Meeting for updated dist gazetteer to take place before Sept 29
A district committee has been constituted by the state government for this task. ADM (Finance and Revenue) Jagdamba Singh has been appointed the nodal officer of the Gazetteer Committee, they shared.
PRAYAGRAJ The first meeting of the District Gazetteer Committee with the mission to update the Prayagraj Gazetteer will be held before September 29 to prepare the minutes of the new District Gazetteer, as per district administration officials.
A district committee has been constituted by the state government for this task. ADM (Finance and Revenue) Jagdamba Singh has been appointed the nodal officer of the Gazetteer Committee, they shared. The last gazette of Prayagraj (then Allahabad) was published in 1981, and it will be the first time that the Gazetteer with the name ‘Prayagraj’ will be published.
Gazetteers contain information of great strategic importance. It literally means a geographical index or a geographical dictionary. However, its scope is much wider. It presents, in a limited range and in a readable manner, a comprehensive view of a country and its people. It describes the physical features of a region, relates its history, and discusses the social, political, and economic life of the people inhabiting it.
It serves as a guide to the administrator, a reference book for the general public, and a source of information for the specialist. In the latest exercise, the geographical and political changes that have taken place in the district in the last 42 years will be added to the gazetteer, the officials claimed.
“We have received instructions from the state government to prepare a new gazetteer. The changes that have taken place in the district since the last gazetteer will be included in it. ADM FR has been designated as the nodal officer of the committee. Minutes will be prepared after holding the first meeting soon,” said Gaurav Kumar, Chief Development Officer (CDO)-Prayagraj, while confirming the move.
The state government has outlined 11 points for preparing the new gazetteer. These include a general introduction to the district, history and culture, people and society, changes in the district, police administration, the justice system, and other departments, agriculture and horticulture, irrigation, the economic scenario, industry, banking, the political scenario, local self-government, medical and public health, tourism, and transport topics that will be included in it.
The current situation has changed significantly since the last Gazetteer. There have been substantial changes in the situation of Gram Panchayats, Lok Sabha, and Assembly constituencies in the district, as well as the geographical position of the cities in the district -- all of which will be included in the updated version of the gazetteer.
It is worth mentioning that UP Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, in July 2023, ordered that gazetteers of all districts in the state be updated by March 31, 2024. He ordered that the gazetteers be prepared in a specified style and in digital format so that they can be easily updated as needed. In line with these orders, the exercise in this regard has begun across all districts, including Prayagraj.
Suggested Box: 1
Team of 15 Officers Deployed
PRAYAGRAJ: The gazetteer committee consists of 15 members, with the district magistrate as its designated chairman and the CDO as its member secretary. The Prayagraj committee members include the Police Commissioner, District and Sessions Judge, Divisional Forest Officer, ADM (FR), Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, Chief Engineer of Irrigation, District Information Officer, District Economics and Statistics Officer, DIoS, General Manager of District Industries, Social Welfare Officer, District Agriculture Officer, as well as individuals from an NGO nominated by the District Magistrate.
Suggested Box: 2
Gazetteers of Lucknow, Moradabad to be Examples
PRAYAGRAJ: The STATE government has initially selected the districts of Moradabad and Lucknow to prepare updated versions of the gazetteer. Once the gazetteer of these districts is ready, its draft will be sent to all the districts, after which other districts will also prepare their respective gazetteers based on this format.
PHOTO: Front page of the 1968 district gazetteer of Allahabad (For representation only)
