Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday sanctioned the final instalment of Rs. 15 Crores for the completion of the second phase of the upcoming Jang-E-Azadi Memorial at Kartarpur in Jalandhar.

The Chief Minister also agreed to dedicate the memorial to the nation on Punjab Day on November 1, an official spokesperson said after a meeting of the Punjab Freedom Movement Memorial Foundation, which is constructing the memorial.

Captain Amarinder, who is the Chairman of the Foundation, also directed the Punjab Industrial Development Board (PIDB) to allow the Foundation to use unutilized funds of Rs. 8.12 Crores for the construction and upkeep of the memorial, which will epitomize Punjab's contribution to India’s freedom struggle.

The Chief Minister said the memorial would help the younger generations to connect with the past, which was essential to engage with the future.

Minister for Tourism Navjot Sidhu said that first phase was completed in June 2017 and assured that second phase of the project would be completed within the next two months.

Earlier, members of the Foundation made a presentation to the Chief Minister on the completion of Phase-1 of the project. Foundation Member Secretary Dr. Barjinder Singh Hamdard said the memorial offers great opportunity to restate the values followed by India’s freedom fighters – right from Bhai Maharaj Singh to Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who laid down their lives at the altar of their motherland. Future generations would learn a great deal about their glorious past from the memorial, he added.

The project, spread across 25 acres of land, was originally sanctioned in July 2012 at a total cost of Rs. 315 Crores. Eminent personalities such as Shyam Benegal have been engaged with the project to ensure quality and class. The memorial is a unique piece of art which has a minaret, seminar hall, auditorium, movie hall, cafeteria, library, Open Air theatre for laser show and an amphitheatre, said Dr. Hamdard.

Others who attended the meeting included Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, Principal Secretary Tourism Jaspal Singh, and Director-cum-Managing Director Tourism Shivdular Singh Dhillon.