State notifies rules, decks cleared for HSGMC oath-taking

Over three months after the elections to the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC), decks have been cleared for the formal installation of the newly elected body, with the Haryana Government notifying rules for the co-option of the nine members.

With the notification of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (Co-Option of Members) Rules, 2025, the new body, which has 40 elected members, would be able to take oath with a view to managing 52 historical Sikh shrines, besides seven educational-cum-health institution, in a transparent and autonomous manner.

A transparent mechanism has been worked out under the rules, which would be divided into different groups for proposing the name of the members to be co-opted. The Act mandates the co-option of two Sikh women, three persons from the Scheduled Castes/Backward Classes, two Sikh intellectuals, and two presidents from registered Singh Sabhas.

The HSGMC was created by the former Congress government in Haryana in 2014 for independently managing 52 gurdwaras and their properties within the state. It was formed under the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Act, 2014. The Assembly passed the HSGMC Bill on July 11, 2014, and it became an Act in 2014.

The first elections to the HSGMC was held on January 19, 2025, which resulted in a fractured mandate with no group winning the majority. The newly elected members include 22 Independents, nine from the Panthak Dal (Jhinda), six from the SAD-affiliated Haryana Sikh Panthak Dal and three from the Sikh Samaj Sanstha led by Didar Singh Nalvi. Subsequently, 19 Independent members formed a group named the Akal Panthak Morcha, which secured the support of six members from the Sikh Panthak Dal, bringing its total strength to 25 out of 40. In the absence of necessary rules, the oath-taking ceremony was delayed.