Sidhuwal
History
The last king of Sidhuwal state was Raja Bhai Fateh Jang Singh who was from the Bhaika family of Kaithal state. Sidhuwal and nearby villages were represented by the family of Chowdharys in the chambers of Maharaja of Patiala.
Demographics
Though the name of the village suggests that it may be predominantly of Sidhu gotra, but majority of the population of the village consists of farmers with Khroud gotra. The Punjabi language is spoken by all in the village. As per 2011 census, the village has a total population of 2290 with 478 households, of which 56% are males (1289) and 44% are females (1001), that means the sex ratio in the village is skewed as with 777 females per 1000 males. Though residents have now started sending their daughters to schools, still only 53.2% of females are educated as compared to 67.4% of males. The overall literacy rate of the village is 61.2%.
Religion
Though the village has a strong secular culture, the majority population follows Sikhism. Some population also follows Hinduism and Islam. Besides a common Gurudwara, there is a large number of religious places of various religions in the village and they are visited by all.
Education
Due to its proximity to Patiala city, it does not have many independent facilities like education. However, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL) has been established in the village by the Punjab Government, which will not only give a boost to infrastructure in the village but also to the education of the students from the village. In addition, there is a Govt Senior Secondary Co-educational School in the village. Colleges near Sidhuwal are:
- Govt Medical College, Patiala
- Surya School of Pharmacy (SSP), Rajpura (Patiala)
- Gian Sagar College of Physiotherapy, VPO Banur; Distt. Patiala
- Sri Sukhmani Institute of Nursing, Dera Bassi; Distt. Patiala
- Divya Shiksha Gurukul College of Education For Women, Vill - Gholu Majra; Derabassi—lalru Highway; Distt - Patiala
Occupation
Residents of the village are mostly farmers with very few other jobs including government jobs. The main source of irrigation is groundwater through pumps, canal water and rainfall. Earlier farmers used to grow wheat, sugarcane, cotton, pulses, peanuts, etc. Now, with availability of machinery and knowledge, farmers normally stick to wheat and rice cultivation. Other products grown earlier are minuscule. This has led to the large-scale use of groundwater. Now the level of groundwater has reduced to 50–70 meters.
References
- ^ Local Historic Sources
- ^ ORGI. "Census of India : List of Towns and Villages". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 11 November 2016.