Punjab Assembly Passes Bill For Free Telecast Of 'Gurbani' From Golden Temple, No Tender Needed

The Punjab Assembly has passed the bill allowing the free telecast of 'Gurbani' from the Golden Temple.

The Punjab Assembly has passeed the Sikh Gurudwaras (amendment) Bill, 2023, to make the broadcast and telecast of 'Gurbani' from Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) free for all and without the rewuirement of tender. The Bill was introduced in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday to ensure "free telecast" of Gurbani from the Golden Temple. The Bill was then taken up for discussion.

Speaking during the debate on the Bill, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said no channel should have exclusive rights to broadcast the holy Gurbani.  He said former Akal Takht Jathedar Gian Harpreet Singh had last year directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to have its own channel, but it was not launched. "One channel has the exclusive right to broadcast the holy Gurbani," Mann said in an apparent reference to the PTC channel. Currently, Gurbani is broadcast from the Sikh shrine by PTC, a private channel often linked to the Shiromani Akali Dal's Badal family.

Mann further argued that many people who watch this channel abroad have to pay a hefty amount for its subscription.

The chief minister described it as the need of the hour to disseminate the "Sarb Sanji Gurbani" across the globe with the aim of spreading the universal message of "welfare of all". Echoeing similar sentiments, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manpreet Ayali said Gurbani should be telecast in a transparent manner and only one channel should not have the exclusive rights.

On Monday, the Punjab Cabinet had approved an amendment to the British-era Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 to ensure free-to-air telecast of Gurbani from Amritsar's Golden Temple.

'Gurbani' is a term commonly used by Sikhs to refer to various compositions by the Sikh Gurus and other writers of Guru Granth Sahib. Currently, Gurbani is broadcast from the Sikh shrine by PTC, a private channel often linked to the Shiromani Akali Dal's Badal family.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, had contested the move by the AAP-led Punjab government, saying the 1925 Act is a central legislation and can only be amended by Parliament.

However, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said the state government was fully competent to amend this Act. He reasoned that the Supreme Court had on the issue of a separate gurdwara committee for Haryana ruled that this Act was not an inter-state Act, but a state Act.