Arniwala Sheikh Subhanਅਰਨੀਵਾਲਾ ਸ਼ੇਖ ਸੁਭਨ

Where Arniwala Sheikh Subhan sits

Arniwala Sheikh Subhan is a large village in Fazilka tehsil of Fazilka district, Punjab, in the Malwa region close to the Pakistan border belt. It has its own gram panchayat, covers 1,679 hectares and carries census village code 035024, with PIN code 152124. It stands about 22 kilometres from Fazilka town, its tehsil and district headquarters, and the nearest town recorded in 2011 was Muktsar, also about 22 kilometres away. Villages recorded around it include Mulianwali, Mahuana, Bananwala and Jhotianwali. One point of confusion in older records: when the 2011 census was counted, this area still belonged to Firozpur district. Fazilka district was created in July 2011, after the enumeration, so census-era documents list the village under Firozpur.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 9,353 people in Arniwala Sheikh Subhan, up from 7,565 in 2001, growth of about 24 per cent in ten years. They lived in 1,904 households, about 4.9 people to a household: 4,908 men and 4,445 women, a sex ratio of 906 women for every 1,000 men. Spread over 1,679 hectares, the density works out to about 557 people per square kilometre. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,164, about 12 per cent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 4,773 people, about 51 per cent of the population, a majority, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded.

Literacy in 2011 stood at 72.11 per cent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 78.81 per cent and women at 64.8 per cent, a strong figure for a border-belt village. Work tells the village's real story. The census recorded 3,400 workers, about 36 per cent of the village. Of the 3,011 main workers, the largest group, 1,247 people, were agricultural labourers, ahead of 1,177 other workers in trade, transport and services and just 562 cultivators. Counting everyone, the village held 603 cultivators against 1,494 agricultural labourers: this is a village of farm workers more than of farm owners, where most families earn from other people's fields.

Land and farming

Of the village's 1,679 hectares, 1,545 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record, and every sown hectare was irrigated. The surprise is where the water comes from. Fazilka is canal country, but canals irrigated only 155 hectares here; wells and tubewells irrigated 1,390 hectares, about nine-tenths of the whole. About 125 hectares were under non-agricultural use and just 9 hectares were barren. The crops recorded for the village are wheat, cotton and pulses, and the census detail also lists cloth as a product manufactured in the village. Farm power supply was recorded at 6 hours a day.

Schools, health and daily services

The Census 2011 Village Directory recorded one government school at every level in the village, from primary to senior secondary, and directory listings add private schools at the pre-primary, primary, middle and secondary levels, so children can study in the village up to Class 12. The nearest degree college is at Fazilka.

Government health care inside the village rests on a primary health sub-centre: the 2011 directory recorded no primary health centre, no community health centre, no dispensary and no veterinary hospital. Around it, the census detail records a maternity and child welfare centre, a TB clinic and a family welfare centre, and private practice carries much of the load, with two MBBS doctors, five registered medical practitioners and six medical shops recorded in the village. An anganwadi centre and an ASHA worker serve the village. Treated tap water was available, and the directory records a closed drainage system with street garbage collection. The village is a small postal centre in its own right: it has its own delivery post office, and postal listings place twelve branch offices in surrounding villages under the same PIN, 152124, among them Mulianwali, Mahuana Bodla, Dabwala Kalan and Pakkan. Banking is complete for a village: an ATM, a commercial bank and a co-operative bank all stand inside it, together with a PDS ration shop, an agricultural credit society and a regular market. Domestic power supply was recorded at 12 hours a day.

Faith in Arniwala Sheikh Subhan

Directory listings record the village's own Gurdwara Sahib and a Hanuman Mandir in Arniwala Sheikh Subhan, and a dera, Dera Satlok Dham, on the Fazilka to Malout road at the village. No historic shrine of national record stands here; worship is local, shared between the village's Sikh and Hindu families.

Getting there

Both public and private bus services serve Arniwala Sheikh Subhan, on pucca, all-weather roads, and a state highway passes through the village. There is no railway station within 10 kilometres; the nearest station recorded for the village is Muktsar. Fazilka, 22 kilometres away, is the hub for administration, colleges and onward travel.

What is the population of Arniwala Sheikh Subhan?

The population of Arniwala Sheikh Subhan was 9,353 at the 2011 census, living in 1,904 households in Fazilka tehsil of Fazilka district. It had grown from 7,565 in 2001.

Which district is Arniwala Sheikh Subhan in?

Arniwala Sheikh Subhan is in Fazilka district, Punjab. Census 2011 documents list it under Firozpur district because Fazilka district was created in July 2011, after the census was counted.

What health facilities does Arniwala Sheikh Subhan have?

According to the Census 2011 Village Directory, the village has a primary health sub-centre, a maternity and child welfare centre, a TB clinic and a family welfare centre, with private doctors and medical shops in the village.