SAD-Delhi promises financial clean-up

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 16

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) today released its manifesto for the February 26 Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections, promising to bring transparency in the working of the Committee and bolster its finances, besides setting up a helpline, an FM radio station, a Chamber of Commerce and a university exclusively for the community.

SAD (Delhi) president Paramjit Singh Sarna said his party, if voted to power, would start initiatives for the welfare of the community, particularly the weaker sections.

The former DSGMC chief said his party would set up Guru Harkrishan Hospital, create employment opportunities for Sikh youths, resume the medical insurance policy and construct a memorial to the Sikh martyrs of 1984 and those who had laid down their lives during various movements. This memorial will be on the lines of those built in Germany, France and England, he added.

Alleging major misappropriation and mismanagement of funds by the outgoing DSGMC run by the SAD (Badal), Sarna said president Manjit Singh GK and his team had looted Guru ki golak (collections) and made the committee bankrupt.

“We will make public all bank accounts and financial dealings of the outgoing committee and take action against them for financial misconduct. We will set up a monitoring committee comprising eminent Sikhs who will keep a watch on all expenses. We will improve the DSGMC’s financial health,” he added.

Other important initiatives that the SAD (Delhi) plans to undertake include reopening the Guru Teg Bahadur Institute of Technology (Rajouri Garden) and Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Polytechnic Institute (Vasant Vihar). The party has also promised more funds for the schools and colleges run by the DSGMC. The SAD (Delhi) plans to implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for the employees of these institutions.

Sarna said the DSGMC would open an employment centre and set up the Sikh Chamber of Commerce to promote business. He added that changes would be made in the law so that 10 per cent seats in the committee could be reserved for women.

He promised that the SAD (Delhi) would work to get the “blacklist” of NRI Sikhs scrapped and try to bring them back so that they could join the mainstream.

Over 3.8 lakh Sikh voters in Delhi will vote to elect 46 committee members.