11 universities to have Chair in Nanak’s name

Kapurthala

To mark the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak Dev, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced his government’s decision to install a Chair in the name of the Guru at 11 universities, including one from Iran.

Capt Amarinder made the announcement at an event at Punjab Technical University here, in the presence of representatives of all 11 universities, of which seven are in Punjab and three spread across other parts of India.

The chair will be entrusted with conducting research on the life and teachings of Guru Nanak, according to an official statement.
Tourism Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said the Chairs would be established at Punjabi University, Patiala; IK Gujral PTU Jalandhar-Kapurthala; Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda; Lovely Professional University, Phagwara; Chandigarh University, Gharuan; Chitkara University Rajpura; Akal University, Talwandi Sabo; besides ITM University Gwalior; RDKF University, Bhopal; JIS University, West Bengal; and University of Religion, Iran.

The event was held to honour and award 400 prominent Punjabis from around the world for their contributions in various fields. The Chief Minister expressed happiness at seeing Punjabis making the state and the country proud with their achievements.He exhorted the Punjabis to remember their roots and join his government in creating opportunities for the youth, who lacked opportunities in the state at present.

“Let us all join hands to give them those opportunities,” he added.

Pointing out that it was the responsibility of the present generation to ensure the development of the next, Capt Amarinder urged the visiting Punjabis to make the youth aware of their duty. “A real Sikh would always listen to the ‘baani’ of the Guru,” he said.

The Chief Minister also pointed to the depleting groundwater table to warn that, as per assessments, Punjab was likely to turn into a desert in the next 25 years.

“We have to prevent this from happening,” he stressed, adding that the real tribute to Guru Nanak Dev would be to preserve our natural resources for future generations.