ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>DHARAM ARTH BOARD</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="DHARAM,ARTH,BOARD"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279DHARAM ARTH BOARD, a body representing different sections of the Sikh community constituted in May 1949 by Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Y&#257davinder Si&#7749gh, R&#257jpramukh of the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), to manage the major Sikh shrines within the new state which had come into being in consequence of the amalgamation of the eight princely territories in the Punjab. Before merger some of these states had their own boards or committees for the purpose. Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state had, for instance, its Interim Gurdw&#257r&#257 Board formed on 8 November 1946; Kap&#363rthal&#257 its General Gurdw&#257r&#257 Committee; and J&#299nd its Gurdw&#257r&#257 Committee. The <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> in the Punjab were controlled by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee under the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Act of 1925, the jurisdiction of which statute did not extend to the princely states. After the formation of PEPSU, a notification (No. 2, dated 20 May 1949) was issued by Sard&#257r S&#257hib Deo&#7693h&#299 Mu'all&#257, constituting the Dharam Arth Board for the state. The Board comprised twenty-five members to which number ten more were added through a later notification. At the first meeting of the 25 member committee convened in the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 Secretariat on 27 June 1949, Jathed&#257r Balwant Si&#7749gh Chan&#257rthal, an Ak&#257l&#299 leader, was unanimously elected president and a sub-committee was nominated to draft rules and regulations which were finally approved by the Board at its meeting on 26 August 1949. The Board had about two hundred Gurdw&#257r&#257s under its control. Prominent among the twenty-five under its direct management were <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> Sr&#299 D&#363kh Niv&#257ran S&#257hib at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, the shrines at Fatehgarh S&#257hib, Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sr&#299 Ber S&#257hib at Sult&#257npur Lodh&#299, Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur S&#257hib at J&#299nd, Gurdw&#257r&#257 Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur S&#257hib at Dhamt&#257n and the <i>state gurdw&#257r&#257</i> at Kap&#363rthal&#257. For <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> not directly managed by the Board there were local committees under its supervision. Owing to acute factionalism that arose within its ranks the Dharam Arth Board was superseded under a government notification, dated 4 May 1954, by a 13-member Interim Gurdw&#257r&#257 Board, with Balwant Si&#7749gh Chan&#257rthal as its president.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As PEPSU became part of the Punjab in 1956, the new state government by a notification dated 10 January 1958, allowed the Interim Gurdw&#257r&#257 Board to continue functioning until it was merged with the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee on 8 January 1959.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Mohinder Si&#7749gh Gill<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>