Special Contribution By Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral & His family

Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral

Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral from Singapore is making great contribution for humanity. His role in the field of social work is unprecedented. Particularly, he has been making big efforts in the field of education which turns out to be beneficial for the society. Although, he has been living in Singapore since long, he is heartily attached with Punjab which is blessed by Guru Sahib. He always stays ready for giving his kind cooperation for the betterment of the people of his country.

It is noteworthy that he and his entire family are deeply attached with Khadur Sahib (district Tarn Taran, Punjab) which is sanctified by the visits of eight Sikh Gurus and second Guru Sri Guru Angad Dev Jee spent around 13 years of Guruship here. Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral Ji and his family made unprecedented contribution in the welfare projects undergoing by Kar Sewa Khadur Sahib with the cooperation of Sikh masses. Following Sikh tradition ‘Daswandh’ taught by Sikh Gurus, he has been contributing sizeable amount since long, setting a unique example before the world.

BGSBUS Sr. Sec. School

Baba Gurmukh Singh Baba Uttam Singh Sr. Sec. School Khadur Sahib

BGSBUS Sr. Sec. School

Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral contributed to Baba Gurmukh Singh Baba Uttam Singh Senior Secondary School Khadur Sahib founded by Late Baba Uttam Singh Kar Sewa Wale, by constructing two blocks of the building in memory of his honourable father Late Sardar Sohan Singh Jee and mother Mata Attar Kaur Jee.

Thakral complex (sewa of construction of its ground floor was done by Thakral family)

First block containing eleven class rooms was constructed on first floor of front side of the school building. Second block of ten rooms was constructed as ground floor on right side of the U-shaped school building. This portion of the building is being used as offices of principal, director, administrative branch, staff room and class rooms etc.

Sardar Inderbethal Singh Thakral and other members of Thakral family at Baba Gurmukh Singh Baba Uttam Singh Sr. Sec. School Khadur Sahib.

Nishan-E-Sikhi Building

Nishan e Sikhi Building

Quincentenary Parkash (Birth) Gurpurab Celebrations of Guru Angad Dev Ji was celebrated with great enthusiasm and kind cooperation of devotees from all over the world on April 18, 2004 at Khadur Sahib.
Many welfare projects in the field of education, religion, sports and environment were planned and initiated to make the event memorable.

Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral inaugurating Nishan e Sikhi building in presence of various Mahapurakhs including Baba Sewa Singh

Nishan-e-Sikhi Charitable Trust (Regd.) got established for the smooth functioning of the welfare projects. Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral Ji is serving as honourary Vice-Chairman (founder member) in the trust.

Inauguration stone of Nishan e Sikhi

Under this trust, dedicating to the Quincentenary Parkash (Birth) Gurpurab Celebrations, a multi storey
building namely ‘Nishan-e-Sikhi’ was proposed to be constructed. It was also proposed that world class educational facilities would be given to the students in this building. With the grace of almighty Waheguru Jee, Thakral family accepted ‘Sewa’ of the construction of this eight storey building showing commitment for the social cause. The pentagon shaped building was inaugurated by S. Kartar Singh Thakral Ji on April 18, 2011, i.e. on the eve of the “Parkash Gurpurab” of Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji. On the historical occasion, Sardar Thakral also planted a tree of Peepal in Nishan-E-Sikhi campus.

Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral planting a tree after inaugurating Nishan eSikhi building

Famous Architect S. Mohinderjit Singh of Amritsar, Engineer (structure) S. Baljit Singh (Jalandhar), Electrical Engineer S. Sarabjit Singh Basur of Ludhiana and head mason S. Karnail Singh supervised and guided the construction work of the building with great devotion. The building has been completed in about five years through Kar Sewa. Prof. S.P.S Dosanjh of Jalandhar provided the landscaping layout around the super structure having transparent dome. Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral paid much attention toward its design and construction work in order to ensure international standards. He also ensured high-quality material used in it.

