Punjab State War Heroes Memorial and Museum to be dedicated to Nation on August 15, 2015

Chandigarh, June 18, 2014: In a befitting tribute to the gallantry services rendered by the Army Heroes in the pre and post independent era, the Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal would dedicate the upcoming Punjab State War Heroes Memorial and Museum to the nation on August 15, 2015.

A decision to it was taken by the Chief Minister, while presiding over a high level meeting to review the ongoing construction work on this state-of-the art memorial cum museum to come over an area of seven acre on Amritsar-Attari Road, here at Chief Minister's Office.

Taking part in deliberations, the Chief Minister underlined the need for perpetuating the legacy of supreme sacrifices made by the great soldiers and warriors of the state so as to encourage the youth to join the Armed forces. He said that the work on this war memorial cum museum should be expedited to ensure that it was completed by August 15, 2015, so that it could become a source of inspiration for the future generations and hoped that this prestigious memorial would act as a lighthouse to inspire the youngsters for serving the nation thereby displaying the ethos of Punjabi's valour and patriotism. Mr. Badal categorically said that this magnificent memorial would be a befitting tribute to commemorate the remarkable contribution made by the Punjabi soldiers and officers to defend the sovereignty of the country during the wars against nation adding that there was no dearth of funds for this ambitious project coming up at a cost of Rs 100 crore.  

The Chief Minister said that this war memorial cum museum must be equipped with ultra modern techniques so that the visitors must get a mesmerizing affect during his visit to the place. Hailing the enormous contribution of Punjabi Defence Officers and Soldiers in safeguarding the borders of the country, he said that the construction of world class memorial cum museum was a real tribute to their unprecedented courage and zeal to serve their motherland. Mr. Badal said that these soldiers have imbibed the spirit of self sacrifice from our great Gurus- Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji who fought relentlessly against the tyranny, oppression and injustice unleashed by the then Mughal Emperors and always championed the human rights for the welfare of mankind. "This museum will emerge as engineering marvel spruced with rare architecture, landscaping and high end technology as a befitting tribute to the war heroes" he added. 

Meanwhile, in order to streamline the work for construction of this prestigious project, the Chief Minister also constituted a steering committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal with Principal Secretary Finance, Secretary Defence Services Welfare, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister KJS Cheema and Chief Architect as its members. This committee would regularly monitor the pace of work on this ongoing project. Likewise, the Concept Committee of the project would study all the historical aspects to be displayed in the museum.

Batting for evolving a foolproof mechanism for the Operation and Maintenance of the Memorial, the Chief Minister said that integrated Maintenance of this ambitious project after its completion must be ensured. He said that a statutory body or society constituted to manage the affairs of this project must be entrusted this job prior to the completion of civil works of this project.

Prominent amongst those present in the meeting included Cabinet Minister Sohan Singh Thandal, Technical Advisor to Chief Minister Lt. General (Retd.) BS Dhaliwal, Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, Financial Commissioner Revenue NS Kang, Principal Secretary Home Jagpal Singh, Secretary Defence Services Welfare SR Ladhar, Financial Commissioner Forest and Wildlife Viswajeet Khanna, Secretary Finance Jaspal Singh, Secretary, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Raji P Srivastva, Chief Architect Sapna, Brigadier (Retd.) GJ Singh and Lieutenant General RS Sujlana (Retd.).