Rajgangpur

Rajgangpur
Town
Rajgangpur Location in Odisha, India
Coordinates: 22°12′00″N 84°34′59″E / 22.20°N 84.583°E / 22.20; 84.583Coordinates: 22°12′00″N 84°34′59″E / 22.20°N 84.583°E / 22.20; 84.583
Country	India
State	Odisha
District	Sundargarh
Population (2001)
• Total	43,912
Languages
• Official	Oriya
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)

Rajgangpur is an industrial town situated in the Sundargarh District of Odisha. It is located 400 km to the north-west of the capital city, Bhubaneswar. It is located 40 km east of Rourkela. It is accessible by both road and rail. Rajgangpur Railway Station is on Raigarh-Rourkela line. Regular buses are available to Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela and Angul. The nearest functional airport BirsaMunda Airport is at Ranchi. Places of tourist interest in the vicinity include Mandira Dam, Chhatri Hill, Darjeeng, Vedvyas and Khandahar.

History

Rajgangpur derived its name from the erstwhile princely state of Gangpur Estate. This town was transferred from Commissioner of Chhotanagpur to Odisha Division in the year 1905.

Demographics

As of the 2001 India census,^[1] Rajgangpur had a population of 43,912. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Rajgangpur has an average literacy rate of 68%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 74%, and female literacy is 62%. In Rajgangpur, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

The main language spoken by the inhabitants of this town are Oriya, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Sadri. The main source of job creation in the town are the industries in and around the town.

Tribals

Rajgangpur has a large tribal population, dominated by Kisan, Gond, Oraons, Munda, Kharias and other tribals. Their main occupation is farming. The tribals also work in nearby factories and also hold a lot of government jobs. The tribal men and women are hardworking and they enjoy singing and dancing using Mandar, Dholki, Nagra and Muhuri. Education, medical facilities, clean drinking water and social justice are of major concern to the tribals, as they have scant access to these resources.

Festivals

People of different faiths stay in Rajgangpur (RGP) like Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Sikh. Some of the festivals that Hindus celebrate are Cart festival, Ganesh puja, Ramnavami, Durga puja, Janmastami, Shivaratri, etc. Festivals celebrated by Christians include Christmas and Easter. The important festivals that Muslims celebrate are Id ul fitr (Id), Id ul zuha (Bakrid)& Id miladun nabi. Urs festival also celebrated at Lal Baba's Dargah

Business

Rajgangpur has a good market place. It has number of stores for each category. Nearby villages rely on Rajgangpur Town for their trading activities and regular needs as well.

Industry

Rajgangpur is home to OCL Konark brand of cement from Odisha Cement (India) Ltd. and other industries. Hari Machines Ltd. have their heavy engineering unit at Ranibandh, which is popular for manufacturing heavy machinery products. With the rapid industrialisation of Sundargarh District, other industries – such as TR Chemicals, Scan Steels, Sushila Industries Pvt Ltd, Sushila Cement Pvt Ltd, Techno Steels Ltd, Jay Jagannath Steels, Sradha Saburi Steel (P) Ltd and other small cement factories with other sponge-iron manufacturing – have successfully sprung up.

Transport

Rajgangpur is well connected with Sundargarh and Rourkela through the State Highway No. 10 and is also well connected with the Odisha state capital Bhubaneswar. Rajgangpur is a station on the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line.

Schools

• Nirmala English School (ICSE)
• Dalmia Vidya Mandir (CBSE)
• Sri Aurobindo Integral Education & Research Centre (CBSE)
• Rashtriya Vidyalaya (BSE)
• St. Mary's Girls High School (HSE)
• G.E.L. Church High School
• Gandhi Girls High School
• Sarffuddin Ahmad Memorial Urdu High School
• Gopabandhu High School(HSC)
• Ranibandh High School
• Saraswati Vidya Mandir (CBSE),
• Sunrise English School (CBSE)

And more than 15 M.E. schools

Higher Secondary and College

• Dalmia Vidya Mandir (CBSE)
• Nirmala English School (ISC)
• Sri Aurobindo Integral Education & Research Centre (CBSE)
• Saraswati Vidya Mandir (CBSE)
• Dalmia College (CHSE)
• Sarbatidevi Women's College (CHSE)

Entertainment

Currently there are two radio channels operating in Rajgangpur which has its radio stations in Rourkela. There are two single screen movie theaters namely Milan Talkies & Triveni Talkies. There is also a CableTV network in Rajgangpur named Satellite Club. Apart from these during various religious festivals plays are also held at town community centre and OCL colony auditorium.

Holy places

Ghoghar Dham is a sacred place located 8 km towards north from Rajgangpur. It is famous for its Lord Shiv Temple & Hilltop. In the month of Shravan a lot of piligrims & kawadias visit the temple. The newly renovated Durga mandir is one of the best temple with its finest work of Glass Art. Dalmia Mandir located at the center of the town & managed by OCL India Ltd is a beautiful temple of Lord Shiva, Lord Ram, Laxman, Goddess Sita & Lord Radha Krishna. It is surrounded by a beautiful flower park. Beside this there are two churches, four mosques & many other small temples.

Media

Kamlesh Dahima is one among the leading media person of the town. He is currently associated with Hindi national newspaper Dainik jagran. Other media persons are Ashish Sathpathy (Samaj, MBC TV), Jiten Das (Sambad), Nihar das (Otv), Sunil Agrawal (Stv), Gautam Mishra (Kamyab TV) and many more.

Politics

Current MLA from Rajgangpur (ST) Assembly Constituency is Gregory Minz of INC, who won the seat in State elections in 2004. Previous MLAs from this seat were Mangala Kisan who won this seat representing BJD in 2000, representing JD in 1995 and in 1990, representing JNP in 1985, Mukharam Naik of INC(I) in 1980 and Brajamohan Kishan of JNP in 1977.^[2]

Rajgangpur is part of Sundargarh (Lok Sabha constituency).^[3]

References