Varsity to have AI centre in Patar’s name, says CM

CM Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday announced to set up a state-of-the-art Surjit Patar Centre for Ethical Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Guru Nanak Dev University.

Addressing a function to pay homage to the eminent writer, the CM said the centre would be equipped with ultra-modern technology. He assured support and cooperation to the university and asked Vice-Chancellor Karamjit Singh to prepare list of budgetary and infrastructure requirements for the centre. “I feel we need to archive works of eminent Punjabi literary gems, including those of Surjit Patar, for future generations,” said Mann.

He also announced to institute an award in the memory of Patar, which would be given to the budding writers of Punjabi language.

Guru Nanak Dev University, in collaboration with the Punjab Arts Council, Chandigarh, and the Department of Languages, Patiala, had invited poets, writers and intellectuals to attend the Surjit Patar Memorial Ceremony-2025.

The CM honoured Surjit Patar’s wife Bhupinder Kaur and son Manraj Patar, a folk artiste of repute. “When I started working as professional artiste around 1993, I used to meet Surjit Patar during my stay in Ludhiana. I was a student and later met him at several literary festivals. He used to appreciate me, encourage me. I still quote his poems during my speeches. Once I courageously recited one of my poems, titled ‘Pagg’, to him and was fortunate enough that he paid a compliment. Now, I may wish to compile the poems I wrote and publish a book,” Mann reminisced.