The building is well designed with plenty of ventilation and sunlight. Equipped with state of the art, silent gen set, elevators, intercoms, CCTVs and lease line of 4Mbps Wi-Fi internet, energy efficient electrical appliance, adequate air conditioned rooms, the infrastructure stands as a landmark in Khadur Sahib.

Inner view of Nishan e Sikhi Building

A modern auditorium has been constructed in the basement under the supervision of Dr. Raghbir Singh Bains (Canada), where seminars are organised and devotees are acquainted about various plans using multimedia techniques. Ramp facility is also available for senior citizens and handicapped persons. The ground floor of the building houses the reception hall, administrative block and conference cum meeting hall, remaining floors of the building incorporate institutes, offices of concerned Directors/Principals, related libraries, class rooms, computer laboratories. A modern computerized library replete with all types of books and latest educational software has been proposed to be established at the top floor of the building. Further proposals of making the building eco-friendly are under consideration.

View of class room

Various institutes running on different floors of the building constructed with the kind cooperation of
Thakral Sahib are as follow:

1. Sri Guru Angad Dev Institute of Religious Studies (First floor): – Diploma in Gurmat Studies run here with the motive of preparing spiritual preachers. All kind of facilities are being provided to the students free of cost. Numerous students from the institute have bagged merit positions in Guru Nanak Dev University results. This institute is running under the supervision of S. Piara Singh (retired district education officer) and S. Waryam Singh (retired secretary, Dharam Parchar wing of SGPC).

Student of Sri Guru Angad Dev Institute of Religious Studies attending class of Kirtan class

2. Nishan-E-Sikhi Institute of Science Studies (Second floor): – Students are prepared for various entrance examinations (JEE/IIT, PMET, AIPMT, AIIMS etc) in the field of engineering and medical. So far, numerous students from this institute have cleared the examinations securing seats in top professional institutes/universities. This institute is running under the supervision of S. Gursharnjit Singh Mann (retired district education officer).

3. Sri Guru Angad Dev Institute of Career and Courses (Third floor):- Girls are prepared here for Police and various defence forces examinations free of cost. So far, as many as 315 girls have been selected for Punjab Police, Delhi Police, Chandigarh Police, BSF, CRPF, ITBP etc. Of them, three girls have been selected as sub-inspectors (SI) in Punjab Police. This institute is running under the supervision of S. Baldev Singh Sandhu (retired DGM, Punjab & Sindh Bank).

4. Nishan-E-Sikhi Preparatory Institute (forth & Fifth floor): – With the motive of providing military officers to society, the students are prepared here for National Defence Academy (NDA) examination. This institute is running under the supervision of Major General RS Chhatwal (retd).

Nishan-E-Sikhi Sr. Sec. School

After the construction of Nishan-E-Sikhi building, need arose of founding school of international standards and equipped with latest technology of the world. With the grace of Waheguru, Sardar Kartar Singh Thakral and his family got ‘Sewa’ of construction of this school. The construction started in December, 2013 with blessings of Panj Pyaras (five beloveds of Guru). Now, its construction work has reached final phase and most probably, admission for nursery to seventh classes would commence from upcoming academic session (2016-17). Like ‘Nishan-E-Sikhi’ building, Sardar Thakral also pays much attention towards the construction work in order to ensure international standards of design and structure of the building and material being used in it.

The School will be affiliated to CBSE New Delhi and will be of senior secondary level (from nursery to 12th). Significantly, the building of the school is being constructed on the basis of historical Sikh architecture and modern technology of the world will be installed in it. To ensure global standards of the study, highly eligible teaching staff will be appointed here and modern facilities will be provided to its students and staff.

Thakral family’s main motive is to provide educational facilities to rural youth. Especially, Sardar Thakral desires girls belonging to underprivileged sections of the society to get high class educational facilities so that they can earn livelihood and bring change in fiscal condition of their families.