*About District Mansa*

Mansa district was formed on 13th April 1992 from the erst while district of Bathinda. Mansa is a small district both in terms of population and area. It is situated on the rail line between Bathinda-Jind-Delhi section and also situated on Barnala-Sardulgarh-Sirsa Road.

The town is said to have been founded by Bhai Gurdas who hailed from Dhingar, Distt. Mansa. He is said to have been married at this place among the Dhaliwal Jat Sikh. Once he came to his in-laws to take his wife alongwith him but they refused to send her. At this, Bhai Gurdas sat in meditation before the house of his in-laws. After some time, the parents of the girl agreed to send their daughter with Bhai Gurdas. But he refused to take her alongwith him, stating that he had now renounced the worldly way of life. In his memory, his Smadh was constructed where a fair is held every year in March-April. People in large numbers attend the fair and offer Laddus and Gur at Smadh. Class ‘A’municipality has been functioning in the town since 1952.

Mansa is situated in the cotton belt of Punjab and therefore fondly called the "Area of white gold". Indeed agriculture forms the backbone of the district economy. During the months of November and December a visitor to this part of Punjab shall be the proud witness to the pristine, milky white bloom of cotton, as nature blossoms in her full glory. The view is indeed breath taking. While traversing the countryside, one gets a feeling of sailing through clouds. The population is Punjabi-speaking and is wedded to the culture of the Malwa belt of Punjab. Industrially, the district is very deficient, yet some trade and industry is being carried out in Urban areas

The district is spread over 2,174 sq.kms, having a total population of 6,88,630 as per 2001 census amounting to 2.9% of the total population of Punjab. In Mansa District, River Ghaggar flows through distance of 15 Kms and Sirhind Drain passes through the entire district and has its out-fall in river Ghaghar.

The town has two Colleges, viz. Govt. Nehru Memorial Post Graduate College and S.D. Kanya Mahavidyala College, 3 Senior Secondary School, 90 High School, 1 Middle School and 1 Primary School and one Distt. Library and has one civil hospital, 3 dispencaries and 1 Ayurvedic and 1 Homeopathic dispensary. There are two police stations i.e. PS City and PS Sadar and also a railway station.

**Climate of District Mansa**

The climate of the district is more or less typical of punjab plains. It is extremely hot and dry in summer. Summer begins in March & temp goes up to 45 C in June. Hot winds & dust strorms are prevalent during summer season. Monsoon sets in the 1st week of July and continues till mid September. It is extremely cold in winter.

***Soil and Rainfall***

The soil characterstic of Mansa district is sandy. The land is predominately plain except few land dunes. Ghaggar river is passing through the Sardulgarh block of the district.

****Brief Profile of Major Cities/Towns****

Budhlada

Budha and Ladha were two real brothers who were khatri by caste. The village has got its name from the name of these two brothers. Some of the population of the village was of Majhbi and Ramdasia. It was a part of Kaithal State. The king of the Kaithal State did not help the British during the insurgency of 1857. So the British annexed the kingdom. Later on, it was merged with Karnal District. It was the largest market of East Punjab. It was a very big recruitment centre of military personnels which was second to only to Rohtak in India. Prestigious Ashoka Chakra award was conferred on Hawaldar Joginder Singh Datewas who was recruited from Budhlada.

Budhlada city is 70km away from Bathinda and is situated on Bathinda-Delhi rail line. The border of Haryana state is 25km away from the city. As per 1991 census, the total population of the city is 18,123. The sub division came into being in 13-4-1992. The following are the offices operating in the city.

It has a block office under which are 87 panchayats, which monitors development work of villages.

There is a market committee which helps the farmers to sell their produce. It also has a Anaj Mandi, Jeeri Yard and a rest house for farmers which is equipped with modern facilities.
It has a primary health centre which is equipped with modern facilities.

The cleanliness of the city, sewage, supply of water works and lighting is maintained by municipal committee.

The city has an Industrial Training Institute, a JBT school, Guru Nanak College, Indira Gandhi College for Women, Govt. Senior Secondary School, DAV Model School and DAV Public School.

Besides the above offices, the city has veternity hospital, sales tax office, post office, telephone exchange, railway station, office of the irrigation department. It has five petrol pumps and a cooking gas agency. There are 16 rice mills and 8 cotton factories in the city. It has a PRTC depot and bus service is available to almost every city of Punjab.

Sardulgarh

The ancient name of Sardulgarh town was Rori Dhudal. It was a part of Patiala princely state before independence. The son of Maharaja Patiala, Mr. Sardul Singh came here for a hunting. There is a fort of Maharaja Patiala in a neglected state in which the office of the police station of Sardulgarh has been serving. The name of Sardulgarh town was named after Sardar Sardul Singh from Rori Dhudal. Initially Sardulgarh was a Sub tehsil. It was graded as a Sub Division in 1993 when tehsil headquarters were shifted from Jhunir to Sardulgarh. Earlier, there was a Gram Panchayat. It was upgraded to Nagar Panchayat on12-12-1996.