History

Dedicated service to mankind has been the sole nutrient of the Sikh faith rather than any useless rites or rituals. This way of thinking rooted in contributive manual labor or votive offering for the underprivileged was illustrated by personal style and sacrifice of the Sikh Gurus and carried forward by their ardent followers to have an impact on humanity.

The establishment of Chief Khalsa Diwan on 30 October 1902 bears testimony to the dreams of some committed stalwarts of the Guru Khalsa Panth. Opening session of the new organization designated as Chief Khalsa Diwan was held in the Malwai Bunga, Sri Darbar Sahib Amritsar on 30 October 1902. The inaugural Ardaas was performed by S. Teja Singh of Bhasur. Bhai Arjan Singh Bagrian was elected as President, S. Sunder Singh Majithia Secretary and S. Sujan Singh Sodhi Addl. Secretary. In addition to these office bearers, 18 other members were inducted in the executive committee. On 9 July 1904 Chief Khalsa Diwan was registered under Act XXI, 1860. Presently, the main office of the Chief Khalsa Diwan is located on G. T. Road about one Km from Amritsar Railway Station. It also houses the beautiful air-conditioned Gurdwara for recitation of Gurbani and holding religious congregations. Chief Khalsa Diwan is serving society since 1902. It is a premier educational and socio-religious institution which is held in high esteem all over the world for its humanitarian and dedicated service.

THE CONSTITUTION:
Chief Khalsa Diwan, a central organization of the Sikhs is based entirely on democratic principle. Its members are drawn from the Sikhs across the globe. The representative of the affiliated Singh Sabhas and other Sikh organizations, the fellows and delegates of the Sikh Educational Institutes, and life members of the Diwan are entitled to send their elected representatives.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF CHIEF KHALSA DIWAN:

1.	To promote the spiritual, intellectual, moral, social, educational, and economic welfare of the Khalsa Panth.
2.	To propagate the teachings of the Sikh Gurus as embodied in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
3.	To safeguard the rights of all those believing in the teachings of the Sikh Gurus.
4.	To extend facilities and benefits of the activities of the Chief Khalsa Diwan to all irrespective of their caste, creed, or community.
5.	To promote Punjabi Language and Literature.
6.	To open new schools and colleges for spreading quality and modern education.

The success of more than a century old Chief Khalsa Diwan lies in the tireless efforts of its dedicated team of the committed workers bent upon widening in horizons of the community and its energetic president, who is an epitome of truly dynamic, charismatic, pragmatic, and vibrant leadership, conspicuously noticed in job-oriented courses in Chief Khalsa Diwan and Technology Institutes and online teaching.

PRESENT COMMITTEE:

1.	S. Raj Mohinder Singh Majitha	Patron
2.	Dr. Inderbir Singh Nijjar	President
3.	S. Amarjit Singh Vikrant	Vice President
4.	S. Jagjit Singh	Vice President
5.	S. Santokh Singh Sethi	Resident President
6.	S. Swinder Singh Kathunangal	Honorary Secretary
7.	S. Ajit Singh Basra	Honorary Secretary

For effective and smooth functioning of the Diwan, three committees have been formed.

1.	General Committee
2.	Executive Committee
3.	Finance Committee

To enhance its jurisdiction and induct more social workers for the cause of Diwan, CKD in one of its resolutions on 26 May 1955 decided to constitute local committees. The following local committees were established:

1.	Kanpur (1955)
2.	Bombay (1955)
3.	Delhi (1956)
4.	Tarn Taran (1968)
5.	Ludhiana (1974)
6.	Chandigarh (1980)
7.	Jalandhar (2002)

The members in charge of the local committees are nominated by the central organization from amongst the members of the executive body of the local committees concerned. As a rule, the executive committee must meet once a month and General Committee once in two months.

EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE:
Educational Committee Chief Khalsa Diwan was set up immediately after the establishment of All India Sikh Educational Conference in 1908. It has since been functioning much to the satisfaction of the Sikh Intelligentsia, discharging its obligations to the Sikh Educational Conferences by taking stock of the Sikh opinion and views on educational, religious, and social matters, sorting them out and placing them before the panel for discussion and taking steps thereafter to implement the decisions arrived at. So far 66 Educational Conferences have been held which have seen the attendance of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sh. I.K. Gujral, S. Partap Singh Kairon, S. Ujjal Singh, S. Hukam Singh, and many Sikh business magnets and top educationists. The educational committee arranges scholarships and stipends for deserving Sikh students in schools and colleges. It works for the promotion of the Punjabi language and literature, publishes educational reports and graded divinity books for use in its schools.

The educational committee takes note of modern trends in education and tries to incorporate them in the educational program of schools run under the aegis of Chief Khalsa Diwan Charitable Society. The idea of establishing Sikh Public Schools on convent school lines was mooted by the educational committee and then placed in the All-India Sikh Educational Conference held in Bombay in December 1972. The call for opening Public Schools was hailed in Sikh Educational Circles and soon numbers of schools were opened by the Chief Khalsa Diwan. It is a matter of pride that the Chief Khalsa Diwan has now about fifty Sri Guru Harkrishan Public Schools all over India (affiliated to C.B.S.E / I.C.S.E / P.S.E.B.) and two Management Institutes and one Nursing College.

