Saifai is a large village and

university town A college town or university town is a town or city whose character is dominated by a college or university and their associated culture, often characterised by the student population making up 20 percent of the population of the community, bu ...

in the

Etawah district Etawah district is one of the Districts of Uttar Pradesh, districts in the western portion of Uttar Pradesh States and territories of India, state of India. Etawah town is the district headquarters. The district covers an area of 2311 km. ...

of the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. It is also a sub-division (

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

) and Block (''Kshetra Panchayat'') of the Etawah district. It is the birthplace of

Mulayam Singh Yadav Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialism, socialist figure and founder of the Samajwadi Party. Over the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three t ...

, the founding president of the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

, former

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in India, and former

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is the head of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minis ...

Geography

Saifai, categorised as a village, is situated in Etawah district at the border with Mainpuri district. Its geographical location falls under Ganges-Yamuna Doab of

. Saifai village has an area of 887.47 hectares and Saifai Block (Kshetra Panchayat) is 20,403.30 hectares. Saifai is located 23 km north from the nearest city

Etawah Etawah (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Iṭāvā''), also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawa ...

. Saifai is about 110 km away from the historic city of

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

and 230 km from the State capital

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

Saifai Tehsil and Block

Saifai is a Sub-Division (

) and

Block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

(Kshetra Panchayat) of

. There are about 60 villages in Saifai block. Saifai Block (Kshetra Panchayat) comes under Jaswantnagar Vidhan Sabha constituency and Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency.

Education

Universities

* Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences (formerly U.P. Rural Institute of Medical Sciences and Research) is a

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

established by the

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (International Organization for Standardization, ISO: ''Uttara Pradēśa Sarakāra''; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appoin ...

under Act 15 of 2016. The university has a Medical College, Paramedical College, Nursing College, Pharmacy College, multispeciality 850-bed hospital, and a 150-bed trauma and burn centre. A super specialty hospital with 500 beds has also been established in the university by the

Colleges

* Pharmacy College Saifai, established in 2015, was the first government aided pharmacy college run by the Uttar Pradesh Government. Earlier affiliated with UPTU, it is now part of the Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences. * Chaudhary Charan Singh Post Graduate College, Heonra-Saifai,

or Chaudhary Charan Singh Degree College is a government aided Post Graduate College in Saifai. The college is situated in nearby Heonra village. * Major Dhyanchand Sports College, a residential

sports college Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The programme enabled sec ...

established in 2014. It offers teaching from 6th to 12th standard and sports training in

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, hockey,

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, athletics,

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, and kabaddi. * Chaudhary Charan Singh College of Law, Heonra-Saifai,

offers an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

course in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. The college is situated in Heonra village which is part of Saifai Block (Kshetra Panchayat). * S.S. Memorial Educational Academy, Saifai offers a 2 year B.T.C., which is now known as a Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) in

Training centres

* Punjab National Bank (PNB) Farmers' Training Centre, Saifai, established in 2005, it is one of 12 Farmers' Training Centre by PNB. It provides training to farmers, women and rural youth. * Government Industrial Training Institute, Saifai offers 12 months to 24 months training in various vocational trades. Sports_Authority_of_India

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India, SAI, was set up in 1984 to carry forward the legacy of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi under the Department of Sports. SAl has been entrusted with promoting sport in India and achieving sporting excellen ...

(SAI) Training Centre, Saifai in situated in Saifai's Master Chandgi Ram Sports Stadium campus. It offers residential training in Athletics and

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

. * Cooperative Management Training Centre, Heonra-Saifai is a one of 6 Cooperative Management Training Centres in

, while other 5 are situated in Bilari (

Moradabad district Moradabad district () is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city of Moradabad is the district headquarters. Moradabad district is part of Moradabad division. It used to be the second most populous district of Uttar Pradesh out o ...

