Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has constituted a State-level Committee to prepare for the 550th anniversary celebration of the Prakash Utsav of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji in 2019.Dr Manmohan Singh has been requested to be the Patron-in-Chief of the 36-member Committee, chaired by the Chief Minister and entrusted with the task of planning and making the necessary arrangements to celebrate the historic occasion in a befitting manner.All Ministers of the Punjab Government, presidents of the state units of all the major political parties (Congress, SAD, BJP and AAP), some MPs and MLAs, besides the President SGPC are members of the Committee, which will oversee and monitor arrangements to prepare and execute the schedule of celebrations, events and activities to be undertaken to mark the important occasion.The Chief Minister has also decided to request the Prime Minister to constitute and chair a National Level Organizing Committee under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, to coordinate and work in collaboration with the State government to make the event a success, according to an official spokesperson.
Besides the MPs from Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Jalandhar, the Committee would have, as its members, MPs Ambika Soni, Mohinder Singh Kaypee, S. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Naresh Gujral, along with MLAs S. Navtej Singh Cheema, S. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Rana Gurmit Singh.Other members of the Committee include former Union Minister Preneet Kaur, Ajit Chief Editor Barjinder Singh Hamdard, eminent historians JS Grewal, Kirpal Singh and BN Goswamy. Brig (Retd.) Sukhjit Singh, MVC of Kapurthala; Prof. Surjit Patar, Chairman, Punjab Arts Council; eminent environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal; The Anhad Foundation chairman Bhai Baldeep Singh; Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab; Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister; Financial Commissioner, Department of Revenue; Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Secretary, Department of Information & Public Relations; Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar Division; Vice-Chancellor of GNDU, Amritsar and Punjabi University, Patiala; Deputy Commissioners of Kapurthala and Gurdaspur districts. Director, Tourism & Cultural Affairs, will be the Convener of the Committee.