Purvanchal

Purvanchal (est - mountain) is a geographic region of north-central India, which comprises the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh state. It is bounded by Nepal to the north, Bihar state to the east, Bagelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh state to the south, the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh to the west and the end of Doab (at Allahabad) in Uttar Pradesh to its southwest.

There is a political demand to make it into a separate state, See Aspirant states of India. Purvanchal area is represented by 23 Members of Parliament to the Lok Sabha and 117 legislators in the 403 member Uttar Pradesh state assebly or Vidhan Sabha.

Purvanchal comprises chiefly of three divisions -- the eastern-Awadhi region in the west, the western-Bhojpuri region in the east and the northern-Baghelkhand region in the south. It lies on the Indo-Gangetic plain, and together with western Bihar is the most densely populated area in the world. The rich quality of soil and the high earthworm density in the soil than adjoining districts of U.P. is favourable for agriculture. Most of the countryside is given to intensive agriculture. Bhojpuri is the predominant language or dialect in the region in addition to Hindi although Awadhi and Baghelkhandi are also spoken in the western and southern areas. Like Bihar state to the east, a large population, slow economic growth, agricultural mechanisation, and the closure of sugar mills have led to increased unemployment, social and political discontent, and some unrest in the region.

Baba Raghavdas was the father of the Independence Struggle in this region following the principles of Gandhi. He was called the 'Purvanchal Gandhi'.

In 1991 the government of Uttar Pradesh established the "Purvanchal Vikas Nidhi", to fund regional development projects that advance balanced development, meet local needs, and redress regional disparities.

Purvanchal includes the districts of Varanasi, Chandoli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Azamgarh, Mau, Maharajganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Siddharth Nagar, Ballia.

In the year 2000, the Mayawati government, at the time of reorganisation of the Uttar Pradesh state, formed the Purvanchal Economic Zone and rather arbitrarily included the following non-Purvanchal districts into the zone:

Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Sultanpur, Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur.

This has created some confusion as the people of the above districts do not relate with the Purvanchal or Bhojpuri identity and have traditionally not been associated with the 'Purabia' identity. Indeed most are unaware of this inclusion in the newly formed economic zone. But other administrative departments in these districts are slowly being aligned with Purvanchal, which amounts to reorganisation of an entire area from west to east.