Uttar Pradesh: Population and administration

Uttar Pradesh had a population of 19,98,12,341 (about 19.98 crore) in Census 2011. It has a Governor, a bicameral Legislature, a High Court at Prayagraj with a bench at Lucknow (the capital), and 75 districts grouped into 18 divisions.

Population (Census 2011)

• Population: 19,98,12,341 in 2011, up from 16,61,97,921 in 2001; males 104,480,510, females 95,331,831.
• Decadal growth: 20.09% (2001-2011), down from 25.85%; average annual exponential growth 1.85%.
• Density: 829 persons per km2, up from 690 in 2001.
• Sex ratio: 908 females per thousand males, up from 898.
• Urban: 44.50 million (22.27 %); rural: 155.31 million (77.73 %); tribal: 1.13 million (0.57 %).
• Literacy: the state tourism department gives 67.68 % (male 77.28 %, female 57.18 %); the climate action plan's census table gives 69.72%, up from 56.27% in 2001.
• Religion: most people are Hindus, with a large Muslim minority and smaller numbers of Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Christians.
• Languages: Hindi, Bhojpuri, English, Braj Bhasha, Kannauji, Bundeli, Bagheli, Awadhi and Urdu. Government work is done in Hindi, in Devanagari script.

Area and Local Units

• The state portal gives an area of 2,40,928 sq km, 7.3% of India, and puts UP 5th by area after Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. (The climate action plan gives 2,43,286 km2.)
• Urban: 915 urban bodies, including 17 Municipal corporations (Nagar Nigams) and 200 municipal boards; 689 cities and towns.
• Rural: 822 development blocks per the state portal's demography page (its profile table lists 820), 8135 Nyaya Panchayats, 59163 gram sabhas and 97941 populated villages.

Divisions and Districts

• Each Divisional Commissioner is responsible for law and order, revenue and administration in the division and supervises district officers.
• Each district is under a District Magistrate (also called Deputy Commissioner), with administrative, police and revenue powers. Districts are split into tehsils, blocks and villages.
• 18 divisions: Agra, Aligarh, Ayodhya, Azamgarh, Bareilly, Basti, Chitrakoot, Devipatan (HQ Gonda), Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Mirzapur, Moradabad, Prayagraj, Saharanpur and Varanasi.

Legislature

• Bicameral since 1937.
• Vidhan Sabha: 403 elected members; the constitutional set-up page gives a strength of 404 including 1 nominated member. Till 1967 it had 431 members. Term: five years unless dissolved earlier.
• Vidhan Parishad: a permanent House; members serve six years, with one-sixth retiring every second year. It had 108 members (12 nominated by the Governor), reduced to 100 after Uttarakhand was created in November 2000.
• Parliament: 80 members in the Lok Sabha and 31 in the Rajya Sabha.

Executive

• Executive power is vested in the Governor; all executive business is carried on in the Governor's name.
• The Chief Minister must inform the Governor of all decisions of the Council of Ministers.
• The Governor is part of the Legislature under Article 168, takes oath before the Chief Justice of the High Court, and can grant pardon, reprieve or remission.
• Secretariat: orders are issued in the Governor's name and signed by officers down to Under Secretary.

Judiciary

• The Allahabad High Court (High Court of Judicature at Allahabad) was established on 17 March 1866, one of the oldest in India. It sits at Prayagraj with a permanent circuit bench at Lucknow.
• As a Court of record, its proceedings serve as perpetual evidence and it can punish for contempt.
• The state has 46 judicial districts, each under a District Judge. Subordinate courts form the U.P. Civil Judicial Services and the U.P. Higher Judicial Service; the Munsif's Court is the lowest civil court.
• Since October 2, 1967, Judicial Magistrates have been under the High Court.
• The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Tribunal was set up in 1976 for speedy justice in service cases.