The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Punjabi: ਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ ਕਮੇਟੀ) (also called the parliament of the Sikhs) is an organization in India responsible for the upkeep of gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in three states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. SGPC also administers Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. Gurdwaras in Delhi are the administered by Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee. These committees are composed of officials elected in open conclaves held at Harmandir Sahib in which all Sikhs may participate.
The SGPC is governed by a chairman, a treasurer and a general secretary. The SGPC manages the security, financial, facility maintenance and religious aspects of Gurdwaras as well as keeping archeologically rare and sacred artifacts, including weapons, clothes, books and writings of the Sikh Gurus. SGPC also sponsors and manages various educational institutions, hospitals and charity organizations.
Bibi Jagir Kaur was the first woman to be elected as the president of the SGPC in September 2004. She had held the same post from March 1999 to November 2000. As of 2006, the chief of the Committee is Avtar Singh Makkar.
Read more about Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee: History
Famous quotes containing the word committee:
“A committee is organic rather than mechanical in its nature: it is not a structure but a plant. It takes root and grows, it flowers, wilts, and dies, scattering the seed from which other committees will bloom in their turn.”
—C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–1993)