Majitha

Majitha
—  city  —
Majitha Location of Majitha in Punjab and India
Coordinates	31°46′N 74°57′E / 31.76°N 74.95°E / 31.76; 74.95Coordinates: 31°46′N 74°57′E / 31.76°N 74.95°E / 31.76; 74.95
Country	India
State	Punjab
District(s)	Amritsar
Population	13,006 (2001[update])
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area • Elevation	• 215 metres (705 ft)

Majitha is a town and a municipal council in Amritsar district in the Indian state of Punjab. Majitha holds a distinguished place in the history of Punjab as the well-known Majithia Sirdars (chiefs) came from this region. These were several generals in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army of the Sikh Empire in the first half of the 19th century. No less than ten generals from Majitha can be counted in the Maharaja's army during the period of 1800-1849. Chief amongst the Majithia generals during the Sikh Empire were General Lehna Singh, General (aka Raja) Surat Singh, and General Amar Singh. Sons of General Lehna Singh (Sirdar Dyal Singh) and of General Surat Singh (Sirdar Sundar Singh Majithia) had great impact on the affairs of Punjab during the British rule through the latter 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

Hari Singh Nalwa was the most celebrated general of the Sikh Kingdom. His family was known to have migrated to Gujranwala (now Pakistan) from Majitha sometime in the 18th century.Among the present lauretes Prof Ranjit Pal Singh Gill (Majithia) is a well educated figure. He has served the prestigious Khalsa College Amritsar in Botany and Biotechnology Department and also contributed to educate the masses of his home town.

Majitha Municipality

^[1] The municipal Committee, Majitha, was constituted in 1924, as a second-class municipality. Even though Majitha had a previous municipal history, the bye-laws were introduced in 1957. The Committee has 11 elected members, out of which one is elected President and another Vice-President.The municipality has employed 12 scavengers for the cleanliness of the town. For removing the refuse and night-soil, a bullock-cart and five wheel-barrows are maintained. Majitha was electrified was electrified in 1957-58. For street-lighting, 136 lighting-points have been installed. Most of the streets of the town still have central surface drains. The new streets and the bazaars have side surface drainage. The sullage water is not properly utilised and is released into low-lying lands outside the town. The Municipal Committee has also introduced underground drainage in the bazaars of the town, but it has not yet started functioning.The Municipal Committee runs a library. It also maintains one kilometre of metalled roads.

Majithia Sirdars

The Majithia clans threw in with the rising star of the Sikh misls - Ranjit Singh - during the latter 18th century. As Ranjit Singh established the Sikh Empire around the turn of the 19th century, the Majithia sirdars gained prominence and became very influential in the Maharaja's army. Ten different Majithia generals can be counted amongst the Sikh army during the period of 1800-1849. According to the English historians, the Majithia family was one of the three most powerful families in Punjab under the Maharaja. Best known of the Majithia generals were General Lehna Singh, General Surat Singh and General Amar Singh - each representing one of the three main branches of the family.

The son of General Lehna Singh, Sirdar Dyal Singh, was perhaps the most significant Punjabi of the late 19th century in the British Punjab. He was the main force behind the founding of Punjab University; was the founder and the owner of The Tribune newspaper - the most respected English-language newspaper in north-western India to this day; and the founder and owner of the Punjab Bank - also the most powerful bank in north-western India until nationalized by Indira Gandhi in the early 1970s. He was also one of the charter members of the Indian National Congress party - which later became the main Indian nationalist political party and the party of Nehru and Gandhi.

The son of General Surat Singh, Sirdar Sundar Singh Majithia, also had tremendous impact on the early 20th century Punjab. He was a main force in the Sikh revivalist movement and was one of the founders of the "Chief Khalsa Diwan Society". Amongst his accomplishments can be counted the establishment of the Khalsa College, Amritsar and the founding of the Punjab and Sind Bank. He was knighted by the British - thus often referred to as Sir Sundar Singh Majithia.

Sirdar Sundar Singh's brother, Sirdar Umrao Singh, was the father of Amrita Sher-Gil - considered by many to be first great female artist of the Indian subcontinent.

