The Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today convened a high level meeting of the senior leaders of the SAD-BJP, Cabinet Ministers, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, MLAs besides the senior officers of the state government to finalize the arrangements of the foundation laying ceremony of Rs.115 crore state-of-the-art memorial on the state level function to be held at Sri Ram Tirath Temple, Amritsar on the Parkash Utsav of Bhagwan Valmiki ji on October 18.
Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister said that Mr. Badal exhorted the leaders of SAD-BJP and the top brass of the government to elicit huge participation of the people from different walks of life on this historic event. The Chief Minister deputed the MLA Ropar and Secretary SAD Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema and his Special Principal Secretary Mr. KJS Cheema to overall supervise the arrangements and ensure comfortable night stay of the people arriving at Amritsar prior to the day of function, from far flung districts of Sri Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, Mansa, Sangrur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Mohali. Mr. Badal called upon the people to celebrate this mega event collectively with great enthusiasm thereby rising above the parochial considerations of caste, color, creed and religion in order to demonstrate the ethos of secularism and religious tolerance. Mr. Badal asked the organizing committee to ensure the participation of the heads of all religious sects besides the eminent spiritual leaders of the country. Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Mr. Charanjit Singh Atwal apprised the Chief Minister that responding to the invitation extended by the Punjab Government the Head of the Bhagwan Shree Laxmi Narayan Dham Brahmrishi Kumar Swami and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Art of Living Foundation have already confirmed their participation in the function. The Chief Minister informed in the meeting the construction work of the world-class memorial at Sri Ram Tirath would begin within two months as its site plan and layout had already been finalized.Taking part in the deliberations, the Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said the state government would organize a week long publicity campaign through inserting a series of advertisements in various newspapers highlighting the detailed route map and other relevant information related to the arrangements of the function from October 11-18. The Deputy Chief Minister also informed in the meeting that all the Deputy Commissioners have been asked to put hoardings at the strategic locations in their districts with the uniform design and pattern to highlight the message of Bhagwan Valmiki ji. He appealed to the people to participate in this function with great fervor and gaiety to commemorate the Parkash Utsav of Bhagwan Valmiki ji- the creator of legendary epic Ramayana and the great scholar of Sanskrit. Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal asked the organizers to make special arrangements for the stay of the women pilgrims and also directed the police administration to ensure smooth and hassle-free movement of vehicle traffic in order to avert any sort of traffic jams. He also instructed the district administration Amritsar to make elaborate arrangement for the parking lot to accommodate maximum number of vehicles especially buses carrying pilgrims to the place of function.
Speaking on the occasion, the Information & Public Relations Minister Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia assured the Chief Minister that this prestigious function would prove to be healthy platform to further strengthen the bonds of communal harmony, peace and amity in the state, as the people from different religions, sects and communities were expected to participate on this auspicious occasion.It may be recalled that the SAD-BJP leaders from 11 districts namely Jalandhar, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar (Nawanshahar), Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Fazilka, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Barnala, Mansa and Sangrur participated in today’s meeting. Earlier, the Chief Minister had detailed discussion with these leaders of Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Tarn Taran, Moga, Ferozepur, Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib, Patiala, Rupnagar and Faridkot districts.Prominent among others who attended the meeting Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha Mr. Charanjit Singh Atwal, Member Parliament Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Mr. Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Mr. Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Mr. Ajit Singh Kohar, Mr. Sikander Singh Maluka, Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Mr. Madan Mohan Mittal, (all Cabinet Ministers), Former Minister Bibi Jagir Kaur, Senior Akali leader Prof. Prem Singh Chandumajra, Advisor to the Chief Minister Mr. Tikshan Sood, Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr. KJS Cheema, Principal Secretary Cultural Affairs Mr. SS Channy besides Deputy Commissioners and SAD-BJP leaders of all the districts.