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Govt prepares 14-page draft for Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Act CHANDIGARH: To appease the 47 lakh Sikh voters of the state ahead of assembly elections, the Congress government has prepared a draft Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Act, 2014. Delaying the formation of a separate body for managing Sikh shrines in the state for many years after coming to power in 2005, chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda plans to announce the new entity next month. Sources said that the 14-page draft is lying with the chief minister's office (CMO), awaiting Hooda's approval. The issue could be part of the agenda for cabinet meeting to be held on Tuesday. Hooda might make the announcement on or before July 6 when he is scheduled to attend the Sikh Mahasamellan convened by the ah hoc Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (HSGPC) at Kaithal, they said. The government was keen on bringing an ordinance during the cabinet meeting to solve the contentious matter while Sikh bodies were insisting on a special assembly session to pass the bill. The move for a separate Sikh body will have a bearing on assembly segments in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal, Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, where Sikhs have a considerable population. Haryana cabinet ministers Randeep Singh Surjewala and Harmohinder Singh Chatha are in touch with members of HSGPC (ad hoc) headed by Jadish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalwi. HSGPC (ad hoc) president Jhinda confirmed being in touch with CMO officials and ministers Surjewala and Chatha. "This is the question of dignity of Sikhs in Haryana. What we have been asking for was allotted to us after reorganization of Punjab in 1996 and it was signed by Akali MPs then," Jhinda said. The issue of HSGPC has been hanging fire since 2005 when Congress included it as an issue in its election manifesto. In March 2007, the then Ambala City MLA Nirmal Singh had moved a private bill where 80 MLAs had given positive response to the matter. INLD legislators had refrained from commenting on the issue. After the proposal was mooted by the state government, the cabinet had constituted a three-member committee headed by senior minister Chatha to examine the demand of Sikhs from Haryana. Soon, around 2.75 lakh Sikhs submitted affidavits to Chatha committee seeking a separate Sikh body in Haryana. Currently, gurdwara affairs of Haryana are controlled by Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) based at Akal Takht, Amritsar. SGPC exercises control over 72 ancient gurdwaras, which have a total annual turnover of Rs 172 crore as donations from devotees and other means. Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Chandigarh/Govt-prepares-14-page-draft-for-Haryana-Sikh-Gurdwara-Act/articleshow/37110972.cms