Punjab Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu today stated that the Capt Amarinder Singh led Punjab government is committed for providing all facilities to the ancestral village of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha. He said that all government schools in village Sarabha would be developed as “smart schools”, besides concrete floor and platforms would be constructed at the grain market of the village.He said this while addressing the gathering on the occasion of a state-state-level function being organised by the Punjab government on the Martyrdom Day of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha in the sports ground of Sarabha village, near here today. On this occasion, he announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh from his discretionary funds for the sports club of the village.Mr Bharat Bhushan Ashu said that the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government is committed to promote the ideas of our great martyrs so that today’s society takes cue from it. He said that the state government has already decided to develop and restore all places related to the martyrs. He informed that during the Independence Day celebrations at Ludhiana on August 15, 2018, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had announced a grant of Rs 1 crore for the development of Sarabha village and several development projects are underway.While hailing the contribution of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha in our freedom struggle, he said that it was only due to the efforts of our great martyrs that we are now breathing in free air. He also stated that they would raise the issue of declaring Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha as a “National Martyr” with the union government.
Former Minister Mr Malkit Singh Dakha also addressed the gathering and spoke in detail about the life and teachings of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha.While speaking on the occasion, Political Secretary to Chief Minister Punjab, Capt Sandeep Singh Sandhu said that the Punjab government has organised a state-level function on the martyrdom day of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha. He said that all of us should learn from the life of the great martyr of our freedom struggle. He said that several freedom fighters attained martyrdom for the independence of our country, and Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha was the youngest of them all. He assured that all issues related to the Dakha constituency would be redressed on priority basis.Earlier, both Mr Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Capt Sandeep Singh Sandhu and several prominent personalities paid floral tributes to the statue of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha and also visited his ancestral home. They also attended the ongoing sports festival in the village grounds and distributed prizes to winners. In the finals of football tournament, team of Air Force were the winners, followed by CRPF Jalandhar team that stood second.Mrs Sukhdev Kaur, family member of Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha and several other prominent personalities were also honoured on the occasion.Prominent among those present on the occasion included Vice Chairman PEDA Mr Karan Warring, DCC (Rural) President Mr Karanjit Singh Galib, Zila Parishad member Mr Gurdev Singh Lapran, Mr Major Singh Bhaini, SDM Ludhiana (West) Mr Amrinder Singh Malhi, Mr Jagpal Singh Khangura, Mr Manpreet Singh Sarabha, Mr Harnek Singh Sarabha, Mr Bhupinder Singh club president, besides several others.