Lease land at Re 1 to Brahmin community: CM

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, January 20

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today directed all Deputy Commissioners to allot land on Re 1 lease to the Brahmin community to get Parshuram bhawans constructed at the district level. He also directed officials to establish libraries so that research scholars could be benefitted. Such libraries already exist in Sanskrit colleges and academies.

The Chief Minister was here to attend the meeting of the Brahmin Kalyan Board. He said Sanskrit was an ancient and rich language and was a high scoring subject. He assured members of considering their demand for introducing Sanskrit at the senior secondary level in government schools.

Admiring the efforts and role of the Brahmin community in dissemination of education, religion and related practices, Virbhadra said the community had played a significant role in educating society at large. Even today, it was leading society in every walk of life. The state government had constituted different boards to ensure the welfare of every community. It was dedicated to taking appropriate action on the suggestions presented by members of these welfare boards during meetings, he said.

The Chief Minister also released a book on former minister late Pandit Sant Ram from Baijnath. The book is titled Sadharan mein Asadharanâ.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dhani Ram Shandil, who is also the vice-chairman of the board, said the state government was committed to the welfare of each community of society. He advised non-official members to make the house aware of their problems so that those could be redressed. He thanked the Chief Minister for his determined drive to uplift every community of the state.

Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma proposed the vote of thanks. He said all members should come prepared to present their demands along with suggestions so that effective decisions could be taken. He urged them to send their demands well in advance so that those could be taken up for discussion in the meeting. Additional Secretary, GAD, Dr Ashwani Sharma conducted the meeting.

Issues discussed included reservation for economically backward Brahmins, grant of land and funds for the construction of Parshuram community centres at the district level, provision of benefits of different government schemes on economic grounds and issuance of identity card to every member of the Brahmin Welfare Board. They also talked about giving back ownership of temple land, ensuring participation of Brahmin committees in the management of temples, setting up of libraries in various temples, opening of more Sanskrit colleges and academies, provision of sufficient funds for upkeep of gausadans, loan facility at the rate of 4 per cent interest to the economically poor Brahmin families, construction of link roads, supply of potable water, higher education for poor meritorious Brahmin students, repair of ancient Narsingh Temple, constitution of the Shakti Welfare Board of different Shaktipeeths and takeover of Sanatan Dharm Sanskrit College, Chamba.

The Forest Minister, Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Chief Parliamentary Secretary ID Lakhanpal, MLA Sanjay Rattan, Chief Secretary VC Pharka, ACS Tarun Shridhar and former MLAs Babu Ram Gautam and Tilak Raj were present at the meeting.