MOGA, June 17: Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee which is chiefly a religious body looking after the religious and spiritual aspects of the Sikh community, is also making dynamic strides in the field of education.
SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar while interacting with reporters has said that at present SGPC is running 72 schools, 39 colleges which also include two medical colleges, one dental
college, two engineering colleges, one nursing college in the state as well as in other parts of the country.
He said the SGPC is also opening five more colleges during the current year whose buildings are almost complete at Kartarpur, Bhagta Bhaika, Chamkaur Sahib, Banga and Bhangran.
In reply to a question, Mr Makkar said SGPC had sufficient budget allocation for education for 2013-14 budget of 109.29 crore, which is about 22.28 per cent more than the last year.
The SGPC President claimed that the biggest achievement of the committee was the setting up of multi-disciplinary university named Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University at the historic town of Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab.
This university, according to Mr Makkar, offers studies in the field of Nano Technology, Physics, Biotechnology, Instrumentation Engineering, Food Technology, Computer Science Management, Social Sciences and religious studies. He also claimed that Mata Gujri College Fatehgarh Sahib is the only college in the North India to be given the status of Autonomous college by the UGC, the governing body of higher education in India.
“It was all due to the efforts of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal,’ he said.
(UNI)