Vikram singh
SPNer
- Feb 24, 2005
- 455
- 418
The demand for a separate Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for Haryana again threatens to touch off tensions in the state. The issue, long kept on slow simmer, has reared its head in the run-up to assembly elections scheduled for next month.
What is the role of the SGPC and why are members from Haryana demanding a separate SGPC?
The SGPC, established under the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925, was created to control all the historical gurdwaras as well as some other designated gurdwaras under Section 87 of the Act. Besides looking after the management of gurdwaras, including appointment of granthis, it manages educational institutions like medical colleges, hospitals and charitable trusts.
It is a cash-rich organisation with an annual budget of about Rs 400 crore. Its golak (donation) collection alone is around Rs 130 crore every year.
Members from Haryana complain that they don’t have any say in the management of gurdwaras in the state. They assert that the golak money is not spent in Haryana. They allege that the SGPC does not even appoint granthis (priests) from Haryana and does not consider demands for the welfare of the community in the state.
So, why don’t they raise the issue in the SGPC?
The members from Haryana are hugely outnumbered in the managing committee. There are only 11 members from Haryana out of a total strength of 180. In fact, Amritsar district alone has 25 members while Ludhiana district accounts for another 19.
Why has the issue escalated now?
Though there has been a demand for a separate SGPC over several years, it came into sharp focus during the previous Assembly elections in Haryana when the Congress included an assurance in its manifesto that it would create a separate SGPC. After it came to power, the Congress apppointed the Chatha Commission, to give its recommendation on the issue. The panel recently submitted its report to the state government stating that a majority of Sikhs in the state were in favour of a separate SGPC.
Evidently in order to buy time, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda declared just before the announcement of Assembly elections that a separate body would be constituted in the state on November 1 (Statehood Day), after the elections, if it received a favourable legal opinion on the recommendations.
Why were Haryana SGPC members not satisfied with the announcement?
Some of them felt that the announcement was only meant to woo Sikh votes...
What is the role of the SGPC and why are members from Haryana demanding a separate SGPC?
The SGPC, established under the Sikh Gurdwara Act 1925, was created to control all the historical gurdwaras as well as some other designated gurdwaras under Section 87 of the Act. Besides looking after the management of gurdwaras, including appointment of granthis, it manages educational institutions like medical colleges, hospitals and charitable trusts.
It is a cash-rich organisation with an annual budget of about Rs 400 crore. Its golak (donation) collection alone is around Rs 130 crore every year.
Members from Haryana complain that they don’t have any say in the management of gurdwaras in the state. They assert that the golak money is not spent in Haryana. They allege that the SGPC does not even appoint granthis (priests) from Haryana and does not consider demands for the welfare of the community in the state.
So, why don’t they raise the issue in the SGPC?
The members from Haryana are hugely outnumbered in the managing committee. There are only 11 members from Haryana out of a total strength of 180. In fact, Amritsar district alone has 25 members while Ludhiana district accounts for another 19.
Why has the issue escalated now?
Though there has been a demand for a separate SGPC over several years, it came into sharp focus during the previous Assembly elections in Haryana when the Congress included an assurance in its manifesto that it would create a separate SGPC. After it came to power, the Congress apppointed the Chatha Commission, to give its recommendation on the issue. The panel recently submitted its report to the state government stating that a majority of Sikhs in the state were in favour of a separate SGPC.
Evidently in order to buy time, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda declared just before the announcement of Assembly elections that a separate body would be constituted in the state on November 1 (Statehood Day), after the elections, if it received a favourable legal opinion on the recommendations.
Why were Haryana SGPC members not satisfied with the announcement?
Some of them felt that the announcement was only meant to woo Sikh votes...
