11 years on, CM finally opens DAC

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, August 16

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh inaugurated the Rs 55-crore District Administrative Complex (DAC) here yesterday, 11 years after he laid its foundation stone. It was in 2006, when Amarinder laid the stone near the Ravi Dass chowk, he had ordered the completion of the complex within 16 months. However, the project got mired in politicking and red tape.

A year after Amarinder laid the stone, the SAD-BJP alliance came to power. An Akali MLA demanded the site be shifted to the Batala road, 4 km away from the city. A tug-of-war ensued between the MLA and real estate owner Manjit Singh Dala, who wanted the complex to be constructed at the original site.

The then Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal finally laid the foundation stone of the DAC on November 3, 2012, near the new judicial complex.

Once again the MLA managed to keep the proposed DAC in limbo till 2016. As the SAD’s term was nearing its end, the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal ordered the construction work to begin where Sukhbir had laid the stone. The complex is still not entirely complete as the police block is yet to be constructed.