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ML Khattar announces sops for Sikhs, attends 350th Prakash Utsav of 10th Guru
Proposal: Says government has prepared plan to provide financial aid to pilgrims to Sikh religious places.
With a view to appeasing the state’s Sikh community, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday announced setting up of a trust named after Baba Banda Bahadur at Yamunanagar district’s Lohgarh to develop the area as a tourist destination.
Khattar, who was addressing a gathering after paying tributes to Guru Gobind Singh at the state-level function organised to mark the closing ceremony of the 350th Prakash Utsav of the 10th Sikh Guru, also announced to set up a magnificent memorial gate on the Kapal Mochan-Lohgarh road and a ‘yatri niwas’ at Badkhalsa and ‘Pir Budh Shah memorial park at Sadhaura.
He said Punjabi has already been accorded the status of second language in the state. To promote the language, the process to fill 397 posts of trained graduate teachers (TGTs) and 352 posts of trained postgraduate teachers (PGTs) in Punjabi has been initiated, he said.
Khattar announced that special trains will run from Ambala and Sirsa to Patna in Bihar from December 22 to 25 so a large number of people from the state could participate in the closing ceremony of Guru Gobind Singh’s 350th Prakash Utsav (in Patna) in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate.
The state government has also prepared a plan to provide financial assistance to the pilgrims intending to visit religious places such as Hajoor Sahib, Nankana Sahib, Patna Sahib and Hemkund Sahib.
A similar scheme has also been prepared to facilitate the pilgrims going on Sindhu Darshan and Kailash Mansarowar Yatra, he said. As announced, a mega educational institution will be set up in the area after the name of a Sikh Guru, he added.
“Until 1998, many colleges of the state were affiliated with Panjab University and now the university now again wants some more colleges affiliated with it. We are considering the proposal and if it materialises, some colleges of this area would also be affiliated with PU. One of the colleges will be named after the Sikh Guru,” he said.
