Punjab food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said here on Saturday the state government was committed to providing all facilities to people in the ancestral village of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha. He said all government schools in the village would be developed as ‘smart schools’, and concrete floor and platforms would be constructed at the grain market of the village.
He said this while addressing a gathering at the state-level function organised by the Punjab government on the martyrdom day of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha in the sports ground of Sarabha village, near here. He announced a grant of ₹5 lakh from his discretionary funds for the sports club of the village.
He said the state government has decided to develop and restore all places related to martyrs. He said during Independence Day celebrations here last year, chief minister Amarinder Singh had announced a grant of ₹1 crore for the development of Sarabha village and several development projects are underway.
{{/usCountry}}He said the state government has decided to develop and restore all places related to martyrs. He said during Independence Day celebrations here last year, chief minister Amarinder Singh had announced a grant of ₹1 crore for the development of Sarabha village and several development projects are underway.
{{/usCountry}}Hailing the contribution of the Shaheed to the freedom struggle, he said it was only due to the sacrifices of our martyrs that people are living in a free country. He also stated that they would raise the issue of declaring Kartar Singh Sarabha as a “national martyr” with the Union government. Former minister Malkit S Dakha also addressed the gathering and spoke about the life and teachings of the Shaheed.
Political secretary to chief minister Capt Sandeep Singh Sandhu said all people should learn from the life of the great martyr of our freedom struggle. He said several freedom fighters attained martyrdom for the independence of the country, and Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha was the youngest of them all. He assured all issues related to the Dakha constituency would be redressed on a priority basis.
Earlier, both Ashu and Sandhu and several other personalities paid floral tributes to the statue of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha and also visited his ancestral home. Ashu and Sandhu They also attended the ongoing sports festival in the village grounds and gave away prizes to winners. In the finals of the football tournament, the team of Air Force were the winners, followed by CRPF Jalandhar team, that stood second.
Sukhdev Kaur, a family member of the Shaheed, and several other prominent personalities were also honoured on the occasion.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included PEDA vice-chairman Karan Warring, DCC (rural) president Karanjit Singh Galib and Zila Parishad member Gurdev Singh Lapran.