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Punjab: SGPC employees form union; irked top brass warns of action
In a rare development, a section of the employees of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has formed a union to raise their concerns
In a rare development, a section of the employees of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has formed a union to raise their concerns. This move has left the SGPC officer bearers red-faced.
The SGPC Employees Union has recently been registered with the labour department of Punjab government under Indian Trade Union Act 1926 with account clerk Gurwinder Singh Bhoma assuming as its president. Office of the union has been established in Amritsar.
This union has posed a new challenge for the SGPC office-bearers who are already in fix on the issue of Gurbani telecast from Golden Temple. This union has been registered after the SGPC suspended as many as 51 employees in case of embezzlement in the community kitchen of Golden Temple. Move of the employees has angered the SGPC top brass.
While addressing a function at the Golden Temple complex on Sunday, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the union formed by some employees of the SGPC in the recent past is against the norms of the Sikh organisation. He said the mischievous act of registering the union under trade has been done by the Punjab government. Dhami said that the SGPC is the holy institution of the Guru’s house, where the work is done with the dasvandh (10% of income) of the sangat.
“This organisation is not a factory or commercial establishment where a trade union can be established. The SGPC will not allow anyone to act contrary to its traditions. The SGPC employees stand with humanity in all difficult times and at present, they are rendering great services even during floods. But some mischievous people deliberately want to spoil/defame the organisation’s management, which will not be allowed”, said Dhami.
Warning of action against those behind it, Dhami said, the employees joining this union are being identified. When contacted, Bhoma made it clear that the SGPC was a family and the union members will never go against its interests. “We have created a platform to get our voice heard, because it has been seen that voice of a single person is not usually heard. The management of the SGPC will be apprised of employees’ problems. SGPC is like our mother. Through this union, we will work for its betterment to eliminate weaknesses and faults within the organization. We will also work to uplift the character of the employees. However, our sincere effort is being projected wrongly”. Responding to a query about the number of members of the union, he said, “We cannot disclose the exact number, but it has more members than the number required for the registration”.
