Haryana Assembly passes Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Amendment Bill

The Haryana Assembly on Wednesday passed a Bill that paves the way for setting up a 41-member ad hoc committee to manage and supervise gurdwaras in the state till the elected committee is formed.

However, the opposition Congress members objected to the provision of 18 months given to an ad hoc committee to function and also appointing a patron of the committee in the Bill.

During a discussion on the Haryana Sikh Gurdwaras (Management) Amendment Bill, 2022 on the concluding day of the three-day winter session of Haryana assembly, Cabinet minister Anil Vij asserted that the state government does not want to interfere in the religious matters of Sikhs.

When the bill came up for discussion in the House, Congress MLA B B Batra asked the Khattar government to thank the previous Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government in enacting the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014 for a separate gurdwara management committee.

However, Batra objected to the provision of giving 18 months to the ad hoc committee, asserting that the state government should hold the elections within six months to form an elected committee to manage and supervise gurdwaras in the state.

The Bill provides for constituting a 41-member ad hoc committee to manage and supervise gurdwaras in the state till the elected committee is constituted. The ad hoc committee cannot function for more than 18 months.

The Bill also provides that if elections are not held within a period of 18 months, a new ad hoc committee shall be nominated by the government for a further 18 months or till the elections are held whichever is earlier.

Congress MLA Shamsher Singh Gogi raised an objection to the appointment of a patron of the committee.

Another Congress member Geeta Bhukkal accused the BJP-JJP government of ignoring people who fought a long battle for a separate committee to manage gurdwaras in the state Participating in the discussion, Home Minister Vij said the state government does not want to interfere in the religious matter of Sikhs.

“We do not want to play politics and our intention is clear. Our government wants to begin the election process at the earliest and the government wants the elected representatives to form their ad hoc committee as soon as possible and only one person among the elected representatives will be made Patron,” said Vij.

Vij said on July 14, 2014, the Congress government had brought this Act but many things were silent in it, nothing was mentioned about elections.

To conduct its elections, Justice H S Bhalla (retd) has been appointed as Commissioner to take further action regarding it.

Replying to the opposition charge against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vij said, “RSS teaches nationalism, love and equality.”

He further said, “I have full faith that the Sikh society will elect only those people who fulfil the conditions.”

Notably, the Supreme Court had in September this year upheld the constitutional validity of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Act, 2014 under which a separate committee was formed to manage the affairs of gurdwaras in the state.