CHANIDGA actions are proposed to be made in all India Sikh Gurdwara Act which was earlier drafted in 1978 by the Punjab Government and sent to the Centre for presentation in Parliament. The members of the Grafting committee appointed by the Punjab Government met under the chairmanship of Mr. Natha Singh Dalam, Cabinet Minister, ‘earlier this week, and felt that the ‘Act to be passed now should be more in the spirit of Act passed in 1925. The members of the Committee include Mr. GS. Grewal. Mr. Lal Sineh. Dr. Gurnam Singh Tir and two special invitees Joginder Singh Sawhney and Dr. Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia. The earlier draft was made by a committee headed by Justice Harbans Singh opted ‘though all the states in the country have been asked to send in their proposals on the proposed Act but. The recommendations of Punjab will carry maximum weight. The formulation of all India Gurdwara ‘Act was one of the clauses of Punjab Accord. Informed sources said that in the 1978 craft only ‘Amrit-dhari Sikhs were defined as Sikhs eligible to become electors. Non-Amrit-dharies could not be elected but he coopted. Legal experts feel the cooption of non Amritdharies could raise constitutional problems as no one could be coopted who was not an elector. ‘On the other hand, as per the 1925 State Sikh Gurdwara Act, a Sikh ‘was defined to include all those ‘who owe allegiance to the ten Sikh Gurus and the holy Guru Granth Sahib, Even Sehaj Dhari Sikhs could be elected to the S.G.P.C. it has been felt that the draft of 1978 ‘Act proposed the constitution of three different bodies Central the Board. Regional Board and Central Religious Body. These were different from one another and they were relatively autonomous.
There was no uniformity of elections. In some places Singh Sabha ‘was also authorized to recommend names to form the electoral college which was different from the system prevailing in Punjab and Haryana, In the Act proposed now, uniformity is sought to be brought and a central body like S.G.P.C.,is proposed to be made, It is also felt that in 1978 draft greater representation was proposed to the residents of states other than Punjab, for example of the twenty-four members which were to be coopted to the Central Sikh Gurdwara Board, 60% were to be from the residents of states other than Punjab. It is now proposed to have the membership on the basis of population of Sikhs in those states; The 1978 draft mentioned that the central Sikhs Body was to have one-hundred one elected members, one head-Granthi of the Golden Temple and five Jathedars of Akal Takht, besides the co-opted members. It has been observed that greater importance was given to the head Gandhi of the Golden Temple than to the Akal Takht Jathedar who is the religious and temporal head in the 1978 draft which may be reversed in the new recommendation. The 1978 draft had also prescribed educational qualifications for the head Granthi and the various Jathedars of Akal Takhis. It is mentioned that they should be graduates from some university in the Country. The present thinking is that it was impracticable and un-necessary to provide for any educational qualifications and the present system of proper study of religious scriptures should continue to be the qualification for these high priests.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 16, 1986