1.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, G. T. Road, Amritsar
2.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Majitha Road Bye-Pass, Amritsar
3.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Basant Avenue, Amritsar
4.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Golden Avenue, Amritsar
5.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Bhagtanwala, Amritsar
6.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Chowk Pragdas, Amritsar
7.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Sultanwind Link Road, Amritsar
8.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Friends Avenue, Airport Road, Amritsar
9.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar
10.	Sri Guru Harkrishan CKD School of Excellence, Shubham Enclave, Amritsar
11.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Tarn Taran
12.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Patti
13.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Sur Singh
14.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Ajnala
15.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Abdal
16.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Mehal Jandiala
17.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Nathupura
18.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Rasulpur Kalan
19.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Sehnsra
20.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Burj Marhana
21.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Ghaseetpura
22.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Asal Uttar
23.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Chabhal
24.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Naushera Dhalla
25.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Kasel
26.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Nawan Pind
27.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Attari
28.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Dhanoa Kalan
29.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Majhwind
30.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Piddi
31.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Hargobindpur
32.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Naserke
33.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Hoshiarpur
34.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Sr. Sec. Public School, Pandori Khajoor, Hoshiarpur
35.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Nanda Chaur, Hoshiarpur
36.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Sri Anandpur Sahib
37.	S.G.S. Khalsa Sr. Sec. School, Sri Anandpur Sahib
38.	Moolan Devi Middle School, Sri Kiratpur Sahib
39.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Chandigarh
40.	S.G.H. Sr. Sec. Public School, Ludhiana
41.	S. Desa Singh Majithia Public School, Majitha
42.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Kurali
43.	Sri Guru Harkrishan International School, Kanpur
44.	Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Urban Estate, Kapurthala
45.	Adrash School, Dhandra, Ludhiana
46.	Adrash School, Naushehra Pannunan
47.	Adrash School, Uchha Pind, Kapurthala
48.	CKD Institute of Management and Technology, Amritsar
49.	CKD Institute of Management and Technology, Tarn Taran
50.	CKD International Nursing College, Chabhal Road, Amritsar

Besides educational institutions the Chief Khalsa Diwan also runs Central Khalsa Orphanage, Surma Singh Ashram, Guru Amardas Old Age Home, Shaheed Udham Singh Library, Bhai Veer Singh Gurmat Vidyalaya, Homeopathic hospital, dental clinic, allopathic dispensary and physiotherapy centre at Amritsar, Bhai Veer Singh Biradh Ghar, Khalsa Parcharak Vidalaya, Central Khalsa Hospital Tarn Taran, Guru Nanak General and Maternity Hospital, Kanpur, Homeopathic hospital Kurali, Guru Nanak Medical Centre New Delhi etc.

GURDWARA REFORM MOVEMENT AND THE ENACTMENT OF SIKH GURDWARA AND SHRINE BILL 1925:
Prior to the formation of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee in 1920, Chief Khalsa Diwan was the only supreme Panthak organization which launched a campaign to eradicate non-sikh practices from the Gurdwaras. Its first commendable achievement was the removal of the idols from the parikarma of Sri Harimander Sahib Amritsar in 1905. Another significant achievement of the Diwan was to secure control of Sri Harimandir Sahib, Sri Akal Takhat Sahib, and the formation of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee Amritsar on 15 November 1920.

In the sweet memory of S. Harbans Singh Attari, a dharam parchar committee was set up to carry dharam parchar campaign intensively. The movement for the emancipation of Kirpan (sword) was set on foot in the year 1912-13. The Sikhs who considered the kirpan as part and parcel of their spiritual self could not wear it as it was placed under the Arms Act by the British authorities; thereby started an agitation leading to some arrests and due to the Herculean efforts of the Diwan particularly the influence exerted by S. Sunder Singh Majithia, the kirpan was exempted from Arms Act in Punjab in June 1914 and rest of India in 1917.

ANAND MARRIAGE ACT 1909:
The founders of Chief Khalsa Diwan did not feel happy at the Sikh rites and rituals. Marriages solemnized in accordance with Sikh Rights did not have legal sanctions behind them. The efforts of the leaders of Singh Sabha movement to emancipate Sikhism from Hindu rituals had earned them ridicule even from orthodox Sikhs. Those who tried to break the shackles of old rights and rituals were subjected to social boycott. Rehat Maryada was not recognized by law inspite of these difficulties the Anand Marriage Act 1909 was passed in the Imperial Legislative Council on October 22, 1909, thanks to Tikka Ripudaman Singh of Nabha who intervened the bill and S. Sunder Singh Majithia who piloted it so ably in the imperial Legislative Council despite stiff opposition. This single act of Chief Khalsa Diwan went on a long way in establishing the separate Sikh identity.

THE KHALSA ADVOCATE:
Instituted in 1903 this monthly paper is an official mouthpiece of the Chief Khalsa Diwan. Ever since its inception it has been effectively working as the spokesman of the Sikhs by voicing their feelings and aspirations. The magazine publishes writings of Bhai Veer Singh and covers the activities of all the Institutions, Schools and Colleges run under the aegis of Chief Khalsa Diwan.