Harit Pradesh is a proposed new state of India comprising the western parts of Uttar Pradesh state. The etymology derives from Harit, meaning Green (which signifies the agricultural prosperity of the region), and Pradesh, meaning state. The region has some demographic, economic and cultural patterns that are distinct from other parts of Uttar Pradesh, and more closely resemble those of Haryana, Punjab and North Rajasthan areas. History In his 1955 critique of the proposed States Reorganisation Act, Thoughts on Linguistic States, B. R. Ambedkar had advocated the division of Uttar Pradesh into three states – Western, Central and Eastern, with capitals at Meerut, Kanpur and Allahabad respectively – in order to prevent excessively large states from dominating politics at the national level. The act was passed in 1956, however, keeping Uttar Pradesh intact as a single state. Later, socialists like Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Kripalani and others favoured re-drawing of the administrative map of India. But, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then prime minister, supported the States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) recommendation of re-forming states on linguistic basis. Dr K.M. Panikkar, in his dissenting note to the SRC report, however, opposed linguistic states and favoured formation of a state of west Uttar Pradesh. Later, in 1972, fourteen MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh state assembly moved an unsuccessful resolution to divide the state into three units (Braj Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh and Purvi Pradesh). During the 1975–77 Emergency, Sanjay Gandhi almost succeeded in carving out a new state of western Uttar Pradesh with Agra as capital. The new state was to include parts of Haryana too. BSP-led UP government had on 23 November 2011, passed a resolution in the state assembly for creating Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Awadh Pradesh and Pashchim Pradesh out of UP. The resolution was forwarded to the UPA government at the Centre but no action was taken. After, Congress working committee passed a resolution to recommend formation of a new state of Telangana on 31 July 2013, demand for Harit Pradesh gained momentum. Sh. Jairam Ramesh suggested that UP's reorganisation was necessary as it is difficult to run such a big state effectively. "Purely from an administrative point of view, a state of over 200 million people, 75 districts, over 800 blocks...It's just not governable. It is my personal view...Its politics is a separate issue," he said. Geography Soil conditions Western Uttar Pradesh's soil and relief has marked differences from