CM seeks waiver of passport condition for Kartarpur visit

ALSO ASKS CENTRE TO EXPEDITE ROAD ALIGNMENT FOR EARLY LAND ACQUISITION

CHANDIGARH : Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday sought waiver of the passport condition for pilgrims to pay obeisance at Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Kartarpur in Pakistan on the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak.

In a letter to Union home minister Rajnath Singh, Amarinder has requested the Centre to put in place a simple procedure which would facilitate the devotees to have ‘khulle darshan deedar” (free access), keeping with the traditional Sikh ardas (prayer), of the historic Kartarpur gurdwara on Pakistan’s territory.

A spokesperson of the CM’S office said he has asked the central government that any other valid government document such as the Aadhaar card, may be used in place of passport for identification to enable maximum pilgrims to visit the holy shrine.

He also asked the Centre to quickly finalise the alignment of the road access and attendant government infrastructure to be built around the corridor so that the process of land acquisition can be commenced without any further delay. The land proposed to be acquired should factor in both present and future requirements, the CM said.

Noting that the ministry of home affairs must be currently engaged in working out the operational modalities of the corridor, Amarinder also suggested that the system should provide for both, day-to-day prayers as well as “akhand and sehaj paths”.

MEETING ON CORRIDOR

NEW DELHI: Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday held a meeting with senior officials, including Border Security Force (BSF) director general RK Mishra and Punjab chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh on Kartarpur corridor in the national capital.

The meeting, which was held at the North Block, discussed an array of issues related to the Kartarpur corridor.