The Majithia family, although referred to by the name of their village Majitha - which is common in Punjab, in actuality belong to the "Shergill" clan of the Jat Sikhs - itself a subset of the "Gill" clan.

In recent times, the most famous member of the Majithia family was Sardar Parkash Singh Majitha. Who was one of the most prominent of the Akali leaders of the 70s, 80s and 90s, and was popularly known as 'Majhe da jarnail'. He remained cabinet minister in many Akali governments holding important portfolios like Irrigation, Transport, Revenue and Rehabilitation. He was elected MLA five times from Ajnala and Majitha constituencies. He also played the steller role during the Anti-Emergency Morcha and the Dharam Yudh Morcha. In the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, he served as the acting President of Akali Dal. Being the senior most Akali leader in the 1990s, he was unanimously appointed the Patron of Shiromani Akali Dal, an honour he retained till he breathed his last.

Other prominent Majithias include: Sardar Parkash Singh Majitha's nephew Sardar Rajmohinder Singh Majitha (MP and MLA) and Sardar Bikram Singh Majithia (Minister and MLA) who's the brother-in-law of Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Geography

Majitha(ਮਜੀਠਾ) is located at 31°46′N 74°57′E / 31.76°N 74.95°E / 31.76; 74.95.^[2] It has an average elevation of 215 metres (705 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census,^[3] Majitha had a population of 13,006. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Majitha has an average literacy rate of 59%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 63%, and female literacy is 54%. In Majitha, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age. Jatt Gill Sikhs dominate Majitha.

Today Position of Majitha

Current MLA : Bikramjit Singh Majithia.^[4] He was a first-time MLA and the youngest Cabinet minister in the Punjab government. An alumunus of the Lawrence School, Sanawar, and St. Stephen's College, Majithia was handling the corporate side of his family-owned Rs. 1000-crore Saraya Group of industries and had a passion for flying, car rallying and basketball. That was before he plunged into Punjab politics.

Famous School/ College/ Institutes

• Govt Sen Sec. School(Boys & Girls)
• C.M.S. High School
• Secret Heart Convent School
• Desa Singh Majithia Public School
• Computer Points- ISO Certified Computer Institute

Banks

• State Bank of India with ATM facility
• Punjab National Bank with ATM facility
• Co-operative Bank
• Oriental Bank of Commer

Hospitals

• Primary Health Centre
• Bajwa Hospital a multispeciality health centre

Distance

• Majītha (0 km)^[5]
• • Rayya mandi (40 km)
• • Sohiān Kalān (4.8 km)
• • Shām Nagar (9.9 km)
• • Kāthu Nangal (11.4 km)
• • Verka (13.5 km)
• • Fatehgarh Chūriān (13 km)
• • Rāja Sānsi (20.1 km)
• • Kāla Afghānān (20.5 km)
• • Alīwāl (20.9 km)
• • Amritsar (18 km)
• • Chamiāri (21.6 km)
• • Chogawān (22.3 km)
• • Ajnāla (27 km)
• • Jandiāla Guru (29.8 km)
• • Rām Dās (30.6 km)
• • Batāla (31.8 km)
• • Chugānwān (36.8 km)
• • Mahta (38.8 km)
• • Derā Nānak (40.4 km)
• • Kotla Gūjrān (8.8 km)
• • Jaintipur (18 km)
• • Mānānwāla (20.5 km)
• • Bhagtānwāla (25.3 km)
• • Jandiāla (25.7 km)
• • Chheharta (26.3 km)
• • Tangra (33.6 km)
• • Gohlwar Varpāl (33.7 km)
• • Khāsa (35.8 km)

Airports close to Majītha^[6]

• °Amritsar(ATQ), Amritsar, India (20.5 km)
• °Allama iqbal international(LHE), Lahore, Pakistan (76.2 km)
• °Pathankot(IXP), Pathankot, India (107.9 km)
• °Jammu(IXJ), Jammu, India (134.6 km)
• °Ludhiana(LUH), Ludhiaha, India (180.4 km)

References

1. ^ http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/gaz_asr32.htm
2. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Majitha
3. ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. Retrieved 2008-11-01. 
4. ^ http://www.bikrammajithia.com/
5. ^ http://majitha.netfirms.com
6. ^ http://majitha.netfirms.com