Punjab offers to bear expenditure for Ravidas temple in Delhi
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Jan, 2022 11:38 AM
Chandigarh, Jan 4 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday said the state is ready to bear the entire expenditure to be incurred on land allotment by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for the construction of the Sant Ravidas temple in the national capital.
The centuries-old Ravidas temple in Tughlakabad was demolished by the DDA on August 10 in 2019 following a Supreme Court order. Since then, a series of protests have been organised by Dalit organisations.
The temple was built in the 15th century on land allocated by the then Delhi emperor, Sikander Lodhi. Guru Ravidas had spent three days at the same place in Delhi where this temple was built.
An official statement quoting Channi said the DDA had recently asked the Guru Ravidas Vishram Dham Mandir Chamarwala Johar Tughlakabad Committee to submit Rs 4.33 crore for taking 400 sq m land with the capitalised rent for 30 years.
Since the amount was hefty, Channi said various delegations have approached him for seeking requisite contribution from the state government.
He said as the state government is following the ideology of Guru Ravidas in the right earnest and therefore in the same spirit, they have now decided that if the committee desires so, the state government will bear the entire expense for procuring the land to construct the temple at Tughlakabad.
Sant Ravidas was a 16th century spiritual leader who is worshiped by Dalits. Many of his teachings were also included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holiest book for the Sikhs.
The Dalit community has a large population in state's Doaba region comprising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala districts.
"My son will go to the police tomorrow and assist the probe. He has not escaped anywhere," Mishra said on his arrival in Lucknow. He said that his son was very much in their house in Lakhimpur.
Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday proceeded on indefinite fast in support of his demand for action against Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra and main accused in Sunday's violence in which nine persons, including four farmers, were killed.
Following a tipoff, the DRI sleuths swooped on the port on October 4 and detected the huge narcotics contraband, valued at Rs 125 crore, among boxes of a cooking oil container arriving from Iran and are now probing the possibility of a bigger drug smuggling racket with international ramifications for India and other countries.
A total of 27.6 per cent of the respondents are 'satisfied to some extent', while 6.1 per cent chose the 'can't say/don't know' category. In the 'very much satisfied' category, Uttar Pradesh tops the list at 40.3 per cent, followed by Uttarakhand at 34.8 per cent, Manipur at 33 per cent, Goa at 18.8 per cent and Punjab at 14.4 per cent.
The UK travel advisory had made 10-day quarantine mandatory for Indian travellers, who have received both doses of Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).
The leaders have been demanding the arrest of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish Mishra in connection with the death of farmers during the violence. Sidhu threatened to go on hunger strike if action is not taken against the minister's son by Friday.
