Six years after it was notified, the Punjab Government will implement the Anand Marriage Act-2016 in letter and spirit for the Sikhs to register their marriages in the State. Announcing this, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said that the Government will take steps to generate awareness about the Act.
“Though the Act was notified in 2016, there is hardly any awareness about it in Punjab. Several other states have implemented this Act but we have lagged behind. Now, it will be implemented here as well,” said Mann, accompanied by wife Dr Gurpreet Kaur, after paying obeisance at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, on the occasion of the parkash purb of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.
Mann said that 22 states, including Haryana and Delhi, have implemented the Act but it has not been implemented in right earnest despite the notification issued six years ago. “The Government will take steps to generate awareness about the Act,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mann prayed for peace, progress, and prosperity of the border state and greeted people on the auspicious occasion. . He also prayed that the ethos of communal harmony, peace and brotherhood are strengthened in the State with every passing day and Punjab leads the country in every sphere.
“Guru Nanak Dev ji was a great spiritual ambassador who guided humanity to attain salvation through devotion to God. His teachings of ‘Kirat Karo, Naam Japo, and Vand Chako (Work hard and honestly, always remember God, and share with the needy)’ are relevant in today’s materialistic society,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that Guru Nanak Dev ji envisioned a casteless society, free from rituals, thereby redeeming the suffering humanity from the pangs of agony. “Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji motivated mankind with new ideas, aims, and aspirations and called upon it to dispense with the maladies of hypocrisy, falsehood, pretensions and caste-prejudices,” said Mann while appealing to the people to imbibe the spirit of service and humility as preached by the Great Guru and strive hard for carving out a peaceful, prosperous and healthy society by following the precious legacy of Guru Nanak Dev.
In the backdrop of air pollution due to farm fires, the Chief Minister reminded people of the teaching of ‘Pawan Guru, Paani Pitaah, Mata Dharat Mahat’ from the Gurbani, where the Guru equated air (pawan) with teacher, water (paani) with father, and land (dharat) with mother.
Calling for steps to protect the environment, Mann said that Guru ji had at that time taught the people to preserve the environment when the pollution was nowhere in the scene. “Guru Nanak Dev ji was also a firm advocate of women empowerment and equal status for females in the society,” he added.