The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee will open shops to rehabilitate families affected by the anti-Sikh riots. The “1984 Stores” will be opened at 10 historic gurdwaras and employ the family members of the riot victims, committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa said. “These stores will be operated on the co-operative model. The profits will be used for their dignified livelihood.”
The first store, a one-stop shop, will be opened at Bangla Sahib Gurudwara in Connaught Place at December-end. The next one will be opened at Rakab Ganj in January.
Besides groceries, the stores will sell articles of Sikh faith such as ‘Dastar’ (turbans), ‘Kangha’ (wooden comb), ‘Kara’ (iron bracelet), ‘Kachera’ (cotton tieable undergarment) and ‘Kirpan’ (iron dagger) and the literature of Sikhism. Household items prepared by the riot survivors, such as snacks, spices, papad, fruit jellies and pickles, will also be sold at reasonable rates.
The stores are expected to do a good business because 35,000 devotees and 2,000 tourists visit the 10 prominent shrines daily. The number swells to one lakh during religious festivals and holidays, Mr. Sirsa said.
The DSGMC is spending ₹1.5 crore a year on pensions to the widows of those killed in the riots. The witnesses are also getting a monthly pension of ₹10,000, he said.
