Amritsar: Following complaints of non-Amritdhari Sikh students getting free education facility meant for Amritdhari Sikh students at its educational institutions, the SGPC has now changed its policy and decided to extend scholarships to Amritdhari Sikh students.
A news reported by The Tribune (TT) notes that the SGPC has made an allocation of Rs 2 crore in its annual budget for 2015-16 for awarding these scholarships at its educational institutions. It started free education scheme for Amritdhari Sikh students last year with an aim to propagate Sikhism.
The benefit was availed by around 9,000 students at SGPC-run educational institutions last year for which the SGPC spent around Rs 6-7 crore. There were complaints that some non-Amritdhari Sikh students also benefited under the scheme.
As per The Tribune, the SGPC secretary Manjeet Singh confirmed that they had received complaints about some non-Amritdhari Sikh students wearing “kirpan” at the time of attending school/college to project themselves as Amritdhari, so that they could get benefits under the scheme. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said the scholarship would be extended to only Amritdhari Sikh students whose parents were also Amritdhari Sikhs. He said the scholarship would be Rs 2,000 annually for students at the primary level, Rs 3,000 up to Class X and Rs 4,000 for plus-two students.
The SGPC is also providing free education to Sikh girls hailing from Jammu and Kashmir at its educational institutions. SGPC secretary Manjeet Singh said they would also provide monetary aid to the students from economically weaker sections for their education, for which the budget allocation might also be increased.
The SGPC also runs a correspondence course for the propagation of Sikhism, in which those attaining first, second and third positions are awarded with cash prizes of Rs 5,100, Rs 4,100 and Rs 3,100, respectively.