Surunga is a village development committee in Jhapa District in the Mechi Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 16,747 people living in 2996 individual households. Surunga is one of the rapidly developing towns of Jhapa district. It is situated on the bank of the Kankai River (also known as Kankai mai by the locals).It is bordered by Ilam district on the north mostly while it also shares a border with Khudnabari VDC, Kankai river flows on its west (on the western bank of which lie Satashi Dham and Shivganj), on the east lie Ghailadubba and Arjundhara VDCs and on the south it is surrounded by Sharnamati and Dangibari VDCs. Being one of the few villages in Jhapa through which East-west Highway runs, also makes the village one of the most important towns in the region. It has significant religious importance due to its being on the bank of Kankai river where the famous Koti Hom Religious Area is situated.
Economy
Education
In education, Surunga is lauded[by whom?] due to its government-run Kankai Madhyamik Vidyalaya which caters for around 3,000 students every year not only from Surunga but also from surrounded villages and boarding schools, which are plenty in Surunga. The boarding schools are Shree Pashupati English Boarding School,Shree Harikul namuna higher secondary School,Paragon Academy, Champa Flowers Academy, Jhapa Marigold English School and Dibyaratna English School.
There are other primary boarding schools in Surunga. For higher education, Kankai Multiple Campus is running courses for certificate, bachelors and masters levels. Harikul Boarding School also runs higher secondary education also known as 10+2.
Kankai Secondary School is the pioneer school in Surunga.
Surunga's main economy rests on agriculture. However, now remittance, local businesses and tourism also contribute significant amount to the economy of Surunga village. In recent times, real estate business is also a vital means of economic activities. The cost of land is increasing each day making about 5 million for one Kattha in main points of Surunga. It contains a group of A graded banks certified by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) which includes NRB, BiratLaxmi Bank, Excel Bank etc. And simultaneously a group of 'saving and credit' companies are also working handsomely. Leading among them is Bhagwati Saving and Credit Pvt Limited which has more than 200 share members.[citation needed]
Koti Hom (a hom ritual in Hindu religion) was conducted by Late Yogi Naraharinath, a Hindu yogi and philosopher, in 1985. Now Koti Hom is going to be developed as a tourist place. Movie shooting and photo-shooting can be done there paying a little charge in KotiHom Dharmik Sthal Bikash Samiti (a committee which manages the Koti Hom area).
Surunga- No bandas
Surunga is one of the best place for business opportunities because of its anti strike stance. It is one of the most important educational and business centers in the region. No political parties, ethnic groups or professional organization has been able to shut down Surunga bazaar over the last few years. Defying all manner of bandas, Surunga has earned a reputation as the country´s only anti-banda town. The locals say Surunga bazaar has not been closed down even for a single day in the last six years. According to District Traffic Police Office Jhapa, the district has seen shutdowns for 31 days in the last two years. But, no banda has had any impact in Surunga. In the past, the locals of Surunga have even chased away political party cadres trying to shut down the bazaar by force(2).
