On behalf of the President of India, Deputy Commissioner Ludhiana Varinder Kumar Sharma today handed over the prestigious Padma Shri to “Gurmat Sangeet” legend Prof Kartar Singh.Prof Kartar Singh was awarded Padma Shri for his immense contribution to the field of art and owing to his health issues, he could not attend the function. Due to which, the Deputy Commissioner specially handed over the Padma Shri to Prof Kartar Singh, who is currently admitted at Hero DMC Heart Institute, here.His family members including daughters Manjit Kaur and Sukhbir Kaur, sons Amarjit singh and Amritpal Singh, Daughter in law Amarjit Kaur, and grandchildren, were also present on the occasion.Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma specially congratulated Prof Kartar Singh and his family members for this award. He said that Prof Kartar Singh has been awarded several prestigious honours for his contribution to Gurbani, which he has been practising since the age of 13 and has specialised in the popular classical music form of “tanti saaz”.Prof Kartar Singh is one of the “Gurmat Sangeet” legends, who pursued his career in teaching music.
Expressing gratitude towards the government for recognising his services, his family members thanked the Deputy Commissioner for coming specially for handing over the prestigious Padma Shri.The Union Government had awarded him the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Tagore Ratna Award for Music. He is also the recipient of the Punjab Government’s Shiromani Ragi Award, and Punjabi University’s Gurmat Sangeet Senior fellowship. He was also conferred Sikh Lifetime Achievement Award in London (UK) on October 9, 2011, and was also nominated to the Top 100 Global Sikhs by the Sikh Directory in the United Kingdom.Singh also has five books, with a total of over 40,000 copies, on “Gurmat Sangeet”, published by the SGPC, to his credit, while his two other books were under publication. Born at Ghummanke village in Lahore (Pakistan) on April 3, 1928, Singh had done graduation and post-graduation in music (vocal and instrumental) from Panjab University, Chandigarh.