Amritsar (Punjab) [India], October 5 (ANI): Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Vice President Rajinder Singh Mehta said that the main purpose of the help desk in the UK's Birmingham was to facilitate travel to Takht Sahib.

Mehta, while talking to ANI, said that the desk had been requested for a long time.

He said, 'The main purpose of the coordination centre is to facilitate our Sikh brothers and sisters living in foreign countries who want to come to Takht Sahib for darshan. It was being requested for a very long time.'

SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee), Sri Amritsar Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Sri Amritsar abbreviated as SGPC and called as Parliament of Sikhs, is the Apex Governing Body of all the Sikh Gurdwaras in India and Abroad and works under the Directives of Sri Akal Takht Sahib.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is directly elected through election by the Sikh sangat i.e. Sikh male and female voters above 18 years of age who are registered as voters under the provisions of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925.

This Act was enacted by the British Punjab Government after the assent of the Punjab Governor-General on July 28, 1925, AD which was published the first time in the Punjab Gazette of August 07, 1925, AD, This Act came into force on November 1, 1925, A.D. following its official notification No 4288-S dated October 12, 1925, AD.

Following the demise of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in June 1839, A.D. The Sikh Empire started to decline and it finally lasted till March 1849, A.D. when the British government took over the charge in Punjab.

To take control of Sri Harmander Sahib, Sri Darbar Sahib, Sri Amritsar, the British government first appointed a 'Chief Administrator' (Sarabraah) through deputy commissioner (DC), Amritsar and the use of gurdwara management started to take place for establishing Christianity in Punjab.

Slowly, the devout Sikhs began to break away from the Guru Ghars (house). During British rule, the management of Gurdwaras came into the hands of Udasi mahants, and these managers played in the hands of the ruling power. (ANI)