This has been a long-standing demand of the Akalis but was ignored by all previous governments because of the intense infighting among the various committees managing the gurdwaras and their resistance to such a transfer because of the huge amount of money generated by the shrines.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification on Tuesday transferring 37 major gurdwaras -- most of them in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh -- to the SGPC. According to the notification, the administration and management of these gurdwaras will now be under the SGPC, making it richer by nearly Rs 7.4 crore annually.

Union Chemicals, Fertilizers and Food Minister and a leader of the Akali Dal in Parliament, Surjeet Singh Barnala, welcomedthe move. "I am happy that the BJP Government has agreed to our demand," he said.

The local committees so far managing these gurdwaras were controlled by one political party or the other -- mainly the Congress. Thus, the move would also effectively curtail the influence of that party on these holy places.

Union Minister for Tourism and Parliamentary Affairs Madan Lal Khurana -- who is also in charge of Punjab affairs in the party -- said as per the order, the SGPC Gurdwara Act will stand amended. Gurdwaras with an annual income between Rs 18 lakh and Rs 20 lakh are governed by Sections 85 and 87 of the Act and their administration handed over to local committees. The gurdwaras falling in this category have been transferred.

Khurana said that for administrative convenience 27 different committees of SGPC members will be formed to manage and control these gurdwaras. He recalled that the Akali Dal had been pressing for the transfer of the gurdwaras for years.

However, an SGPCoffice-bearer in Delhi said it had been one of the main demands listed in the Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1971. "The demand had been made for a comprehensive All India Gurdwara Act, with the transfer of all the historic gurdwaras in the country to SGPC. The transfer of 37 gurdwaras in the formerly unified Punjab (including Haryana and Himachal Pradesh) is just the beginning," he said.

Though some of the demands had been incorporated in the Rajiv Gandhi-Harchand Singh Longowal accord in 1985, they were never implemented, the SGPC office-bearer said. Former general secretary of Shiromani Akali Dal (of then Longowal faction) Onkar Singh Thapar said it was a right step in the right direction, albeit belated.

The SGPC office-bearer said they have been pressing for a transfer because the shrines were being "mismanaged". He added: "The local committees were siphoning off the funds and the gurdwaras were in a decrepit state."

Moreover, it had also become a politically sensitive issue. "TheAkali leaders thought they were the real religious heads and theirs the real religious party. Hence they resented some other political party controlling the gurdwaras. There are bound to be protests from other parties now which have been deprived of the power and the money," the SGPC leader said.