Apra, Punjab

For other uses, see APRA.

Apra ਅੱਪਰਾ
Census Town City
Apra Location in Punjab, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Punjab
District	Jalandhar
Tehsil	Phillaur
Elevation	246 m (807 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	6,258
	Sex ratio 3219/3039 ♂/♀
Languages
• Official	Punjabi
• Other spoken	Hindi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	144416
Telephone code	01826
ISO 3166 code	IN-PB
Vehicle registration	PB 37

Apra (Punjabi: ਅੱਪਰਾ, Hindi: अपरा) (also known as The Golden City Apra) is a census town in Phillaur Tehsil in Jalandhar District of Punjab State, India. The town is known for gold jewelry and paddy crops which are produced in large amounts. It is located 46 km towards East from Jalandhar, 12 km from Phillaur and 110 km from Chandigarh. Apra is the largest town as compared to other surrounding villages and has the main marketplace.

The nearest train station is situated 15.4 km away in Goraya, nearest domestic airport is at Ludhiana and the nearest international airport is 142.5 km away in Amritsar.

Geography

The town is located 12 km far from Phillaur on the main road which connects Phillaur to Banga. Apra has its own government school and hospitals as well as other private schools and hospitals. It also has its own police station which is the main police station for all surrounding villages. The town is famous for gold jewelry and imported goods because it is the center of NRI belt.

Landmarks

File:Azad Gate.jpg

A Picture of Azad Gate Apra

File:Azad Gate Note.jpg

The note about Azad Gate

Azad Gate is an important historical building which was built in 1950. Ram Mandir, Shiv Mandir, and Bhai Mehar-Chand Ji Temple are Hindu temples. Sachidanand Ji Ashram, Peer Baba Ji, and Gurudwara Shri Kalgidhar Sahib are religious sites.

Apra has nine banks as Kotak Mahindra Bank, the Oriental Bank of Commerce, the State Bank of India and more also it has one co-operative bank as Jalandhar central co-operative bank.

Famous people

• K D Verma of Apra town in Jalandhar was the father of US ambassador Richard Verma. He had migrated to Canada around 1965, where he became a professor of English, specializing in Indian Literature, at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Pennsylvania for 40 years.
• Bhagat Singh Soor, born around 1905 in Chahal Kalan, Punjab, was a carpenter who died 1987 in Apra, Punjab.

Festival and fairs

There are a number of festivals and fairs people celebrate in Apra which has taken a semi-secular meaning and are regarded as cultural festivals by people of all religions.

The following is a list of festivals and fairs celebrated annually:

• Dussehra
• Sharad Mela Bhai Mehar Chand Ji
• Shri Guru Nanak Gurpurab
• Shri Guru Ram Das Jayanti (Gurmat Samagam)
• Bhagwati Jagran
• Shri Guru Ravidass Jayanti

Demography

Religion in Apra, Punjab (2011)

  Hinduism (76.77%)

  Sikhism (18.68%)

  Islam (3.93%)

  Christianity (0.34%)

  Other or not religious (0.22%)

Apra is a census town in Jalandhar district, Punjab. As of 2011, Apra had a population of 6,258 of which 3,219 (51.4%) are males and 3,039 (48.6%) are females according to the report published by Census India in 2011. Literacy rate of Apra is 82.86%, higher than state average of 75.84%. The population of children under the age of 6 years is 664 which is 10.61% of total population of Apra, and female sex ratio is 944 compared to the state average of 895. Child sex ratio is approximately 824 as compared to Punjab state average of 846.

The majority of the residents in the town follow Hinduism which is 76.77% (4804) against the total population of Apra and the second largest majority is Sikhism which is 18.68% (1,044).

Caste

Most of the people are from Schedule Caste (SC) which constitutes 42.28% of total population in Apra. The town does not have any Schedule Tribe (ST) population so far.

Work profile

2,083 people were engaged in work or business activity out of the total population of Apra which includes 1,801 males and 282 females. According to census survey report 2011, workers defined as person who does job, service, business and cultivator and labour activity. Of the 2,083 in the working population, 93.76% workers were occupied in main work while 6.24% of total workers were occupied in marginal work.

Education

School

File:Government High School Apra Entrance.jpg

The main entrance of Govt. High School Apra.

File:Government High School Apra.jpg

A notice board at the entrance of the school about Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act written in Punjabi.

The town has one Government school (Govt. High School Apra) which provide free education to children between the ages of 6 and 14 as per Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act.

It also has some other private schools including two oldest schools listed below.

• MG Arya Kanya Pathshala Senior Secondary School (Only for Girls)
• DAV Senior Secondary School (Only for Boys)

College

• DRV DAV Centenary College, Phillaur (12.5 km)
• Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial College, Mukandpur (8.7 km)
• Sikh National College, Banga (18.2 km)

University

• Lovely Professional University, Phagwara (32.7 km)
• Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (30.6 km)
• Punjab University, Chandigarh (115 km)

Notes

• ^{The town is known as The Golden City Apra because of its highest sale on gold jewelry in the District.}
• ^{This is the official Facebook page that handled by the members of Gram Panchayat Apra.}

External links

Apra, Punjab on Facebook