Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday inaugurated a new public library inside the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama at Company Bagh and announced multiple development projects worth ₹350 crore for Amritsar. The chief minister said the state government had spent ₹56.36 crore on the construction of new roads and ₹287.01 crore on upgrading existing road infrastructure in the city. He also stated that ₹3.20 crore had been utilised for the construction of six new libraries across different assembly constituencies in Amritsar.
The newly inaugurated library is equipped with modern facilities including computers, internet access, and quality reading material aimed at preparing students for competitive exams. Mann said the libraries are part of the government’s larger vision to promote education, improve access to knowledge, and create better learning spaces for youth. He said these public libraries would play a significant role in raising the intellectual standards of students and help them achieve their career goals.
The chief minister also spoke about the state-wide rural road improvement project. Punjab has around 64,878 kilometres of link roads, which were previously repaired once every six years. Now, the government has introduced a model that includes ongoing maintenance for five years along with the repair work to ensure long-lasting road quality in rural areas.
The six libraries being constructed in Amritsar are spread across the North, South, East, Central, and West constituencies. Two existing libraries—Chheherta Library and the Comrade Sohan Singh Josh Library located in the Old DC Office—have already been renovated at a cost of ₹32.58 lakh and ₹31.41 lakh respectively. Each of the newly constructed libraries cost ₹64 lakh and are scheduled for inauguration in the coming days.
The event also brought attention to the declining state of public libraries in Amritsar. Former Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Prof Darbari Lal, praised the library initiative but urged Chief Minister Mann to take steps toward reviving the city’s older libraries that have fallen into neglect. Citing the example of the Sardar Patel Library in Gol Bagh—built in 2006 with over 2,000 books but later converted into a police post—Prof Lal said it was a loss for the city’s cultural and intellectual heritage.
He added that during the British period, Amritsar was home to several prestigious libraries, including the Motilal Nehru Library at Town Hall and the now-shifted Comrade Sohan Singh Josh Library, originally located at Rani Ka Bagh. Several other small libraries, such as those at Heera Market and Guru Bazaar, have either shut down or are on the verge of closure due to lack of attention and resources.
Prof Lal urged the government to not only build new libraries but also restore historic reading spaces to reinstate Amritsar’s position as the cultural and literary capital of Punjab.
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