), Mahoba,

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

and

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

. It offers 4.5 months short term trainng in Cooperative, Legal aspects of Cooperatives, Legal aspects of Cooperatives, Business Development Plan and Policy, Financial Acounting and Audit & General Knowledge and Social Work.

Transport

Road

Saifai village is connected to Mainpuri and

by the four-lane State Highway 83 (Uttar Pradesh). Agra-Lucknow Expressway passes near to Saifai, connecting the area to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...

, and

. Saifai also has a

bus station A bus station, bus depot, or bus interchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can st ...

and a depot, owned and operated by Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC). UPSRTC buses are available to all major destinations in the state. Saifai Depot has 21 buses as of November 2023.

Rail

Saifai railway station, also spelled as Saiphai railway station, is located on the newly built Mainpuri-Etawah line railway. It connects Saifai to Etawah railway station, which is on the Howrah–Delhi main line.

Airport

The nearest domestic airport from Saifai is Agra Airport (115 Kilometres) and nearest international airport to Saifai is Lucknow International Airport (225 Kilometres). Saifai also has an airstrip. The Saifai airstrip is used only by unscheduled chartered flights. In 2015, the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

conducted emergency landing tests at the airstrip with the Mirage 2000 aircraft. In 2018, the air force conducted a second practice exercise at the airstrip.

Census 2011

Village

According to Census 2011, Saifai had 1,481 families, with a population of 7,141 of which 3,917 were male and 3,224 female. The population of children aged 0–6 is 1,059 which makes up 14.83% of the total population of the village. The average

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 823 is lower than Uttar Pradesh state average of 912. The child sex ratio of 912 is higher than the Uttar Pradesh average of 902. The village has a higher literacy rate compared to Uttar Pradesh. In 2011, the literacy rate was 82.44% compared to 67.68% of

. Male literacy stood at 89.27% while female literacy was 74.00%.

Block (Vikas Khand/Kshetra Panchayat)

According to Census 2011, Saifai Block has 19,578 families residing. The Saifai Block (Vikas Khand/Kshetra Panchayat) had a population of 112,620 of which 60,479 are male and 52,141 are female.

Stadiums

According to the newspaper ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'', Saifai is in a process to establish itself as a sports and education hub in the state and has two sports complexes. * Saifai International Cricket Stadium is grouped with an athletics stadium, an indoor stadium, and an indoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

at the Major Dhyanchand Sports College campus. * Master Chandgiram Sports Stadium, named after Haryanvi wrestler Chandgi Ram, is a national-level sports complex with a hockey pitch, a multipurpose (badminton and wrestling) hall, and a

Saifai Mahotsav

Organised between 1997 and 2015, Saifai Mahotsav (officially the Ranveer Singh Smriti Saifai Mahotsav) was an annual 15-day cultural fair organised by the Ranveer Singh Smriti Saifai Mahotsav committee. It used to take place in the village every year during December and January. It was started in 1997 by Ranveer Singh Yadav, the nephew of

and father of Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, as a small village fair named Saifai Mahotsav. It was renamed as the Ranveer Singh Smriti Saifai Mahotsav after his death in 2002. The festival's closing ceremony which was also known as Bollywood Night was often controversial due to the participation of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

celebrities. The organisation of Saifai Mahotsav was cancelled in 2017 during the BJP's government and has not been organised since.

Notable people

Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh Yadav (; born 1 July 1973) is an Indian politician and national president of the Samajwadi Party who served as the 20th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Having assumed the chief minister's office on 15 March 2012 at the age of 38, he ...

, 20th

(March 2012 - March 2017) *

, founder president of

, former

Minister of Defence (India) The Minister of Defence (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rakṣā Maṁtrī'') is the head of the Ministry of Defence (India), Ministry of Defence and a high ranking minister of the Government of India. The Defence minister is one of the most senior offices ...

& former

* Shivpal Singh Yadav * Tej Pratap Singh Yadav

References

{{Kanpur division topics Villages in Etawah district