User:Muhammad Akhtar Bodla

Television channels
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday said southern Punjab is rich in cultural heritage which needs to be promoted for next generations. In a message on the launch of Saraiki channel by Pakistan Television (PTV) in Multan, Prime Minister Gilani said the step would help promote the rich heritage of ‘Saraiki Belt’.

Radio
These are not dedicated Saraiki channels but play most programmes in Saraiki.

Saraiki Geographic distribution
Saraiki (Shahmukhi: سرائیکی) is the southern dialect of Western Punjabi of the Indo-Aryan language family. It is spoken by 17 million people (2007) across the South Punjab, southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and border regions of North Sindh and Eastern Balochistan, with some 20,000 migrants and their descendants in India[1][dead link] who migrated as a result of the independence of Pakistan, as well as overseas, especially in the Middle East. Saraiki is also spoken by some Hindus in Afghanistan, though the number there is unknown.[4]

The name "Saraiki" (or variant spellings) was formally adopted in the 1960s by regional social and political leaders who undertook to promote Saraiki dialects of the Punjabi language.

Pakistan
Today, millions of people from North Sindh, South Punjab, South Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Eastern Balochistan province speak Saraiki.

The first national census of Pakistan to gather data on the prevalence of Saraiki was the census of 1981. In that year, the percentage of respondents nationwide reporting Saraiki as their mother tongue was 9.83. In the census of 1998, it was 10.53 out of a national population of 132 million, for a figure of 13.9 million Saraiki speakers resident in Pakistan. Also according to the 1998 census, 12.8 million of those, or 92%, lived in the province of Punjab. Following is the distribution of Saraiki in the four provinces of Pakistan:

In Punjab Saraiki region is categorized as the combination of four sub-regions:
 * Roh: means mountains, referred to the Sulaiman Mountains in Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts.
 * Rohi: Cholistan Desert in Bahawalpur and Rahim yar khan districts
 * Thal: Thal Desert in Layyah, and Muzaffargarh districts
 * Daamaan: meaning the foothills, referred to the foothills of Sulaiman Mountains in Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. It may also referred to the plain areas around Multan and Lodhran.

In Sindh the native dialect of North ten districts is Saraiki. In Balochistan the native dialect of Daroug and Rakni, Barkhan, Sibi, Naseerabad, Jafferabad and Jhal magsi is Saraiki. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the native dialect in DI khan, Tank and Lakki Marwat is Saraiki.

India
According to the Indian census of 2001, Saraiki is spoken in urban areas throughout northwest and north central India by a total of about 70,000 people, mainly by the descendants of migrants from western Punjab after the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Some of these speakers are settled in Andhra Pradesh who went and settled there before the independence because of their pastoral and nomadic way of life, and these are Muslims. Out of these total speakers of the language, 56,096 persons report their dialect as Mūltānī and by 11,873 individuals report their dialect as Bahāwalpurī. One dialects of Saraiki that is spoken by Indian Saraikis is Derawali, spoken by Derawals in Derawal Nagar, Delhi who migrated to India during the independence. The dialects of Saraiki spoken in India are "Bahawalpuri (Bhawalpuri, Reasati, Riasati), Jafri, Jatki, Siraiki Hindki, Thali". Saraiki is spoken in Faridabad, Ballabhgarh, Palwal, Rewari, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Panipat districts of Haryana, some area of Delhi and Ganganagar district, Hanumangarh and Bikaner districts of Rajasthan.



Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, Kandhari, a dialect of Multani Saraiki is a mother tongue of the Hindki. Before the influx of Pathans into the region, the most common spoken dialect in Kandahar was Saraiki, namely the Kandhari or Jataki dialect.

Outside South Asia
Saraiki is spoken in Iran. Many Saraiki migrants are in Middle East, Europe and America with smaller communities in Australia, South East Asia and China. Saraiki is spoken in Saudi Arabia. In the United Kingdom Saraiki is spoken by migrants. In Canada, China, South Africa and the USA, Saraiki is spoken.

Layyah
Layyah (Punjabi ليّہ) also spelled Leiah is a small city and capital of one of the 36 districts of Punjab province of Pakistan[1] It lies between 30–45 to 31–24 deg north latitudes and 70–44 to 71–50 deg east longitudes. The area consists of a semi-rectangular block of sandy land between the Indus and Chenab rivers in Sindh Sagar Doaba. It is also a part of the recently established civil division of Dera Ghazi Khan. The total area covered by the district is 6,291 km2 with a width from east to west of 88 km and a length from north to south of 72 km.It has a population of 1,121,951 people, the population density is 178.2 people/km2.

History of Layyah
The town was founded around 1550 by Kamal khan, a Mirani Baloch and a descendant of Ghazi Khan Mirani who laid foundation of Dera Ghazi Khan. Around 1610, the town was taken from the Mirani Rulers by the Jaskani Balochs, who held it until 1787. Abdun Nabi Sarai was appointed Governor by Timur Shah Durrani, but three years later it was included in the Governorship of Muhammad Khan Sadozai, who transferred his seat of Government to Mankera.In 1794, Humayun Shah, the rival claimant to the throne of Kabul, was captured near Leiah and brought into the town, where his eyes were put out by order of Zaman Shah. Under the Sikh Government, the town once more became the centre of administration for the neighbouring tract, and after the British occupation in 1849, was for a time the headquarters of a Civil Administrative Division. This administrative status of Layyah was short-lived and the British reduced it to the level of Tehsil headquarters, making it a part of Dera Ismail Khan.In 1901, Layyah was transferred to the new District of Mianwali. Later on, it was made part of the Muzzaffargarh District. In 1982, Layyah Tehsil was upgraded to District headquarters comprising three Tehsils: Layyah, Karor Lal Eisan and Chaubara. The municipality was created in 1875. The population, according to the 1998 census was 2 Million. Per capita income during the ten years ending 1902-3 averaged Rs. 9,900, and expenditure Rs. 10,100. In 1903-4, the income was Rs. 10,600, chiefly derived from octroi, and the expenditure was Rs. 10,600.

Description
Layyah District (formerly spelled as Leiah) is bounded to the North by Bhakkar District, to the east by Jhang District. The Indus River flows to its Western side across which lies district Dera Ghazi Khan and to the south Muzaffargarh District.District Layyah has an area of 6291 square kilometres and comprises three tehsils: Layyah Chaubara Karor Sub Tehsils On January 7, 2007, Fateh Pur and Chowk Azam got the status of a new sub tehsils of Layyah

Education in Layyah
The education system in Layyah is formulated along specific modern, religious, cultural, social, psychological and scientific injunctions.The system is divided into five levels: primary (grades one through five); middle (grades six through eight); high (grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate); intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary School Certificate); and university programs leading to graduate and advanced degrees.The higher education in Layyah is the systematic process of students continuing their education beyond high schools, learned societies, and two-year colleges. Many universities campus now open in layyah which include
 * Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) opened a sub-campus in Layyah.
 * Sub-campus of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU).
 * Government college university Fasilabad, Layyah Campus
 * National College of Business Administration and Economics, (NCBA & E) Layyah Campus
 * Virtual University Campus, Layyah
 * Para-Veterinary School, Karor Lal-Eason (Layyah) UVAS, Lahore, Layyah Campus
 * The Educators ( A Project of Beacon house school system) Thal Campus,Layyah,