ਨਿਹਾਲ ਸਿੰਘਵਾਲਾਨਿਹਾਲ ਸਿੰਘਵਾਲਾ

A village in the census, a town in life

Nihal Singhwala is the headquarters settlement of Nihal Singh Wala tehsil in ਮੋਗਾ district, Punjab, in the Malwa region, standing on the Guru Gobind Singh Marg. The settlement takes its name from Nihal Singh, one of two Dhaliwal brothers, Nihal Singh and Gulab Singh, who founded it. In the 2011 census it was recorded not as a town but as a large village, code 033912, with 10,852 people: the district census handbook lists only four towns in Moga district, Badhni Kalan, Bagha Purana, Moga and Dharamkot, and Nihal Singh Wala is not among them. Since the census the settlement has been given a municipal body of its own, a nagar panchayat, and it serves as the tehsil headquarters for about 34 villages whose combined population was 170,609 in 2011. The settlement votes in the Nihal Singh Wala assembly constituency and the Faridkot Lok Sabha constituency.

The name is old on the map. The 1921 Survey of India map of the Ferozepur region already labels the settlement 'Nihalsinghwala' and 'Nihalsingwala Bara', and a canal distributary still carries its name to the fields around it. The settlement lay in Ferozepur district until Moga district was created on 24 November 1995.

A village with the density of a town

The census figures show why the place feels urban: 10,852 people on only 510 hectares, a density of about 2,126 people per square kilometre, more like a small town than a farming village. The work pattern matches. Of 3,598 workers, 3,338 held main work, and of those, 2,489 were other workers in trade, transport and services, far ahead of 585 agricultural labourers and 233 cultivators. A further 260 people were marginal workers. Counting everyone, only 250 people cultivated land while 606 worked as agricultural labourers. The wider settlement is a trading point for the farms around it, and the settlement is counted among Punjab's rice milling centres, with more than 150 rice mills; only about a dozen towns in the state have more, Khanna and Bagha Purana among them.

ਸਿੱਖ ਧਾਰਮਿਕ ਜੀਵਨ

The settlement's places of worship reflect its shared village and town life. A gurdwara with a tall white domed tower and a high Nishan Sahib rises over the rooftops, pictured above. The settlement also holds the Abu Bakr Mosque and a church, and keeps the samadh of Baba Khetarpal Ji, whose painted portrait is preserved there. Travellers on the Guru Gobind Singh Marg pass through a settlement where all of these stand within a short walk of each other.

ਲੋਕ

The 2011 census counted 10,852 people in Nihal Singhwala: 5,746 men and 5,106 women, a sex ratio of 889 women for every 1,000 men, living in 2,045 households at about 5.3 people to a household. Children up to the age of six numbered 1,246, about 11 percent of the village. Scheduled Castes made up 4,662 people, about 43 percent of the population, the highest share of this batch of villages, and no Scheduled Tribe population was recorded. Literacy stood at 73.59 percent among residents aged seven and above, with men at 77.66 percent and women at 69.06 percent.

Land and farming

Of the village's 510 hectares, 418 hectares were net sown area in the 2011 record, and every sown hectare was irrigated: 139 hectares by canal and 279 hectares by wells and tube wells. About 87 hectares were under non-agricultural uses such as the settlement, roads and ponds. Farm power supply was recorded at 9 hours a day. The cropped land carries the wheat and paddy rotation of the Malwa plain, feeding the settlement's own rice mills.

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 settlement's own well known schools include Kamla Nehru Senior Secondary School, Royal Convent School, Green Valley Convent School, the Government High School, the Government Primary School and M.G. Convent School at Himmatpura, and students go on to the IMT College at Manuke and the Government College at Patto Hira Singh, both within the tehsil. The village has an anganwadi centre and an ASHA health worker.

On health, the older summary of this page was wrong. The 2011 Village Directory in fact recorded a primary health sub-centre inside Nihal Singhwala, 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 hospital or a dispensary. Treated tap water was available, and total sanitation campaign coverage and a community toilet complex were also recorded. The village had its own post office, a PDS ration shop, mobile phone coverage and an internet common service centre, though the nearest sub post office was five to ten kilometres away. Banking was available in the village itself, with a commercial bank branch, a cooperative bank branch and an ATM. Domestic electricity supply was recorded at 18 hours a day, and power for all users together at 20 hours.

Getting there

Nihal Singhwala has something few census villages can claim: its own railway station, recorded inside the village in the 2011 directory. The directory also recorded both public and private bus services in the village, and the village is reached by pucca roads. Moga city, the district headquarters, is the onward hub for administration and long distance travel. Neighbouring villages include Dhulkot Ransin, Mahdeoke, Ransin Kalan and Saidoke.

Politics and public life

Its politics have long reached state level. Darshan Singh Khota represented the settlement in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, Maheshinder Singh served as an MLA and as a cabinet minister in Parkash Singh Badal's government, and Rajwinder Kaur Bhagike has represented the constituency. Tota Singh, a senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab cabinet minister, comes from the nearby village of Didar Singh Wala.

Who founded Nihal Singh Wala?

The settlement was founded by two Dhaliwal brothers, Nihal Singh and Gulab Singh, and takes its name from Nihal Singh. One settlement carries the name to this day.

What is the population of Nihal Singhwala?

The population of Nihal Singhwala village was 10,852 at the 2011 census, living in 2,045 households in Nihal Singh Wala tehsil of Moga district, Punjab.

Does Nihal Singhwala have a railway station?

Yes. The Census 2011 Village Directory recorded a railway station inside the village itself, along with public and private bus services, a rarity for a village of its size.