Chandigarh:18/07/2022:-ALPHA News India Desk:—–After getting the Chandigarh Press Club registered on October 11, 1979, the next big task was to get premises for the club. Former president of India late Giani Zail Singh, who was then Home Minister and Chandigarh being a UT was under him, played an instrumental role in getting premises for the club in Sector 27.
During one of his visits to Chandigarh, Giani Zail Singh directed then chief commissioner JC Aggarwal to get premises allocated to Chandigarh Press Club. On July 15, 1980, the club building was inaugurated.
Within no time, the club became an important landmark in the city.
“After finishing the registration process, the same day we all gathered at my residence. There we had our first official meeting,” recalls founder secretary general Sukhdev Singh. “Thankfully, in a couple of months Giani Zail Singh became the union home minister and as all of us were covering Punjab, so we all knew him personally. We also made a couple of visits to Delhi to meet him and he got us the current premises, adjoining the community centre, allocated to the Chandigarh Press Club. I also got the constitution from the Delhi’s Press Club of India for a reference and made our club’s constitution.”
The building of the club was constructed under the supervision of one of the founder members HS Sodhi.
“Former Punjab’s Chief Minister Beant Singh, who was then revenue minister gave the first grant to the club. It was for Rs 4 lakh,” says 81-year-old Sukhdev Singh.
The club had its first elections in 1984 and Najm Ul Hassan was elected unanimously as the president and Akhil Gautam was elected unopposed secretary general. Gautam later became the president.
Late Chandra Shekhar, during his tenure as a Prime Minister (PM), visited the club. Then PM Manmohan Singh visited the club at its silver-jubilee celebrations in 2005. Apart from political personalities & the country’s senior journalists, the club also invites personalities from different fields.
“It’s a second-home to us. Every member has contributed & contributing to its legacy. We all take pride to be a member of the Chandigarh Press Club,” former president late Gobind Thukral had said during a number of interactions.