Rajendra Nagar, Delhi
Rajendra Nagar (often spelled Rajender Nagar or Rajinder Nagar[1]) is a residential colony in Central Delhi Delhi, India. The name comes from Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first president of India. It is bordered by the Central Ridge Protected Forest on the east and south, IARI on the west, and Karol Bagh on the north. It is a constituency in the Legislative Assembly of Delhi,[1] and the present member is Ramakant Goswami (INC). The current Councillor for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi is Mr. Rajesh Bhatia of the Bhartiya Janata Party.[2]
Overview
Like most of the colonies developed in the 1950s, Rajender Nagar was primarily a Punjabi refugee colony which came up during the years after the partition of India in 1947, when several such residential neighbourhoods sprang up in the New Delhi area, including other examples such as Lajpat Nagar and Patel Nagar. The majority of people are from parts of Punjab and the rest are from North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Sindh, which are now in Pakistan. The colony saw speedy development and spread to both sides of the Shankar Road, the central median which now divides Rajendra Nagar into two parts as 'Old Rajinder Nagar' and 'New Rajinder Nagar'. Old Rajendra Nagar has narrow lanes and minimal car parking, whereas New Rajendra Nagar has reasonably wide streets and plenty of parks; Old Rajender Nagar is more lively and more populated than New Rajender Nagar.
Rajender Nagar benefits from links with the Delhi metro, central location in the city, green and quiet surroundings compared with other areas in Delhi, and close proximity to important areas like CP, India gate, Parliament house and Patiala high court.
Old Rajender Nagar
Old Rajender Nagar is situated next to Karol Bagh and is directly linked to the Delhi Metro rail service. The Sir Ganga Ram Hospital is a landmark building in Old Rajender Nagar. There are large markets located on Shankar Road and Bara Bazaar Road. There are smaller DDA authorized markets located throughout the neighbourhood. Coaching Institutes such as the Sriram's and the Vajiram's are situated in Old Rajender Nagar which attract students from all over the country. Old Rajender Nagar has a market of its own other than Shanker Road Market. Parks in Old Rajender Nagar are Sindhi park (Vivekanand Park), Rajendra Park, and Chetak Park.
Schools in Old Rajender Nagar include Bal Bharati Public School, Salwan Public School, G.D Salwan Public School and the Government Girls' Senior Secondary school.
It also has a Delhi University college, Janki Devi Memorial College.
Holy places in Old Rajender Nagar include Gurudwara Nanaksar, and Shiv Mandir.
New Rajender Nagar
New Rajender Nagar includes the NPL colony and Rajindra Park. The NPL colony is home to many eminent scientists, technocrats, administrative officers and staff of different labs of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research which includes the National Physical Laboratory, NISCAIR and NISTAD. Its property rates have skyrocketed.
New Rajender Nagar has various blocks making it easy to categorise houses and locate them. There is a market on Shanker road which is used by the residents for basic shopping purposes, recent developments have resulted in enlargement of the market by the opening of various international and local brands. The other markets include the local H-block market and a weekly Thursday market near the S-block.
New Rajender Nagar is well planned and has separate parking lots for every block and also has numerous parks including Nehru park, Seeta mata park, Haathi park, Tondon park, and Moon light park.
The schools in New Rajender Nagar are Manav Sthali School, JD Tytler school, Government Girls Blind School, D.I. Khan government school, Bapu Adarsh Vidyalay, Sindhi Government school & Vidya Bhawan Girls Sr. Sec School.
Notable people
Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan was born here in 1965 at the Talwar Nursing Home, and lived here for more than two decades while studying in Hansraj College and acting in TV series Fauji (1988), Circus (1989) and Dil Darya, before moving to Mumbai in 1991 to pursue a career in films.[3] Bollywood singer Jaspinder Narula was born and brought up here, her father Swaran Singh Narula being a music director in Bollywood; Shakti Kapoor, Bollywood star, was also born and brought up here.
Other known residents included Dilip Kumar, the Bollywood star who lived here for some years, Balraj Madhok a politician of the 1960s, and Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja. The former Sikh Empire family home was in Rajender Nagar during the 1970s and 1980s.
Apart from these personalities, industrialists (for example the owners of Manikchand pan masala and Kuvam Uppal) also reside there. It is the hub of aspirants wishing to enter prestigious Indian Civil services (IAS, IPS etc). Most of the serving IAS have lived in this area for their coaching prior to selection. Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir also lives here.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Congress wins from BJP bastion Rajinder Nagar The Hindu, December 15, 2008." Rajinder Nagar constituency"
- ↑ "MCD Directory". Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
- ↑ SRK to run for Delhi TNN , The Times of India, 30 September 2009. "I was born here, in Talwar Nursing Home. I lived here for more than two decades in Rajinder Nagar"