Rajendra Nagar, Delhi

Overview

Like most of the colonies developed in the 1950s, Rajendra Nagar was primarily a Punjabi refugee colony which came up during the years after the partition of India in 1947, when several such residential neighborhoods sprang up in the New Delhi area, including other examples such as Lajpat Nagar and Patel Nagar.

Rajender Nagar was developed on land acquired from the villages of Shadipur, Khampur, and neighboring settlements.{{cite web |title=The Making of New Delhi: How Partition Changed the City |url=https://thewire.in/urban/partition-new-delhi

Rajender Nagar benefits from links with the Delhi metro. Shankar road divides the Rajendra Nagar into New and Old Rajendra Nagar. Old Rajendra Nagar touches Karol Bagh, which is famous for shopping and eating. New Rajendra Nagar is between Old Rajendra Nagar and Ridge, and is also adjacent to Connaught Place, with Talkatora stadium a short walk away. The locality is posh with many parks in New Rajendra Nagar. Central Park in New Rajendra Nagar is called Nehru Park.

Administration

It is part of the Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency.

Major Landmarks

New Era Public School.

Coaching industry

Rajendra Nagar is home to many coaching institutes. It is one of the two education hubs in Delhi for government job aspirants (the other being Mukherjee Nagar).

However, the striking difference between these two locations is the demographics of students. While, majority of student-population in Rajendra Nagar comprises those preparing for exams conducted by UPSC (and usually in English medium), Mukherjee Nagar is dominated by a mix of students preparing (i) either for exams conducted by SSC (like CGL and CHSL) (ii) or for civil services exams in Hindi medium.

The streets are filled with sprawling book stores, libraries, rental housing and eateries an ancillary business along with the coaching industry.

Coaching industry of Rajendra Nagar and other parts of Delhi were severely impacted in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notable people

Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan was born here in 1965 at the Talwar Nursing Home[Old Rajendra Nagar], and lived there 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.

• Bollywood singer Jaspinder Narula was born and raised here.
• Shakti Kapoor, Bollywood star, was also born and raised here.

Other known residents included Dilip Kumar, the Bollywood star who lived here for some years, Balraj Madhok a politician of the 1960s, Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja, actress Divya Dutta and documentary filmmaker Avijit Mukul Kishore. Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir is a resident.

References

References

1. [http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200812151875.htm Congress wins from BJP bastion Rajinder Nagar][[The Hindu]], 15 December 2008. "Rajinder Nagar constituency Reev is best. {{Webarchive. link. (3 June 2009)
2. "MCD Directory". Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
3. "Delhi Election Results 2015: Meet your new MLAs - Tehelka Bureau - Tehelka - Investigations, Latest News, Politics, Analysis, Blogs, Culture, Photos, Videos, Podcasts".
4. Mayank Manohar. (Mar 10, 2016). "Rajendra Nagar residents rue loss of peace {{!}} Delhi News - Times of India".
5. (2017-06-16). "Rajender Nagar: At hub for UPSC aspirants, thriving businesses, eateries".
6. (2014-08-24). "The reading room: These libraries provide UPSC aspirants space and comfort during their preparations".
7. (2020-08-08). "How Covid-19 killed the economy of Delhi's 'coaching colonies'".
8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121017073409/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-30/news-interviews/28072586_1_cycle-rickshaws-gauri-srk SRK to run for Delhi] TNN , ''[[The Times of India]]'', 30 September 2009. "I was born here, in Talwar Nursing Home. I lived there for more than two decades in Rajinder Nagar"