The man who put Jalandhar on the map

Source: The Indian Express: Story; Anju Agnihotri Chaba : Jalandhar, Sat Dec 01 2012, 05:29 hrs

Published On: 5 December, 2012, Wednesday

Jalandhar, the city which elected former Prime Minister I K Gujral twice to the Lok Sabha, remembers him as the man who gave the city a facelift by bringing in, among others, the Pushpa Gujral Science city, Jalandhar Doordarshan and All India Radio.

After Partition, Gujral's family came to Jalandhar and started living in the house of Mohammad Ali Jinah's relative at Brant Ratt road near Rainak Bazaar, said Deepak Jalandhari — a close associate of the family. "Gujral played an important role in bringing Doordarshan to Jalandhar, as it was initially set to come up in Amritsar. He also played an important role in setting up All India Radio in Jalandhar," he added.

"He gave central grant worth Rs 25 crore to set up the first medical college of Doaba region — Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences and another Rs 10 crore for setting up tubewells," said Jalandhari, adding that after Partition, while the Gujrals were coming to Jalandhar by train, his wife Shiela gave birth to their elder son, Naresh Gujral — a Rajya Sabha MP and SAD leader — at the Jalandhar railway station.

Pushpa Gujral, Gujral's mother was a social worker, who started Nari Niketan — a home for destitute girls. Seema Chopra, a trustee of Jalandhar Nari Niketan, said Gujral had brought the first Centre-sponsored project to Jalandhar — the Do Moria railway overbridge.

Surinder Saini, who has been associated with Gujrals and Nari Niketan since 1999, said: "Gujral brought Ramamandi ROB here and intervened when the Steel Authority of India office was being shifted from Jalandhar to Chandigarh." Gujral was a frequent visitor to the city till 2007.

Link: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-man-who-put-jalandhar-on-the-map/1038918/