Qila Didar Singh

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Qila Didar Singh is a town of Gujranwala District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at 32°8' N 74°1' E^[1], west of Gujranwala city - the district capital. Its population was estimated to be 54,849 in 2005.^[2] Qila Didar Singh lies on the Gujranwala-Hafizabad Road, 17 km west of Gujranwala. The town's rice market is one of the largest in the Punjab.

Affiliated with the University of the Punjab, there are two colleges in town, one each for boys and girls, which offer BA and BSc degrees. The two government run high schools are famous for the quality of education. Qila Didar Singh is centre of education and shopping for nearby villages.

In 1947, the year of Pakistan's independence from the British Indian Empire, Qila Didar Singh was a very small town with mainly Sikh and Hindu population. Most of the Sikhs and Hindus living in the town moved to the Indian part of the Punjab and many Muslim immigrants moved to the area from the East Punjab, Haryana.^{[citation needed]}

Due to fertile soil of the surrounding area, the economic backbone of Qila Didar Singh is agriculture; the main cash crops being rice in the summer and wheat in winter.

[edit] Source of income

Most people from Qila Didar Singh are labourers, government employees, and factory workers. There has been considerable migration from the area to other countries. Residents of Qila Didar Singh are not farmers but people living in villages around Qila Didar Singh earn their living from rice and wheat fields. A couple of hundred people from Qila Didar Singh commute to Gujranwala daily for labour or to do technical jobs in various small industries in the city. Leaving their families at home, many others work in different parts of Pakistan for their living.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Nearby villages

Noor Pur,Jeuena Sharif, Chehal, Ugoo Chak, Herdo Deuory, Hager, Jodeh Pur, Kot Shah Muhammad, Botla Junda Singh, Papnakha, Nokhar, Sago Pago, Panj Graïn, Chugian, Khewa, Mosa,chak jaid, Herdoopur,Man, Qazi Kot, and Nawan Pind are villages surrounding Qila Didar Singh.