An open letter on Tarn Taran

Gurmeet Singh, an advocate of Patti, has written an open letter addressed to the Centre and the state government, besides public organisations including political parties, social outfits etc appealing to them to raise issues related to the border district of Tarn Taran on appropriate platforms as there were chances of advancement in these areas. Gurmeet Singh reminded that the ground had been laid for the growth of Tarn Taran and sincere efforts may boost in achieving the goal, leading to the creation of numerous job avenues. He said the Union Government during the ‘70s had established the country’s first nucleus industrial complex at Sri Goindwal Sahib, the religious place founded by the third Sikh Master Sri Guru Amar Das ji, for which about 1,000 acres of land was acquired for its four phases of development. But half the land is lying vacant and the concept of the nucleus industrial complex is nowhere to be seen. Till the mid ‘80s, more than 10,000 youths were given jobs by 140 working industrial units. As many as half of these units, mostly the big ones, are now facing closure. He said the revival of the industrial complex is an issue that should be raised consistently. Gurmeet Singh also called for making the Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd, Sheron, functional again. The mill was closed about 15 years back. He said with the revival of the Cooperative Sugar Mill, the land of the Mand area could be brought under sugarcane cultivation as the traditional crops are washed away during the floods. Also, the sugarcane crop gives more yield despite the floods. The construction of the Central Jail at Sri Goindwal Sahib also in no way helped to develop industry in the area. Gurmeet Singh urged citizens and organisations besides the administrative machinery working to improve the condition of this border district to raise their voice for the setting up of food and fruit processing plants here as Patti sub-division had been given recognition at the national level for producing pear fruit under the ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP) plan. The district was covered under the Union Government-sponsored PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme for producing pear fruit in the Patti area. Fruits from here are supplied to Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi and other parts of the country. The processing units would also open job avenues. Tarn Taran district is the largest producer of pear among all districts of the state. In Khadoor Sahib area too, pear is produced in certain pockets. Patti area was once called the ‘House of Poultry’ during the ‘60s and ‘70s. The thermal power plant set up at Sri Goindwal Sahib too needs special attention. Fish farming in river Beas and Sutlej are the other areas that could lead to the creation of jobs.

Nishan-e-Sikhi at UN conference

Representatives of the Nishan-e-Sikhi had returned home after attending the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) organised by the United Nations (UN) held at Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt) recently. The Nishan-e-Sikhi is managed by the environmentalist of international fame Baba Sewa Singh, head of the Kar Sewa sect, Khadoor Sahib. The central theme of the conference was to reduce global temperature by two degree Celsius. Avtar Singh Bajwa, secretary of the Nishan-e-Sikhi said Baba Gurpreet Singh and Dr Kanwaljit Singh were the representatives of Nishan-e-Sikhi at COP 27. The representatives that a document regarding the work done by the sect in planting saplings to ensure environmental equilibrium was distributed among the members of the COP 27 which was highly appreciated at the international level. (Contributed by Gurbaxpuri)

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