A war of words broke out between the ruling Congress and the Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal on Wednesday over the issue of alleged financial irregularities during the SAD-BJP regime in the State.
Punjab Local Government Minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu said that the Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, in his communication to the Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, has pointed out irregularities of a financial nature in the matter pertaining to the release of Central and State share of funds to the Urban Local Bodies.
Dark reality
“The Akalis should stop justifying their faults and bad mouthing the Congress-led government on the issue of holistic development of the State as the dark reality of their decade-long rule has been unmasked by the Union Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry,” Mr. Sidhu said here.
He said that as per the communication, not only was the State's share not released but there was also a delay in releasing the Central government's share, making it a grave anomaly.
Smart city mission
“Although the Akalis kept harping on about the smart city mission the fact is that no project has been tendered so far. The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT ) mission is also full of glitches and only one urban local body has been declared open-defecation free, putting the much-touted Swachh Bharat mission in jeopardy,” he alleged.
‘Cheap gimmicks’
The SAD lost no time hitting back at the Minister, saying that the communication Mr. Sidhu was referring to is of April 20, 2017. They said that even after a gap of nearly one month, instead of fulfilling the shortcomings mentioned in the letter, Mr. Sidhu is resorting to “cheap political gimmicks” to blame the SAD leadership.
“The Union Minister has observed that projects are getting delayed due to non release of funds, sometimes by the State or Central government… but Mr. Sidhu has misled the people by alleging that ₹400 crore released by the Centre has been embezzled by the previous government. Whereas in reality and as per the letter, it is clear that Ludhiana smart city project is in the initial stage and only ₹200 crore was received by the State. The then Punjab (SAD) government also released ₹32 crore,” said senior SAD leader Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema.
