CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday announced that his government was prepared to bear the entire expenditure to be incurred on land allotment by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for the construction of Guru Ravidass Temple at Tughlakabad in New Delhi.
Notably, on the orders of the Supreme Court, Sri Guru Ravidass Temple and Samadhi in Tughlakabad village, Delhi, were demolished during August 2019. Legend has it that Guru Ravidass had visited this sacred place around 1509 during the reign of Mughal Emperor Sikander Lodhi.
Channi said the DDA had recently asked the Guru Ravidass Vishram Dham Mandir Chamarwala Johar Tughlakabad Committee to submit a sum of Rs 4.33 crore for taking 400 square meters of land as total with capitalised rent for 30 years.
Since the amount was quite hefty due to the exorbitant price of land, he said that various delegations had approached him seeking the requisite contribution from the state government.
The Punjab Chief Minister also observed that the state government was already following the ideology of Guru Ravidass in the right earnest to ensure the well-being of one and all.
“In the same spirit, we have now decided that if the committee desires so, then the state government will bear the entire expense for procuring the land to construct the temple at Tughlakabad,” he said.
Channi said he would be the most fortunate and blessed one in case the committee wished to delegate the said task to his government. He also added that Guru made tireless efforts for bringing social awakening through the ethos of equality and harmony.
He said that it was the moral duty of the state government to uphold the glorious legacy of the great Guru for posterity.
“Our government has also decided to set up a state-of-the-art Sri Guru Ravidass Bani Research (Adhyan) Centre in Sachkhand Ballan at the cost of Rs 50 crore,” he said.