Free education for girls: SAD (Badal)
Manifesto for gurdwaras body polls released
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) on Saturday released its election manifesto for the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee polls.
The manifesto has announced setting up of a judicial commission for Sikh shrines, Guru Tegh Bahadur University for higher professional education, free education for girls and books for boys who get over 75 per cent marks in class 10. Also, Shagun Scheme worth Rs 51,000 for girl children of DSGPC employees is on the pipeline.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, the party’s Delhi unit president Manjit Singh G K and other senior leaders released the 24-page manifesto, printed in Punjabi language.
Badal said the manifesto has promised the establishment of Guru Angad Dev Sports Institute to promote sports among Sikh youth, five free academies for Sikh students to make them competitive for higher medical and engineering courses, and competitive exams like IAS, IPS and IRS. Also, a placement cell for unemployed Sikh youth is on the cards.
“To raise the standard of education in DSGPC-run public schools, we have decided to replace private publishers’ textbooks with NCERT ones,” said Badal. “The party will give 50 per cent fee concession to one member of a family if two or more members from the same family are studying in these schools.”
The party assured to set up an educational council, a medical council, a financial council and a legal council to help victims of the 1984 riots and Sikhs uprooted from their homes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The manifesto promised to establish a Sikh Heritage Centre and a multimedia museum in Delhi. A free bus service to visit all historic gurdwaras in the city will be started as well.
“If elected to the DSGPC, the party will put due focus on social welfare and medical facilities. It will cancel all unlawful agreements made by the last committee with a private group,” he said.
“We will establish a medical council under the DSGPC to set up a world-class hospital and medical college at Gurdwara Bala Sahib,” he added.
“We will reinstate grants from Singh Sabhas and other Sikh organisations to dispensaries and libraries in different parts of Delhi, which were banned by the present committee,” he added.
