Capt asks SGPC to foot $20 fee of poor

Chandigarh, November 13

With the newly opened Kartarpur corridor reportedly witnessing low footfall, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today asked the ‘cash-rich’ SGPC to at least pay the $20 fee of yellow card-holders, who cannot afford to travel to the Pakistan shrine.

The CM urged India and Pakistan to waive the passport condition for travel through the corridor and accept IDs such as Aadhaar, driver’s licence, etc. as there was no requirement of visa, he added.

Capt Amarinder said low footfall was not due to lack of interest among people but because of passport and fee. 

While Pakistan PM Imran Khan had tweeted before the opening of the corridor that passport would not be required, the decision was not formalised, he pointed out. 

He urged PM Narendra Modi and Imran to amend the MoU and do away with the condition of passport.

Pointing to the lavish spending by the SGPC on holding separate 550th anniversary programmes, the CM said it was evident the religious body was flush with funds. 

“Given the claims by SAD president Sukhbir Badal and his wife of being the protectors of the Sikh religion, the least they could do was ask the SGPC, which they control, to help out the poor pilgrims,” he said. — TNS