Punjab CM writes to Modi for central assistance for 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev

CHANDIGARH: To commemorate the 550th Birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji next year in a grand and befitting manner, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh has sought assistance of Rs.2,145.31 crores from the Government of India for undertaking various infrastructural projects and special programmes in towns and cities associated with the first Sikh Guru.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister, who is also the Chairman of the state level Organizing Committee, has suggested that a National Organizing Committee, under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, be constituted to oversee the celebrations of this historic event across the country.The Chief Minister, who will be personally meeting the Prime Minister soon to discuss this issue, said that while a year-long calendar of events was being prepared for organizing commemorative events across various states, the primary focus of the celebrations will be at places like Sultanpur Lodhi (Kapurthala), Dera Baba Nanak and Batala (Gurdaspur) that have had a deep association with the First Guru of the Sikhs. The Chief Minister said that it would be in fitness of things that, as a part of these celebrations, the towns of Sultanpur Lodhi, Dera Baba Nanak, Batala and Guruharsahai, where some of the relics of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji are kept, be taken up for special infrastructural development as towns of religious and historical importance. He urged the prime minister that besides this, the Central Government should also dedicate certain special projects in Punjab to commemorate the historic event.