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SGPC to present 181 cr budget
Deficit to be adjusted from gurdwara savings
Varinder Walia
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 28
The Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) will pass a budget of Rs 181 crore during its general house meeting at Teja Singh Samundary Hall, here on March 30.

The budget will leave a deficit of more than Rs 6 crore which will be adjusted from the savings of respective historical gurdwaras and the SGPC.

The break down of the budget is: general board fund (Rs 24.4 crore), trusts, including Sikh history library and yatras to Pakistan (Rs 3.02 crore), Dharm Parchar Committee (Rs 13.25 crore), Golden Offset Press (Rs 2.05 crore), education (Rs 5.05 crore), Gurdwara Printing Press (Rs 34 lakh), Shiromani Printing Press (Rs 33 lakh), Sri Guru Granth Sahib Mission, Ambala (Rs 13 lakh), 48 gurdwaras of Section 85 (Rs 108 crore), and schools and colleges (Rs 24.41 crore).

The general house will also pass the supplementary budget worth crores for 1999-2000 and 2000-2001. The supplementary budget will be over and above the total budget of Rs 181 crore. The supplementary budget is not distributed among all members of the SGPC and hence presented in the general house directly. The general members hardly get to know about the supplementary budget and pass it with a voice vote during the general house session.

The deficit of the SGPC alone is Rs 4.31 crore. The income of the SGPC from different sources is Rs 20.8 crore while the expenditure is Rs 24.4 crore. The deficit of Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, is Rs 79 lakh which will be adjusted from its savings. The income of the Takht is mentioned as Rs 11.47 crore while its expenditure will be Rs 12.27 crore. The deficit of various trusts, run by the SGPC, will be Rs 19 lakh. The income from Gurdwara Baba Gandha Singh, Barnala, is Rs 88.88 lakh while the expenditure will be Rs 93.23 lakh. Hence, the deficit of Rs 4.35 lakh will be adjusted from the savings of the gurdwara.

Similarly, income from Gurdwara Baba Bakala has been estimated at Rs 3.42 crore and the expenditure during the year will be Rs 3.51 crore. The deficit of Rs 9.50 lakh will be adjusted from its savings. The income of Gurdwara Baoli Sahib. Goindwal Sahib, is Rs 2.5 crore while its expenditure will be Rs 2.8 crore. The deficit of Rs 30 lakh will be adjusted by way of savings. The income of Gurdwara Deg Sar Katana is Rs 1.26 crore and the expenditure Rs 1.31 crore, which leaves a difference of Rs 5 lakh. The deficit of Gurdwara Bahadurgarh (Patiala) is Rs 2 lakh as its income (Rs 43 lakh) is less than its annual expenditure (Rs 45 lakh). The deficit of Gurdwara Panjokhra Sahib is Rs 2.45 lakh.

However, according to sources, the SGPC may scrap Rs 50,000 as discretionary quota of each member which was introduced during the stint of Bibi Jagir Kaur.

CBI freezes 5 bank accounts of V. George, kin
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 28
The CBI has frozen five bank accounts, having a total deposits of Rs 29 lakh, of Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s Personal Secretary Vincent George and his family members in connection with the case of possession of assets disproportionate to known sources of income.

According to CBI sources, the accounts which have been frozen are: account no. 5565 of George in the SBI, Ansari Road; account no. 15200 (in the name of his wife Lilly George) in the SBI, Moti Nagar; account no. 15684 (in his daughter Priyana George’s name) in the SBI, Moti Nagar; and account no 15452 (in the name of his son Dennis George) in the SBI, Moti Nagar; and account no. 13711 (in the name of his son Dennis George) in Canara Bank, Diplomatic Enclave.

According to sources, the family holds about 16 bank accounts. The CBI has also sought to freeze a bank locker which it found belongs to the family.

The CBI had registered a regular case (No. S19 2001 E0006) against V. George on March 20 for possessing assets worth crores, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The FIR states that George had received a total of Rs 8,84,772.99 from his known sources of income during the period he was a public servant. It points to disproportionate assets amounting to Rs 9,61,308.82, after cutting minimum normal expenses.

Besides, the FIR states that the total assests, both movable and immovable, at the end of 1990 amounted to Rs 18,82,417.

Meanwhile, the CBI is investigating into the foreign remittances received by Mr George and his family members and is planning to summon him soon for questioning.