“The whole walled city of Guru Ki Nagri Amritsar will be given a heritage look and in the next 3 years it would become the tourist hub of the entire country.” These views were expressed by the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, S. Sukhbir Singh Badal here today while dedicating to humanity the narration based ‘Multimedia Interpretation Centre’ inside the basement of Sri Darbar Sahib plaza constructed by the Punjab Government at a cost of Rs. 223 crore. This one of its kind centre in the country has 4 hitech galleries depicting history of Sikh religion and Sri Harmandir Sahib. He also witnessed the all shows in all the galleries and gave necessary directions to the designer and other staff of the centre.Interacting with the media-persons on the occasion, the Deputy Chief Minister said the 4 studios of this centre would run 4 shows of 45 minutes duration. He also said for the time being these shows would be run for around 10 hours daily and the duration would be increased afterwards.
He further said that the tourists coming from different parts of country and abroad would be guided about the Sikh history and that of Sri Darbar Sahib at this centre. Divulging more, he said the work relating to the computerized lighting effects inside Sri Darbar Sahib Complex with the aid of latest technology would be over in next 10 days and the project would be dedicated to the public on ‘Maghi’. He also said that the illumination of Sri Darbar Sahib with the assistance of state of the art technology would present a beautiful and breathtaking sight.Disclosing more, S. Badal said due to the massive wave of development in Guru Ki Nagri, the tourism sector here has witnessed an upswing by 60 percent during the course of previous 3 months which has resulted in tourists thronging the city in large numbers. He also said that the development of Guru Ki Nagri is an article of faith with him whereas the opposition parties are not paying attention to this significant aspect.
He also added that the prosperity unleashed by the SAD-BJP government in the state speaks for itself and after 5 years no other state in the country would be able to match Punjab on developmental parameters.Commenting on the opposition attacking the government time and again on each issue, the Deputy Chief Minister said everybody is well aware of the character and antecedents of the opposition leaders who are devoid of any practical agenda and can only indulge themselves in criticizing the government whereas the task of the SAD-BJP government is to carry unhindered the wave of development. He questioned that what is stopping Captain Amarinder Singh and Arvind Kejriwal from talking on progress centric issues. Appreciating the steps taken by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for the benefit of the economic structure of the nation, S. Badal said the decreasing of interest rate on constructing a house is a welcome step which would benefit the poor sections. He also said this is only a trailor while the rest of the wave of development would be witnessed in the forthcoming budget. He further elaborated that the Punjab Government also provides loans to the farming community through co-operative banks on zero percent interests for crops.
He also exhorted the people to co-operate with the government in keeping the holy city neat and clean as this task demands co-ordination between both the sides.On being asked about his electoral constituency still un- declared, the Deputy Chief Minister said everybody knows that he would contest from which constituency and even his election offices have started operating from there, so this is non-issue. He also added that it has been a convention that his constituency is declared in the last.Among others present on the occasion included cabinet minister Anil Joshi, ex-cabinet minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan, MLA Ravinder Singh Brahmpura, National General Secretary of BJP Tarun Chugh, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, President Akali Jatha (Urban) Gurpartap Singh Tikka, Navdeep Singh Goldy, Bhai Manjit Singh, Bhai Ram Singh, Avtar Singh Truckanwala, Deputy Commissioner Basant Garg, Commissioner of Police Lok Nath Angra, DCP J. Alanchezhian, Director Tourism and Cultural Affairs Navjot Pal Singh Randhawa, Chief Designer of the Interpretation Centre Amar Behl, and XEN G.S. Sodhi .