Saifai

Saifai is a large village and university town in the Etawah district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is also a sub-division (Tehsil) and Block (Kshetra Panchayat) of the Etawah district. It is the birthplace of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the founding president of the Samajwadi Party, former Minister of Defence in India, and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
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 Uttar Pradesh.
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. Saifai is about 110 km away from the historic city of Taj Mahal, Agra and 230 km from the State capital Lucknow.
Saifai is a Sub-Division (Tehsil) and Block (Kshetra Panchayat) of Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh. There are about 60 villages in Saifai block. Saifai Block (Kshetra Panchayat) comes under Jaswantnagar Vidhan Sabha constituency and Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency.
Saifai village is connected to Mainpuri and Etawah by the four-lane State Highway 83 (Uttar Pradesh). Agra-Lucknow Expressway passes near to Saifai, connecting the area to Delhi, Agra, Kannauj, and Lucknow. Saifai also has a bus station 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.
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.
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 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.
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 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 Uttar Pradesh. Male literacy stood at 89.27% while female literacy was 74.00%.
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.
According to the newspaper The Hindu, Saifai is in a process to establish itself as a sports and education hub in the state and has two sports complexes.
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 Mulayam Singh Yadav 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 celebrities. The organisation of Saifai Mahotsav was cancelled in 2016 during the Samajwadi Party's government and has not been organised since.