Nagਨਗ

One village, three panchayats

Nag is a large village in Amritsar I tehsil of Amritsar district, Punjab, in the Majha region and the Majitha development block. It stands about 3 kilometres from Majitha town and about 15 kilometres north of Amritsar city. The village covers 1,344 hectares and carries census village code 037487, with PIN code 143601. The census counts Nag as a single village, the second-largest in Amritsar I tehsil after Bundala, but on the ground it is administered through three gram panchayats, Nag Kalan, Nag Khurd and Nag Nawan, whose names appear on its schools, post offices and gurdwaras; the 2011 directory still recorded its gram panchayat under the name Majitha. The village falls in the Majitha assembly constituency and the Amritsar parliamentary constituency. Villages recorded around it include Majhwind, Sohian Kalan and Kathu Nangal. Nag should not be confused with the other Nag-named settlements of the district, such as Nagoke or Rakh Nag, which have their own records.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 9,352 people in Nag, up from 8,369 in 2001: 4,917 men and 4,435 women living in 1,742 households, about 5.4 people to a household. Spread over 1,344 hectares, the density works out to about 696 people per square kilometre. The sex ratio was 902 women for every 1,000 men. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,047, about 11 per cent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 4,808 people, about 51 per cent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded.

Literacy in 2011 stood at 69.2 per cent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 72.66 per cent and women at 65.37 per cent. The census recorded 3,206 workers, about 34 per cent of the village. Of the 2,669 main workers, the largest group, 1,407 people, were other workers in trade, transport and services, well ahead of 765 agricultural labourers and 408 cultivators: with Amritsar city 15 kilometres away and Majitha town 3 kilometres away, Nag's earners lean towards services and town work more than most villages of its size. A further 537 people were marginal workers. Counting everyone, the village held 416 cultivators and 1,166 agricultural labourers.

Land and farming

Of Nag's 1,344 hectares, 1,059.91 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record, and every sown hectare was irrigated: wells and tubewells watered 600.4 hectares and canals 459.51 hectares. About 284 hectares, more than a fifth of the village, were under non-agricultural uses such as the settlement, roads and ponds, a high share that reflects building in the orbit of two towns. The crops recorded for the village are wheat, rice and maize. The census detail also records tractor trolleys as a product manufactured in the village, a sign of the farm-machinery work that supports the fields around it. An agricultural credit society serves the village's farmers, and farm power supply was recorded at 7 hours a day.

Schools in Nag

The Census 2011 Village Directory recorded two government primary schools in Nag, with 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; directory listings add a private pre-primary and a private primary school. School listings name the schools of the Nag Kalan side: the Government Senior Secondary School Nag Kalan, recorded as established in 1962 with around 670 students, separate government elementary schools for boys and girls whose listings reach back to the 1930s and 1920s, and the private Pritam Public School, opened in 2000. The village also has an anganwadi centre and an ASHA health worker, and sports facilities were recorded.

Health and daily services

Government health care inside the village is thin: the 2011 directory recorded a dispensary and nothing above it, no health sub-centre, no primary health centre and no veterinary hospital. Day-to-day care rests on private practice, with two MBBS doctors, two faith healers and five medical shops recorded in the village, and the hospitals of Majitha and Amritsar beyond. Drinking water is a weakness in the record: untreated tap water was the supply in 2011, though the total sanitation campaign covered the village. A sub post office stands in the village, with the main post office within 5 kilometres. A commercial bank is in the village itself, while the nearest co-operative bank and ATM were within 5 kilometres, as was the PDS ration shop. There was no internet centre within 10 kilometres. Domestic power supply was recorded at 18 hours a day, the strongest supply figure of the villages in its area.

Faith in Nag

Map and directory listings place Gurudwara Baba Jeevan Singh Ji on the Nag Khurd to Ludhar road, and the Darbar Sant Baba Santa Shah Ji at Nag Khurd, both on the Nag Khurd side of the village under the Nag Kalan post office. Between its three panchayat parts, the village's worship is shared across its own gurdwaras and deras, with Majitha town's shrines 3 kilometres away for larger gatherings.

Getting there

Both public and private bus services serve Nag, on pucca roads, and a district road passes through the village. The nearest railway station was within 5 kilometres in the 2011 directory, and the national and state highways run 5 to 10 kilometres away. Majitha town is 3 kilometres away and Amritsar, with its junction station, airport and hospitals, is about 15 kilometres away.

What is the population of Nag?

The population of Nag was 9,352 at the 2011 census, living in 1,742 households in Amritsar I tehsil of Amritsar district. It had grown from 8,369 in 2001.

Is Nag the same village as Nag Kalan?

Yes and no. The census counts one village, Nag, but it is administered locally through three gram panchayats named Nag Kalan, Nag Khurd and Nag Nawan, so schools and gurdwaras in the village usually carry one of those three names.

What health facilities does Nag have?

According to the Census 2011 Village Directory, Nag has a dispensary inside the village, with private doctors and medical shops recorded, and anganwadi and ASHA services; higher government care is at Majitha or Amritsar.