Edu Directorate to be permanent body

Our Correspondent 

Patiala, April 4

Along with the shifting of the Directorate of Education of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to Patiala, the committee has also initiated the procedure for the transformation of its status to a permanent body. 

The motive behind the shifting its temporary status is to reduce the political interference in the education institutions being run under by the SGPC management.

The administrative posts of the directorate are selected by the president, following the approval by the executive committee of the SGPC in the agenda of education. But, after the change of the status, all appointments of the directorate will be according to the guidelines in the constitution being drafted by a seven-member committee.

The directorate was formed by the SGPC in 2007 as a temporary board to raise the standard of education of the institutes. Since its formation, the directorate is operational at Chandigarh in the building of ‘Sarai’ named Kalgidhar Niwas. The SGPC has now decided to shift it to Patiala — on the premises of the Panth Ratan Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra Institute of Advanced Studies in Sikhism in Bhadargarh town. The building has been constructed for Rs 14 crore and a large part of it was lying vacant.

Confirming the development, SGPC president Kirapal Singh Badungar said to stop the political interference in the educational circle of the committee, they had decided to give it the status of a permanent body.

“A seven-member committee has been formed to prepare the structural guidelines draft of the directorate for shifting its status. They will evaluate the functioning of other governmental and autonomous bodies to draft the rules and regulations for it,” Badungar said.

He said, “After the conclusion, the report of the committee will be placed before the executive committee of the SGPC, where the executive members will pass its permanent status.”

Badungar said after the status was changed, they would appoint fresh staff and management as per the norms set by the committee. He said they would issue the advertisement for the screening of permanent staff. If the existing staff fulfiled the eligibility criteria, they would continue with their present responsibilities.

While clarifying the reasons behind the shifting of the directorate to Patiala, SGPC president said, “Due to the temporary status, it has not been facilitated with the dedicated building premises and the directorate is running in the Sarai at Chandigarh, which is a remote location for the western Punjab. After commencing the process to provide a separate building, we decided to shift it to a more-approachable city.”

Director Education, Dharminder Singh Ubha, said, “We have not confirmed the date yet, but we have decided to shift it before April 14.”

Functioning of the Directorate

The main motive of the directorate is based on the administrative arrangements for schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutes being run under the management of the SGPC. The arrangements are

• Academic Planning
• Recruitment and promotions
• Training and other development practices 
• Academic audit
• Khalsai games
• Khalsai cultural activities