ASSAM GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO START AWARD IN THE NAME OF GURU TEGH BAHADUR SAHIB JI

RENOVATION WORK OF ASSAM GURUDWARA MATA JI WILL BEGIN BY MID NOVEMBER. ASSAM SIKH DEVELOPMENT TRUST WILL BE ESTABLISHED  SOON : MANJINDER SINGH SIRSA

          New Delhi, August 30 : Assam Government has decided to start an annual award in the name of ninth sikh Guru Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib ji and it will be given for exemplary work in the social field. This was decided in a meeting between Assam Chief Minister Mr. Sarbnanda Sonowal and visiting sikh delegation led by Mr. Manjinder Singh Sirsa General Secretary Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC). The delegation had urged the CM to institute the award in the name of the Guru Sahib.

          Disclosing this in a statement issued here Mr. Sirsa informed that DSGMC has welcomed the decision and personally thanked Chief Minister for the decision which will go long way in resurrecting the Sikhs in the state.

          It is worth mentioning here that a high level sikh delegation led by Mr. Sirsa is visiting Assam and Mr. Kuldeep Singh Bhogal senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Indu Singh social worker are also part of the delegation.

          He also informed that as the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has already decided to take up sewa (service) of renovation  of Gurudwara Mata ji in Assam, its plan is being prepared and work on the project will begin by mid November this year. He also said that the DSGMC will also take help of technical experts for preservation of hand written Guru Granth Sahib and other historical articles present in the Gurudwara Sahib in Assam.

          Mr. Sirsa further informed that  as the social, economic and political condition of the Sikhs in the state is not good enough, it has been decided to set up Assam Sikh Welfare Trust which will included Sikhs from worldwide who will contribute to ameliorate the condition of the Sikhs in the state of Assam. He said that the said trust will formulate plan to achieve the said purpose and implement it as soon as possible.

          The DSGMC General Secretary also said that as per the decision of the Chief Minister Assam, he today met Nagaon Deputy Commissioner Mr. Sharmsher Singh who is from fifth generation of General Chetnya Singh, first sikh general who was sent by Maharaj Ranjit Singh to Assam during the Burmese invasion, to discuss allotment of 10 bighas land to construct to set up Social Welfare Project and establish Community Centre and Education Complex in the district for which the CM has already sanctioned an amount of Rs.  5 Crores.

          Mr. Sirsa further informed that the Deputy Commissioner today assured the delegation that within a period of one month he will move a concrete proposal to the government for approval to allot the said land.

          The sikh delegation today visited Gurudwaras in the area and also visited some schools of the region.

  Mr. Sirsa decribed the visit of the delegation as highly successful and said that this visit will  contribute a lot in establishment of sikh in the state of Assam on economic, social and political front.