ਮਨੁਕੇਮਨੁਕੇ

A big farming village south of Moga

Manuke, also spelt Manooke or Manuki, is a large village in Nihal Singh Wala tehsil of ਮੋਗਾ district, Punjab, in the Malwa region. The 2011 census counted 10,406 people in 1,987 households across its 2,458 hectares, and the record carries village code 033925. It stands about 9 kilometres from ਨਿਹਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਵਾਲਾ, the tehsil headquarters, and about 28 kilometres south of Moga city; the directory recorded Bagha Purana, about 12 kilometres away, as its nearest town. Its people speak the Malwai dialect of Punjabi. Punjab has another large village of the same name in Ludhiana district; this page is the Moga one.

The Kakar fair and the soldiers of the Great War

Manuke's recorded history reaches back further than most villages'. Its Kakar fair, held at the end of Harh, the month that falls in June and July, was already being noted in the late nineteenth century: A. H. Bingley recorded it in his book Sikhs, published in 1899. A generation later the village sent its young men to a world war: at least ninety-five men of Manuke served in the British Indian Army during the First World War, and at least two of them died in it.

The village's paper memory is unusually deep as well. Its Shajra Nasb, the land ownership pedigrees that trace each family's fields back through the generations, survive for 1952 and 1953 and have been digitised by FamilySearch, so descendants of Manuke families around the world can read the village's land records online.

Religious life and the village's shrines

Manuke's religious life is written across the village. A mosque with a green dome stands in the settlement, photographed in recent years, and the shrine, or jgah, of Dhan Dhan Baba Bhuri Wale Darwesh draws devotees from the area. The Kakar fair at the end of Harh remains the village's own festival gathering. The photograph above shows a newer landmark of a different kind: the tree-lined drive of the IIMT college campus that stands inside the village.

People and work

The 2011 census counted 5,548 men and 4,858 women in Manuke, a sex ratio of 876 women for every 1,000 men, living in 1,987 households at about 5.2 people to a household, a density of about 423 people per square kilometre. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,050, about 10 percent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 3,358 people, about 32 percent of the population, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded. Literacy stood at 64.79 percent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 67.26 percent and women at 61.99 percent.

The census recorded 3,639 workers, about 35 percent of the village. Of the 2,731 main workers, the largest group, 1,332, were cultivators on their own land, ahead of 748 other workers in trade, transport and services, 529 agricultural labourers and 122 in household industry. A further 908 people were marginal workers, employed for only part of the year. Counting main and marginal workers together, 1,395 people cultivated land and 921 worked as agricultural labourers, so most farm work in Manuke is done by landholding families themselves.

Land and farming

Farming fills Manuke's map. Of the village's 2,458 hectares, 2,224 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record, nine-tenths of the village, and every sown hectare was irrigated, mostly by canal: 1,645 hectares by canal and 579 hectares by wells and tube wells. About 234 hectares were under non-agricultural uses such as the settlement, roads and ponds. Farm power supply was recorded at 8 hours a day.

Schools, health and everyday services

Government education in the village runs through 2 primary schools, one middle school, one secondary school and one senior secondary school, so children can study in the village up to Class 12. Beyond school, Manuke has become a small education centre in its own right: the IIMT college campus stands inside the village, photographed above, and a private international school also serves it. The village also has an anganwadi centre and an ASHA health worker.

On health, the 2011 Village Directory recorded a dispensary inside Manuke, together with a veterinary hospital for its livestock. What the village did not have in 2011 was a community health centre, a primary health centre, a primary health sub-centre or an allopathic hospital. Drinking water came from untreated tap water supplies.

Manuke has its own post office and mobile phone coverage. Banking was available in the village itself, with a commercial bank branch and a cooperative bank branch, though there was no ATM, and there was no PDS ration shop inside the village, the nearest being five to ten kilometres away. Electricity supply was strong, recorded at 12 hours a day for homes and 20 hours a day across all users.

Getting there

The 2011 directory recorded both public and private bus services in Manuke itself. One figure from that record surprises: it listed no pucca road and no all-weather road inside the village, the nearest of each being within five kilometres, even as buses ran here. Bagha Purana, about 12 kilometres away, is the nearest town recorded; Nihal Singh Wala, the tehsil headquarters, is about 9 kilometres away, and Moga city about 28 kilometres. In 2011 the nearest railway station was more than ten kilometres away. Neighbouring villages include Gholia Khurd, Khota, Burj Duna and Patto Jawaharsingh.

What is the population of Manuke?

The population of Manuke was 10,406 at the 2011 census, living in 1,987 households in Nihal Singh Wala tehsil of Moga district, Punjab.

What is the Kakar fair of Manuke?

The Kakar fair is Manuke's traditional fair, held at the end of the month of Harh, in June and July. It was already being recorded in print in 1899, in A. H. Bingley's Sikhs.

Is this the Manuke in Ludhiana district?

No. This Manuke, census code 033925, is in Nihal Singh Wala tehsil of Moga district. The Ludhiana district Manuke is a separate village in Jagraon tehsil.

What health facilities does Manuke have?

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