SC paves way for temple, but Ayodhya has a lot to catch up on development

The pilgrimage town's demographic and socio-economic indicators underline a lag with respect to the national average, and point to prospective policy options and areas that need attention

About a year ago, the ‘successful’ became the ‘invincible’ — at least in the Uttar Pradesh government’s official records. According to Rekhta, an Urdu-language proponent organisation, Faiz means success, and Faizabad a town that is successful or victorious. On the other hand, ‘Ayodhya’, derived from the root ‘yoddha’ (warrior) would mean “something that cannot be defeated’, or invincible. 

In November 2018, the Yogi Adityanath government in the state renamed the district of Faizabad, 100 miles east of Lucknow, Ayodhya. 

The long-standing issue of the ‘Mandir’ has reverberated across India since the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. It was