NEW DELHI: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Tuesday announced that it would take care of the education of children of Hindu and Sikh refugee families from Pakistan, residing in shanties at Yamuna bank near Gurudwara Majnu Ka Tila.
The president of the Sikh body Manjinder Singh Sirsa said all the children would be admitted to schools run by the committee in the city. He said the DGSGMC had already written to the Directorate of Education and education minister Manish Sisodia, to allow registration of refugee children in schools on compassionate ground.
“I hope that all eligible students will be able to enroll by the next academic session beginning April. DSGMC will provide education free cost to them, besides scholarship and other incentives to prepare them for admissions in prestigious professional educational institutes in order to mainstream them,” Sirsa said.
He said DSGMC would explore legal provisions to admit such students on the basis of international laws and the provision for granting Visa to students is also being explored.
“Since they left Pakistan in haphazard manner without proper documents pertaining to education I had requested Sisodia to allow them to get admission in Delhi schools on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
A delegation of Pakistani Hindu Sikh families will soon meet CM Arvind Kejriwal to request him to expedite the request. On Monday, Sirsa urged union home minister Amit Shah to expedite the process to grant citizenship to Pakistani refugees living at Majnu Ka Tila area. According to DSGMC, about 160 families from Pakistan are living in the city and 60 more families arrived this month.
‘Appeal to Shah for citizenship’
DSGMC chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, “We have appealed Amit Shah to grant them citizenship and permit them residency in whichever city they choose for employment and education.”