Chandigarh, February 10: Responding to the demand of the Christian community for land for graveyards, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Monday directed the Rural Development & Panchayats Department to immediately identify Shamlat (common land) to provide burial grounds required by the community across the state.
Addressing a high-level delegation of Christian Welfare Board, Punjab, led by its Chairman Salamat Masih, Capt Amarinder said that the state government was duty bound to provide land for the burial grounds to the Christian community and the same would be done at the earliest.
The delegation thanked Capt. Amarinder for his personal intervention to divert the proposed new road from the iconic Baring Union Christian College, Batala, without disturbing its heritage status, thus respecting the sentiments of Christian Community.
The Chief Minister promised to look into the community’s other genuine demands, including allocation of funds for their overall welfare and facilities to the Board for ensuring its efficient functioning to fulfil the aspirations of Christians living in Punjab.
Those present at the meeting included Education & PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla, Commerce and Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora, Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, MLA Navtej Singh Cheema and Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh.
The Christian Welfare Board was represented by Sr. Vice Chairman Bishop Emmanuel , Vice Chairman Tarsem Sahota Raman Ramesh Masih besides other member namely Sunny Bawa, Happy Masih, Jasson Mathew, V.V. Anthony, Kamal Khokhar, Prem Kumar, Deepak Nayyar.
