To press the Central Government for allocation of special grant for the 550th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday announced his decision to lead an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon in this regard.The decision was announced by Captain Amarinder while chairing the first meeting of the Dera Baba Nanak Development Authority,specially set up for the beautification of the area in and around Dera Baba Nanak ahead of the historic occasion.Captain Amarinder said the central government should not only join and cooperate with the state government but should also take the initiative to commemorate the momentous occasion on a global scale.Lamenting that the Modi Government had so far ignored the state’s earlier requests for suitable budget allocation for the historic occasion, Captain Amarinder said he would personally urge Modi to come forward to provide the necessary financial assistance to the state.Meanwhile, the Chief Minister directed the Deputy Commissioner Gurdaspur to finalise the process of acquisition of 58 acres of land for the development of the Kartarpur Corridor, up besides taking up with the National Highway Authority of India the issue of another 53 Acres of land for building an Integrated Command Post (ICP).
Stressing on the need to make this moment a memorable experience for one and all, Captain Amarinder also ordered establishment of a dedicated state hi-tech centre containing all required amenities for the millions of visitors expected to throng the area for paying their obeisance at the historic Gurdwara Sahib. The proposed state-of-the-art facility would be erected in an area of 20 acres, to be developed wholly by the state government. He also asked the authorities to provision for sufficient parking space at the site on the lines of Wagah memorial and for planting of sufficient trees to preserve and maintain the sanctity of the surroundings.During the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary Housing apprised the Chief Minister that designs for three welcome gates, two deodis and the heritage street were in the last stage of finalisation.Prominent amongst others who were present during the meeting included Cabinet Ministers Brahm Mohindra, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Aruna Chaudhary, Vijay Inder Singla, Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, ACS Home Affairs and Justice N S Kalsi, ACS Housing & Urban Development Vini Mahajan, ACS Agriculture, Viswajeet Khanna, and Principal Secretary Finance Anirudh Tiwari.