Bundalaਬੁੰਡਾਲਾ

A Majha village of the Hundals

Bundala, also spelt Bandala, is a large village in Amritsar I tehsil of Amritsar district, Punjab, in the Majha region, about 18 kilometres south of Amritsar city in the Jandiala Guru development block. The 2011 census counted 10,683 people in 1,999 households across its 2,034 hectares, and the record carries village code 037543. Its PIN code is 143504, and Bandala is the spelling used on its school boards and listings. The village is known by the name of its dominant clan: its people are called Hundals. Punjab has several villages called Bundala, and this page is the Amritsar one; it is not Bundala Manjki in Jalandhar district, the home of the poet Gurdas Ram Alam and the politician Harkishen Singh Surjeet, which is a separate village. For politics Bundala votes in the Jandiala assembly constituency and the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.

Baba Jass Havalian and the village's religious life

Local identity in Bundala gathers around the name of Baba Jass. The village's gram panchayat is named Baba Jass Havalian and covers Bundala alone, and a gurdwara named for Baba Jass, Gurudwara Baba Jass Ji, serves the village. The village's government senior secondary school, listed as Government Senior Secondary School Bandala, stands in the village itself.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 5,593 men and 5,090 women in Bundala, a sex ratio of 910 women for every 1,000 men, living in 1,999 households at about 5.3 people to a household. At about 525 people per square kilometre, Bundala is one of the more densely settled villages of the Amritsar plain. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,279, about 12 percent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 3,653 people, about 34 percent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded. Literacy stood at 70.26 percent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 74.41 percent and women at 65.78 percent.

The census recorded 3,551 workers, about 33 percent of the village. Of the 3,074 main workers, the largest group, 1,251, were other workers in trade, transport and services, followed by 983 cultivators on their own land, 764 agricultural labourers and 76 in household industry. A further 477 people were marginal workers. Counting main and marginal workers together, 1,022 people cultivated land and 906 worked as agricultural labourers, so farming here is split more evenly between landholding families and labourers hired from the village than in many places.

That shape of work, more people in services, trade and transport than on the land, is the mark of a village within daily reach of a big city. Bundala's fields still employ close to two thousand people as cultivators and labourers, but the village also looks outward, to Jandiala town six kilometres away and to Amritsar itself, for much of its work and income.

Land and farming

Of Bundala's 2,034 hectares, 1,798 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record. Of the sown land, 1,760 hectares were irrigated, 1,374 hectares by canal and 386 hectares by wells and tube wells, leaving only 38 hectares dependent on rain. About 236 hectares were under non-agricultural uses. Farm power supply was recorded at 9 hours a day.

Schools, health and everyday services

Education in the village runs through one government primary school, one government middle school, one government secondary school and one government senior secondary school, so children can study in the village up to Class 12. The village also has an anganwadi centre and an ASHA health worker.

On health, the 2011 Village Directory recorded a primary health centre and a dispensary inside Bundala, together with a veterinary hospital for its livestock. What the village did not have in 2011 was a community health centre, a primary health sub-centre or an allopathic hospital. Treated tap water was available in the village, along with a community toilet complex. Bundala had its own post office and a sub post office, a PDS ration shop, mobile phone coverage and an internet common service centre. Banking was better than in many villages: a commercial bank and a cooperative bank both had branches in the village in 2011, though there was no ATM. Power supply was strong, recorded at 15 hours a day for homes and 20 hours a day across all users. The nearest police station recorded for the village is at Gandiwind.

Getting there

Bundala is reached by pucca, all-weather roads, and the 2011 directory recorded both public and private bus services in the village itself. Jandiala, the nearest town, is about six kilometres away, and Amritsar city about 18 kilometres. In 2011 the nearest railway station was more than ten kilometres away, so Amritsar is the practical rail head for the village. Neighbouring villages include Shafipur, Thathi, Nangal Guru and Jandiala Rural.

What is the population of Bundala?

The population of Bundala was 10,683 at the 2011 census, living in 1,999 households in Amritsar I tehsil of Amritsar district, Punjab.

Which gram panchayat covers Bundala?

The Baba Jass Havalian gram panchayat covers Bundala, and Bundala alone: it is the village's single panchayat.

Is Bundala in Amritsar the village of Gurdas Ram Alam?

No. The poet Gurdas Ram Alam and the politician Harkishen Singh Surjeet belonged to Bundala Manjki in Jalandhar district, a different village. This Bundala, census code 037543, is in Amritsar district.

What health facilities does Bundala have?

The Census 2011 Village Directory recorded a primary health centre, a dispensary and a veterinary hospital inside Bundala. The village had no community health centre, sub-centre or allopathic hospital in 2011.