SGPC passes over Rs 988 crore budget for next fiscal

Amritsar, March 30

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on Wednesday passed an annual budget of over Rs 988 crore for the next fiscal.

The budget meeting was attended by 101 members of the Sikh body besides Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, Kesgarh Sahib Takht Jathedar Raghbir Singh and SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami.

The budget of Rs 988.15 crore was presented by SGPC general secretary Karnail Singh Panjoli, who elaborated on the budget details during his speech.

Dhami told the media that estimated expenditure for the next fiscal is Rs 29.70 crore more than the revenue.

“This difference is due to non-receipt of funds provided by the Punjab government for the aided staff deputed in the SGPC’s educational institutions and scholarship amount for SC students. The government should immediately clear the payment,” he said.

The SGPC passed several resolutions on the occasion.

It demanded from the Centre to start direct flights to countries like the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand from Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport in Amritsar.

This resolution said about 50 lakh Sikhs reside in different countries and they face inconvenience in the absence of direct flights from Punjab.

“An appeal has been made to the Government of India to adopt a serious approach on this issue,” an SGPC statement said.

In another resolution, it urged the Punjab government to widen and beautify the passages leading to the Golden Temple.

It said earlier a similar resolution was passed and sent to the Punjab government but it government did not act on it.

Another resolution demanded that the Union government scrap the condition of having a passport to go to Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib at Narowal in Pakistan through the Kartarpur Sahib corridor.

The SGPC also condemned the Union government’s decision to apply central service rules to employees of the UT of Chandigarh.

The body termed it a “discriminatory” decision against Punjab.