Maharashtra CM Fadnavis waives off Nanded Takht board’s ‘loan’ of Rs 61 crore

JALANDHAR: Takht Hazoor Sahib Management Board, Nanded, has heaved a sigh of relief after Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announced to waive off a ‘government loan’ of Rs 61 crore. The amount that was spent by Maharashtra government on raising inns and other infrastructure during the 2008 celebrations of tercentenary of Guru Granth Sahib’s Guruta Gadi at Hazoor Sahib. The board had demanded that the amount, spent during an event in which lakhs of people had participated, be treated as donation but state government was repeatedly writing to the board to return the sum.
On December 31, Fadnavis made the announcement while visiting the Takht.He participated in a religious function organized to mark birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, who spent his last days at Nanded.
“We pray and seek blessings at this pace but the previous government set a bad precedent by reflecting the amount as loan on the Takht Sahib Management Board. We get energy from here and I find it bizarre that government should say that the Takht Sahib was under government debt,” the CM said, while announcing that he was waiving off the amount immediately. The country and its people would always remain indebted to Guru Gobind Singh, Fadnavis added.
Speaking to TOI on phone from Nanded, BJP MLA and board president Tara Singh said, “We have been receiving repeated reminders from the government that the amount was a loan on the Takht Sahib board and it should be refunded. Finally, I raised the issue with the CM. He came here to make the announcement and to pay his obeisance at Takht Sahib.”
He said that the amount was spent on raising the inns and surroundings for stay of pilgrims and it was a government decision in consultation with the board. “This step of the CM would send a very good signal to the Sikh community,” he added. The BJP MLA was appointed president of the Takht management board by the Fadnavis government in March 2015.
“The board was being asked by the government to prepay the amount stating that it was loan after the Guruta Gadi celebrations were over. The board had urged the government that it should be treated as donation but they refused,” said Devinder Pal Singh, a former banker who has been working as an OSD with the board for long.
Meanwhile, Tara, who is MLA from Mulund, also raised the issue of allowing construction of buildings for the pilgrims on gurdwara land, which had been kept reserved by the Nanded Municipal Corporation. He also demanded a ban on sale of liquor, dodda (poppy) and opium in one km radius from the surroundings of the Takht Sahib. The CM accepted these demands and made immediate announcement, he said.