Asika

Asika ଆସିକା Aska min ? A. Anty S. Social K. Kraim A. Area
Town
Nickname(s): The Sugar City & Milk city
Asika Location in Odisha, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Odisha
District	Ganjam
Elevation	30 m (100 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	20,718
Languages
• Official	Oriya
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	761110
Telephone code	06822
Vehicle registration	OR-07 OD-07

Asika is a town and a Notified Area Council in Ganjam district in the state of Odisha, India.

Geography

Asika is located at . It has an average elevation of 30 metres (98 feet). It is situated at 40 km from Brahmapur on South, 35 km from Bhanjanagar on the North at the confluence of Rivers Rushikulya and Badanadi. NH-59 (Gopalpur-Ahmedabad) passes through this city.

Industries

• Asika Sugar Factory- 1st Sugar Factory established in 1824.
• Asika Spinning Mill

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Asika had a population of 20,739 (third largest city in Ganjam dist after Brahmapur and Hinjilicut). Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Asika has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 56% of the males and 44% of females literate. 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History

Historical background of ASIKA relates to Sugar factory of ASIKA which is Asia's 1st Sugar Factory build by Minchin Saheb in British time. This factory has its own name. Due to this factory the Asika Town is known as Sugar City. Still in many parts of India i.e.(Tamil Nadu), people call sugar as Asika.

When one thinks of Asika Cooperative Sugar Industries Ltd., many things come to memory, its history, the pioneers in the field, the hardy local farmers, its workmen, the dedicated bureaucrats, the support it got at highest levels, the institutional infrastructure that helped, and how it overcame so with a background of its heritage of being the story of sugar in Asia and the place where Asia's 1st Sugar Factory was established in 1824.

The jaggery mill which was started in the year 1848 by the name "Asika Sugar Works and Distillery Ltd." by 'Biny and Co. Madras' which met with huge losses for lack of supervision and other transport bottlenecks. Thereafter, Fredrick Josheph Vivian Minchin, the Book Keeper of Biny & Co. purchased the said factory and with the new Sugar Technology obtained from Germany designed and rebuilt the factory in 1856.

Temples

• Khambeswari Goddess
• Jaganatha Temple(Nuagam)
• Kali Mandir (Nuagam)
• BHagabat Mandir (Nuagam)
• Radha Krushna Mandir (Nuagam)
• Ram Mandir (Nuagam)
• Pudageswar
• Subarneswar
• Nilakantheswar
• Satyanarayan
• Karanjei Goddess
• Balunkeswar
• Tirupati Balaji
• Ram Mandir
• Hanuman Mandir
• Maa Kali
• Maa Kalimukhi
• Narshinha
• Maa Thakurani near Gondopuli
• Jama Masjid

Education

School

• Harihar High School, Asika
• A.S.I High School Nuagam, Asika
• Kendriya Vidyalaya, Asika
• Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir, Asika
• Harihar High School, Asika
• NAC High School, Asika
• Mac Mickle Sanskrit Vidyalaya, Asika
• Govt Tech High School, Asika
• Govt Girls High School, Asika
• Aryan Public School, Aska
• DePaul School, Asika
• Mom School of Excellency, Asika
• Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir, Asika

College

• Asika Science College, Asika
• Binayak Acharya College, Asika
• Niranjan Women's College, Asika
• Mac Mickle Sanskrit College, Asika

Politics

Current MLA from Asika Assembly Constituency is Debaraj Mohanty of BJD. Previous MLAs from this seat were Saroj Kumar Padhy, who won the seat as an independent candidate in State elections of 2004, Debaraj Mohanty of BJD who won this seat in 2000, Usharani Panda of INC in 1995, Duti Krushna Panda of CPI in 1990, Raghaba Parida who won representing INC in 1985 and as a candidate of INC(I) in 1980, and Harihar Swain of JNP in 1977.

Asika is part of Aska (Lok Sabha constituency).