Badal, Malik, Tarlochan Singh new members of Jallianwala Bagh Trust

AMRITSAR :Three days after Punjab tourism and cultural affairs minister Navjot Singh Sidhu met Union tourism and culture minister Mahesh Sharma and requested him to complete the process of appointing new members of the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, the Centre, on Monday, inducted former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, former MP and ex-chairman of National Minorities Commission, Tarlochan Singh, and Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik as trustees.

They have been appointed for five years and the notification regarding this from the Union culture ministry is dated September 28.

The trust is responsible for maintaining and managing the Jallianwala Bagh and the Prime Minister is its ex-officio chairman, and so are the Union home minister, the Punjab governor and the state’s chief minister.

In his meeting with the Union minister, Sidhu had said that any delay on part of the Centre in making these appointments would cause unnecessary delay in getting approvals for the state government’s proposals on the centenary commemoration of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 2019.

The minister had added, “We have already submitted a proposal entailing an expenditure of ₹20 crore for the centenary commemoration on a grand scale to make the world and the Indian youngsters in particular aware of the supreme sacrifices made by those who freed the country from the British rule.”

THE TRUST IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING THE JALLIANWALA BAGH, THE PRIME MINISTER IS ITS EXOFFICIO CHAIRMAN