Sunday, September 6, 2020

In pandemic Grip For Five Months, Amritsar’s War Memorial Bleeds

Punjab State War Heroes Memorial and Museum, Amritsar @Holidify

The state war heroes’ memorial and museum wears a deserted look in Amritsar 

Akin to other tourist establishments in the state, the coronavirus pandemic has also taken a toll on Punjab State War Heroes’ Memorial and Museum, which has been lying shut since March.

According to a rough estimate, the state-of-the-art memorial has been suffering a loss of around ₹20 lakh per month ever since the lockdown was imposed her

The memorial staff is being paid 4 lakh salary per month, besides monthly electricity bills of 3-7 lakh. Ever since its temporary closure, the memorial has made no money through tickets, which used to be around 10 lakh per month. Moreover, nearly 1 lakh is spent on its monthly maintenance. 

“Though the memorial is closed for the last five months, we have not laid off any of our staff members. We are managing everything with the reserved funds,” said Col (retd) HP Singh, project director of the memorial, which is spread over seven acres of land opposite India Gate on GT Road here. 

He said it was still unclear that when the memorial would be opened as till now they have not received any instruction from the government.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/in-pandemic-grip-for-five-months-amritsar-s-war-memorial-bleeds/story-e3Fp1HlcV8ylEeJxOeeUnN.html

Dr. Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi

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