SGPC Passes $151M Annual Budget

On 29 Mar, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) passed its $151M (₹1,261 crore) annual budget at the General House session at Teja Singh Samundri Hall with a 14% annual increase. 83% of the allocated budget is for the gurdwaras, followed by educational institutes, Dharam Parchar Committee (religious awareness), printing press, and funds under various heads. SGPC demanded resolution of pending cases and disputes related to historical places outside Panjab. Among them are Gurdwara Gian Godri Sahib in Uttrakhand, Gurdwara Dongmar Sahib and Gurdwara Sahib Chungthang in Sikkim (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 5, Story 2), Gurdwara Bavali Matth, Mangu Matth and Panjabi Matth, Puri in Odisha, and Gurdwara Taposthan Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. They also demanded release of Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners), focus on human rights of Sikh prisoners, the arrest of Honeypreet, an associate of Ram Rahim of Dera Sacha Sauda (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 12, Story 6), and condemned interference in Sikh institutions and Haryana govt. action on farmers. They welcomed new Pakistan Panjab CM Maryam Nawaz’s announcement regarding teaching Panjabi in schools of the province and asked the Pakistan govt. to free properties of historical Gurdwaras in the country. In a parallel development, SGPC filed an objection with the management of Airtel Digital TV for running ads that scroll on the bottom of the TV screen during the live broadcast of Gurbani obstructing the English translation of Gurbani verses. Airtel says since they are time-bound commercials, they cannot be stopped prematurely. These are pitfalls of banking on a third-party. When allocating the budget, SGPC should have allocated funds for an independent satellite channel.