Chaokeਚਾਓਕੇ

Where Chaoke sits

Chaoke is a large village in Rampura Phul tehsil of Bathinda district, Punjab, in the Malwa region. It is administered by the Chauke gram panchayat in the Rampura development block, covers 3,013 hectares and carries census village code 035680, with PIN code 151401. After Bhai Rupa, it is the second-largest village in its tehsil by population. The 2011 directory recorded Rampura Phul, about 6 kilometres away, as its nearest town; the road distance to the tehsil headquarters town is about 18 kilometres, and Bathinda city is about 50 kilometres away. Villages recorded around Chaoke include Jaidan, Balloh, Jeondan and Ghurela.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 9,354 people in Chaoke, up from 8,280 in 2001: 4,936 men and 4,418 women living in 1,768 households, about 5.3 people to a household. Spread over 3,013 hectares, the density works out to about 310 people per square kilometre, a spacious figure that reflects how much of Chaoke is farmland. The sex ratio was 895 women for every 1,000 men. Children up to the age of six numbered 999, about 11 per cent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 2,953 people, about 32 per cent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded.

Literacy is the record's weak point: 59.75 per cent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 64.37 per cent and women at 54.54 per cent, well below the Punjab average of the time. The census recorded 3,650 workers, about 39 per cent of the village. Of the 2,288 main workers, the largest group, 1,224 people, were cultivators on their own land, ahead of 644 agricultural labourers and 338 other workers in trade, transport and services. A further 1,362 people were marginal workers, employed for only part of the year: well over a third of everyone who works in Chaoke works seasonally, which underlines how completely the village still runs on the farm calendar. Counting everyone, the village held 1,740 cultivators and 1,371 agricultural labourers.

Land and farming

Farming covers most of Chaoke's land. Of its 3,013 hectares, 2,766 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record, and every sown hectare was irrigated: canals watered 1,954 hectares and wells and tubewells 812 hectares. About 247 hectares were under non-agricultural uses such as the settlement, roads and ponds. The crops recorded for the village are wheat, paddy and oil seeds. Farm power supply was recorded at 6 hours a day. An agricultural credit society and a regular market were recorded in the village, so Chaoke serves its own farmers as well as growing their crops.

Schools and health

The Census 2011 Village Directory recorded one government school at every level in Chaoke: a primary school, a middle school, a secondary school and a senior secondary school, so children can study in the village up to Class 12. Directory listings also record private schools at the primary, middle and secondary levels. The nearest degree college is at Rampura Phul. The village also has an anganwadi centre and an ASHA health worker, and sports facilities were recorded.

Health facilities recorded inside the village in 2011 were a primary health sub-centre, a dispensary and a veterinary hospital. The census detail also records a maternity and child welfare centre, a registered medical practitioner and three medical shops, so day-to-day care is available locally, while anything serious means the trip to Rampura Phul or Bathinda. Treated tap water was available in the village. For banking, a commercial bank and a co-operative bank both stand in the village, though there was no ATM in 2011. A sub post office serves the village, with the nearest full post office more than 10 kilometres away, and there was no internet centre within 10 kilometres. The village has a PDS ration shop and mobile phone coverage, and domestic power supply was recorded at 14 hours a day.

Faith in Chaoke

No shrine of Chaoke appears in the national gurdwara directories opened for this page, and religious life in the village is local, centred on its own gurdwara and temples. The best-known shrine of the tehsil stands a few villages away at Bhai Rupa, where Gurdwara Patshahi Chhevin marks the village founded by Bhai Rupa, a Sikh of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji's time, and Rampura Phul town has its own gurdwaras for larger gatherings.

Getting there

Chaoke is reached by pucca roads. The 2011 directory recorded a private bus service in the village itself, but no public bus service within 10 kilometres and no railway station within 10 kilometres; no national or state highway passes within 10 kilometres either. It is a genuinely interior Malwa village: Rampura Phul is the practical hub for administration, colleges and onward travel, and Bathinda for the district headquarters and the nearest big rail junction.

What is the population of Chaoke?

The population of Chaoke was 9,354 at the 2011 census, living in 1,768 households in Rampura Phul tehsil of Bathinda district. It had grown from 8,280 in 2001.

What health facilities does Chaoke have?

According to the Census 2011 Village Directory, Chaoke has a primary health sub-centre, a dispensary and a veterinary hospital inside the village, along with a maternity and child welfare centre.

How far is Chaoke from Rampura Phul?

The 2011 directory recorded Rampura Phul as Chaoke's nearest town, about 6 kilometres away; the road journey to the tehsil headquarters town is about 18 kilometres, and Bathinda city is about 50 kilometres away.