The Punjab government has approved grants of 5 lakh rupees each for 29 villages planning to create shared cremation grounds instead of separate ones for different communities. Laljit Singh Lalli, the Minister of Rural Development and Panchayats, has granted approval for a total allocation of 1.45 crore rupees for villages in Ferozepur Sahib, Pathankot, Ropar, Sangrur, Patiala, Tarn Taran, SAS Nagar, Amritsar, and Ludhiana districts. In the previous fiscal year, a total of 39 villages received 1.95 crore rupees for the establishment of shared cremation grounds. Lalli explained that many villages in the state have separate cremation grounds for different religions and communities, and some of these grounds are not fully developed. The state government’s initiative aims to encourage villages with more than one cremation ground to decide to build a shared facility, for which the government will provide a special grant of 5 lakh rupees. This grant can be utilized by the panchayat for the development of the designated cremation ground or for repurposing existing cremation sites into other facilities like parks, etc. Lalli expressed hope that the government’s efforts will foster communal harmony in villages. It is noteworthy that the previous government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, had distributed 1.95 crore rupees among 39 gram panchayats for shared cremation grounds during the last fiscal year.
