Chandigarh, May 11
On May 6, in Amritsar, when Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda stated that his government was actively considering the demand of Haryana Sikhs for the formation of a separate Haryana gurdwara parbandhak committee, he surprised many. This included the SGPC chief, Bibi Jagir Kaur, who had moments ago presented a siropa to him.
But, for a handful of Mr Hooda’s closest aides, the information did not come as a surprise. For, one of the first steps, although very secretive, that Mr Hooda took after taking over as the Chief Minister was to order the framing of a separate Sikh gurdwara Act for Haryana. A separate gurdwara committee for Haryana was one of the poll planks of the Congress.
The relevant draft Bill was being given final touches even as Mr Hooda was speaking to the sangat in Amritsar.
The Tribune accessed the draft Bill of the Haryana Sikh gurdwara (management) Act, 2005, which is likely to be introduced in the next session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
The Bill, when it is passed by the Vidhan Sabha and has received the assent of the President of India, will allow the constitution of a Haryana Sikh gurdwara management committee (HSGMC). The HSGMC will have its headquarters at Ambala, Panchkula or Kurukshetra.
The 35-member body will have control over gurdwaras in Haryana. According to available information, Haryana has 40 historical gurdwaras and 29 notified gurdwaras. The exact number of other gurdwaras is not known.
According to the draft Bill, 25 members of the HSGMC will be directly elected from various parts of the state, while four members will be co-opted by the elected members. The others on the committee will be: co-opted women (two), co-opted members of the weaker sections (two) and members co-opted or nominated by the presidents of the Singh Sabhas (two).
The proposed Act will also entail the setting up of a separate Sikh gurdwara judicial commission for Haryana. It will be a three-member body.
Incidentally, although the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, is Central legislation, the Haryana Government feels that the Vidhan Sabha has the power to legislate on the subject as the same pertains to item number 28 of the Concurrent List and item 32 of the State List.
On coming to know about Mr Hooda’s plan on a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana, Bibi Jagir Kaur had maintained that since the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, was passed by Parliament, the Haryana Government could not tinker with it.
Once the Act comes into force, all SGPC employees working in Haryana will be given the option of either going back to their cadre state of Punjab or continuing in Haryana.
The proposed Act will also allow voting rights to Sehejdhari Sikhs. However, only Amritdhari Sikhs will be allowed to contest the elections to the
HSGMC.
