the reasons behind the demand, Babu Singh Arya, a municipal councillor from Ghaziabad, said, “In our state, there is a single bench of the Allahabad high court in Lucknow, which is around 500km away from western UP. Therefore, people here are deprived of easily available justice.”
{{/usCountry}}Talking about the reasons behind the demand, Babu Singh Arya, a municipal councillor from Ghaziabad, said, “In our state, there is a single bench of the Allahabad high court in Lucknow, which is around 500km away from western UP. Therefore, people here are deprived of easily available justice.”
{{/usCountry}}“To use sports facilities also, players from west UP have to go to either Lucknow or Kanpur. We want such facilities to be made available within a distance of 50km to 200km. This can be possible with the concept of ‘Greater Delhi’ and the reconstruction of Uttar Pradesh,” he said.
Sharing his thoughts, Bharatiya Kisan Andolan leader, Kuldeep Tyagi, said, “Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Yadav, the first chief minister of Delhi, presented the idea of ‘Greater Delhi’ in 1953 but the idea was not enforced back then. Now, it is high time that the formulation of Greater Delhi is implemented.”
Former minister Ramchandra Valmiki headed the conference. Other participants included Gopal Rai of ‘Purvanchal Banao Manch’, Bhanu Sahai of ‘Bundelkhand Nirman Morcha’, Bhagat Singh Verma of ‘Pashchim Pradesh Mukti Morcha’ and poet Waris Warsi.