Padampur, Rajasthan

Located in northwest of the Ganganagar district, the city has an average elevation of 165 metres (541 ft)

There is no direct railway link to the city. The nearest main railway station is at Sri Ganganagar, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) away, or Gajsingh Pur, which is 20.5 kilometres (12.7 mi) away and connected by a four lane highway. There is 132 KV Grid substation which is being upgraded to 220 KV near the village. The public transport system of the Rajasthan Government provides basic transportation facility to the people.

Padampur had a population of about 163000.[1] Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Padampur has an average literacy rate of 64%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 70%.

The demographics of Padampur show evidence of a large and ethnically diverse people. The area is mostly inhabited by Hindus and Sikhs. Major languages spoken are Punjabi and Bagri. The area continues to be the gateway for legal work for the nearby villages. As of 2012 the area has been categorized in 20 wards circle headed by ward member of that area selected by the residents of the ward.

Following the construction of the Ganges Canal (Rajasthan), the main occupation of near by villages is agriculture, which is also the basis of the city's economy. The main crops are wheat, mustard and cotton while other crops includes guar, bajra, sugar cane and grams. In recent years, kinnow (a hybrid citrus fruit derived from the "orange") has also gained prominence with farmers. The industries in the city are mostly based on agriculture. The people of the town are involved in their family businesses.

This city is based out of a agricultural area but has also been home to liquor Barron Ghanshyam Dass Sharma who also set up a distillery in Kanpur Uttar Pradesh and was famously known as the wine king. He also had great influence on the politics of the area and political parties always took in his consideration before taking any decisions.

He was also seen as a saviour and Robinhood by the locals, he along with his business partner who was more like a brother to him, Gurmeet Singh Kooner for years he distributed free flour to the poor and made sure no poor in his area slept hungry. Every day thousands of tonnes of wheat was processed in his mill and the costs incurred were very high but still he continued this distribution system for years until some negative externalities disrupted this philanthropic work. Along with this he made sure that money was never a barrier in attaining education.

He not only paid for the underprivileged's school fees but provided with school dresses and books as well and later on went on to set up one of the largest school and college of Sri Ganganagar Gurmeet Singh Ghanshyam Das college located in 25 BB .

Not just a philanthropist but Mr.Sharma was also a very smart businessman with liquor vends in whole of Uttar Pradesh with distribution of alcohol in almost every district of Rajasthan .

He was the richest person to live in his district at a time with a net worth of 800 crore plus in 1996, he built this humongous empire with his brother like friend Gurmeet Singh Kooner.

He not only conquered the liquor industry but also went on to make his presence in the mining sector, trading(NCDEX AND MCX) and also set a benchmark in manufacturing of agro products.

He also has been the Nagar Palika Chairman for 13 consecutive years and had strong ties not only with politicians and statesmen in Rajasthan, but with deep roots in the central government in Delhi as well.

He had very strong connections with leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sonia Gandhi and present rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.

He was there for the people when the government fell deaf ears and he helped the public in all ways he could would distribute sweets to the poor on all celebrations and also helped a lot of people in marrying of their daughters by giving them large sums of money charitably and buttermilk distribution was done on all days to the poor.

He never made a point to let out his charitable works and was thus never discussed about on a national level and loved the poor as his own and he also helped a lot of upcoming entrepreneurs by giving out large amounts of money and never took it back, he said that this was his part for the society .

It was this nature of him due to which all the people in the state loved him and respected him a lot. He died on 22 March 2018 due to complications related to a cancer removal surgery in Mumbai after which his mortal remains were transported by a Private Plane to his home back in Padampur,Rajasthan.

The area and the whole state of Rajasthan grieved this loss and it was a major loss for the people of his area as he was a father figure to many and a person who lived life on Morales and justice . Several politicians, beaurecrats and over 8000 people attended his death ceremony and he left behind 2 daughters and a son. [2] [3]

The climate of Padampur varies to extreme limits. The average temperature in summer reaches around 41° Celsius and in winter around 26 °C. The temperature shots up to 50° in June. The average annual rainfall is only 200 mm (7.9 in) per annum. Lack of rain and irrigation affect the income of farmers of the villages of Padampur.