Barnala district

History

During the British era, the area that is now Barnala district was mostly part of Patiala State, with some areas belonging to Nabha State and some areas part of Ludhiana district. It functioned as a Nizamat (district) within Patiala state, comprising three tehsils: Mansa, Bathinda, and Barnala. This district was also historically referred to as Anahatgarth district.

After Patiala & other State accepted the dominion of India, and the princely states were reorganized, Barnala became part of the newly formed Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) and was designated as a district within it. During this process, the district itself was also reorganized.

In 1953, the Barnala district was abolished. At that time, the district consisted of four tehsils: Phul, Dhuri, Malerkotla, and Barnala. A portion of Phul tehsil along with the remaining three tehsils—Dhuri, Malerkotla, and Barnala—were transferred to Sangrur district, & rest part of Phul tehsil was merged into Bathinda district.

Barnala regained its status as a separate district much later, on 19 November 2006, carved out from Sangrur district. The new Barnala district comprises two sub-divisions—Barnala and Tapa—with three sub-tehsils: Tapa, Bhadaur, and Dhanaula, and three development blocks: Barnala, Sehna, and Mehal Kalan.

District administration

• The Deputy Commissioner (DC), an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service, is the overall in-charge of the general administration in the district. Currently Poonamdeep Kaur, IAS is Deputy Commissioner of Barnala District. He is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Punjab Civil Service and other state services.
• The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues of the district. Currently, Mr.Sandeep Malik, IPS is the Senior Superintendent of Police. He is expected to maintain very cordial relations with all the NGO's and social associations of the city. He is assisted by the officers of the Punjab Police Service and other Punjab Police officials.
• Indian Red Cross Society (IRC). Red Cross is globally accredited for its presence in providing quality health care services and always extends a helping hand to the needy. Indian Red Cross Society (IRC), Barnala District branch is having Mr. Sarwan Singh as its secretary. Patrons, Life Members, and volunteers of the society recently attended a "Seminar on Fund Raising and Capacity Building" at Ferozepur (the border town of Punjab)on 26 April 2011. Dr. Raj Kumar Jindal led the delegation.
• The District Public Relations Officer (DPRO). He is responsible for public relations of the state government as well as the district administrations. He issues and authorizes press notes to the print and electronic media of the district. Maintains records of all press and electronic channel reporters. Currently, Smt. Megha Mann is the DPRO of the Barnala District.
• The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service is responsible for managing the forests, environment, and wildlife-related issues of the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Punjab Forest Service and other Punjab Forest officials and Punjab Wild-Life officials. Sectoral development is looked after by the district head of each development department such as PWD, Agriculture, Health, Education, and Animal husbandry. These officers belong to various State Services.
• The District Informatics Officer (DIO), head of National Informatics Center. This department works regarding the E-Governance and other Technology-based Services that provide an automated environment to do the various tasks in District Office. Currently, Mr.Mohammad kasif is DIO.

Demographics

|access-date=2011-09-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019160532/http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-pop-text.php |archive-date=19 October 2013

At the time of the 2011 census, 95.14% of the population spoke Punjabi and 4.30% Hindi as their first language.

The table below shows the population of different religions in absolute numbers in the urban and rural areas of Barnala district.

The table below shows the population of different religious groups in Barnala district, as of 2011 census.

Economy

The income of Municipalities and Municipal corporations in Barnala district from municipal rates and taxes in the year 2018 was 236,253 thousand rupees.

Health

The table below shows the data from the district nutrition profile of children below the age of 5 years, in Barnala, as of year 2020.

The table below shows the district nutrition profile of Barnay of women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, as of year 2019-21.

The table below shows the current use of family planning methods by currently married women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, in Barnala district.

The table below shows the number of road accidents and people affected in Barnala district by year.

Politics

Notable people

• Ram Sarup Ankhi - Punjabi writer, novelist and poet
• Surjit Singh Barnala - politician who served as the chief minister of Punjab state
• Balwant Gargi - Punjabi language dramatist, theatre director, novelist, and short story writer
• Devendra Satyarthi - Indian folklorist and writer of Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu literature.
• Karam Singh - soldier who was the first living recipient of the Param Vir Chakra
• Sant Ram Udasi - Punjabi poet

References

References

1. "District at a Glance".
2. "District Census Hand Book – Barnala". [[Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India]].
3. [https://barnala.gov.in/tourism/#:~:text=It%20is%20said%20that%20Barnala,history%20of%20Ala%20Singh%20Ji. History of barnala nic.in]
4. ''Punjab Phulkian States Gazetteers, Volume XVII-A, 1904'', p. 139. [[iarchive:dli.ministry.08612. Available at Archive.org]]
5. Census Report 1941 Patiala State, BY Lt. Col. Sukhdev Singh, Superintendent, Census Operations, page 10, [https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/31317 Census of India Digital Library]
6. Page no. iii - [https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/31763/download Punjab, India Census book part I-A report 1951]
7. Page no.- 68, [https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/30692 Census of india, Vol. XIII Punjab 1961 census.gov.in]
8. [https://barnala.gov.in/about-district/history/ History of Barnala gov.in]
9. "Table C-01 Population by Religious Community: Punjab". [[Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India]].
10. [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/A2_Data_Table.html Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901]
11. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Punjab". [[Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India]].
12. (21 January 2022). "Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India".
13. https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/11389, India - C-01: Population by religious community, Punjab - 2011, District - Barnala
14. (July 8, 2020). "District-wise Income of Municipalities/Corporations in Punjab from Municipal Rates and Taxes in Punjab from 1968 to 2018 (As on March)".
15. "National Family Health Survey - 5, 2019-21, District Fact Sheet, Barnala, Punjab", https://rchiips.org/nfhs/nfhs-5_fcts/PB/Barnala.pdf
16. "Road Accidents in Punjab".