Nankana Sahib District (Punjabi: ضلع ننکاݨا صاحب; Urdu: ضِلع ننكانہ صاحِب) is a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Nankana Sahib is the seat of the district government, and Shahkot is the largest urban center. The district of Nankana Sahib is located about 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Lahore and about 53 kilometres (33 mi) east of Faisalabad. Until 2005, it was part of Sheikhupura District.[3]
Administration
The district is administratively subdivided into three tehsils.
At the time of the 2017 census, Nankana Sahib had a sex ratio of 963 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 63.71% - 70.63% for males and 56.56% for females. 245,124 (18.09%) lived in urban areas. 353,386 (26.08%) were under 10 years of age.[5]
In 2023, the district had 247,121 households and a population of 1,634,871.[6]Punjabi was the predominant language, spoken by 97.24% of the population.[7]
Education
District Nankana Sahib is ranked 26th on the education score index of the Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017 published by Alif Ailaan. The overall education score is composed of the learning score, retention score and gender parity score.
In the middle school infrastructure score index, which focuses on availability of basic facilities and the building condition of schools, Nankana Sahib ranks 51st. The facilities of electricity and drinking water in schools remain very good in the district with a 100% score. However, the building conditions are below average with a score of 45.07.
On the TaleemDo! App, the majority of residents in several areas within Nankana Sahib have complained about a shortage of schoolteachers, as well as a lack of access to available transport to schools located further away. This issue is reported by a majority of female students.
District development
The possibility of the development of a university, named after Guru Nanak, has been raised.[8]
The Punjab government decided to link Nankana Sahib District with the provincial capital, Lahore. With these plans the Punjab government is completing "Khanqah Dogran Interchange" (on the M-2) very swiftly, which is a helpful project to develop the newly created District of Nankana Sahib. This will also give access to the Grand Trunk Road, which leads to the Indian Punjab from the Wagah border. Nankana Sahib-Amritsar bus was inaugurated by Ex-Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh.[9]
