Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday directed the Finance Department to ensure timely release of the dedicated final instalment of Rs. 25 Crores towards the third and concluding phase of the construction of the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial at Kartarpur in Jalandhar.He also ordered the immediate release of the balance Rs. 5 Crores due for the previous year, as per his commitment made on March 6, when he dedicated the second phase of the memorial to the nation.The directives were issued during a meeting with the Jang-e-Azadi Foundation to review the status of the construction of memorial, according to an official spokesperson.Captain Amarinder Singh, while lauding the efforts of the team behind the world-class initiative, led by Ajit Group of Newspapers Managing Editor Barjinder Singh Hamdard, said the iconic monument would go a long way towards instilling and nurturing the spirit of India’s independence struggle among the new generations. The Chief Minister said the memorial would help the younger generations connect with Punjab’s glorious past and facilitate their engagement with the future.Captain Amarinder Singh, who is the Chairman of the Foundation, also directed the Culture Department to include more chapters on lives and struggles of prominent freedom fighters in school and college curriculum, adding that the knowledge of one's past suitably prepares one for the challenges of future.Minister for Tourism Navjot Singh Sidhu informed the Chief Minister that six Galleries, the Memorial Icon, a Parking lot, and the Landscaping and Administrative office had been constructed during the just completed second phase.
In the third phase, construction of the Atrium Area and the Interior works of the Memorial Icon would be taken up, Navjot Singh Sidhu further informed the meeting.Earlier, Foundation Member Secretary Dr. Barjinder Singh Hamdard presented to the Chief Minister the Phase 1 and Phase 2 completion reports and said the memorial has been designed to ensure its financial self-sufficiency in the longer run. More than 2,50,000 people had already visited the memorial, with more than 50,000 having witnessed the popular Laser show, which depicts the lives and legacy of those who laid down their lives for the nation, he said. He further informed the meeting that in the last one month itself, more than Rs. 10 lakhs had been collected from the nominal Rs 20 per ticket, which is, however, subsidized for students.The construction of the project, spread over 25 acres of land, had begun on 19th October, 2014 at a total cost of Rs. 315 Crores. Eminent personalities such as Shyam Benegal had been engaged with the project to ensure quality and class. The memorial is a unique piece of art which has a minaret, seminar hall, auditorium, movie hall, cafeteria, library, Open Air theatre for laser show and an amphi-theatre, said Dr. Hamdard.Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, former Cabinet Minister Rana Gurjit, Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, MLA Fatehgarh Sahib Kuljit Singh Nagra, MLA Jalandhar Urban Pargat Singh, Principal Secretary Finance Anirudh Tewari, and Principal Secretary Tourism & Culture Affairs Vikas Partap Singh attended the meeting.