The general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Friday passed a ₹1,260 crore budget for the financial year 2024-25 with special allocations being made for dharam parchar (religious propagation) and education. This year’s budget has seen a 14% increase compared to the previous year.
In the presence of Guru Granth Sahib and the Sikh clergy at the Teja Singh Samundari Hall in Golden Temple complex, SGPC general secretary Rajinder Singh Mehta presented the budget, which was approved by the members amid the resonance of ‘Sat Sri Akal’ slogans.
The thrust, this time, is on religious preaching, education, and Panthic works with an allocation of ₹100 crore to the Dharam Prachar Committee. Of this, ₹3 crore is reserved for the 450th Joti Jot Diwas of Guru Amar Das in September.
Besides, ₹994.51 crore will go into the management of gurdwaras and ₹251 crore for running the educational institutions under SGPC.
SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said that the outstanding salaries of staff of all educational institutions will be paid by March 31, 2024, for which ₹10 crore has been reserved under the education fund.
Notably, ₹60 lakh has been set aside for pursuing legal cases of Sikh prisoners and ₹40 lakh for providing them a monthly honorarium. For the Miri Piri Medical College, established by the SGPC at Shahbad Markanda in Haryana, ₹8 crore has been allocated while for Sikh missions outside Punjab, ₹9 crore has been okayed.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, ₹60 lakh has been set aside for pursuing legal cases of Sikh prisoners and ₹40 lakh for providing them a monthly honorarium. For the Miri Piri Medical College, established by the SGPC at Shahbad Markanda in Haryana, ₹8 crore has been allocated while for Sikh missions outside Punjab, ₹9 crore has been okayed.
{{/usCountry}}For dealing with natural calamities, ₹1.48 crore has been allocated.
Dhami said the SGPC budget depends on the offerings by the Sangat, which is used to carry out humanitarian work and Panthic welfare.
Resolutions passed:
The House also passed several resolutions, including demand for release of Sikh prisoners and arrest of Dera Sirsa head Gurmeet Ram Rahim and his follower Honeypreet in the Bargari sacrilege case. It also passed a resolution against government interference in the management of gurdwaras and need for preservation of Sikh heritage in Pakistan. The House also condemned the extension of the National Security Act (NSA) on Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh and his aides who are detained in Assam’s Dibrugarh Central Jail.