Friday 10 June 2016

Rs 97 crore spent on ministers’ vehicles in eight years

2.5 lakh out of pension scheme

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 10
A whopping Rs 97 crore was spent by the Punjab Transport Department on the maintenance of government vehicles provided to the Chief Minister, the Deputy CM and the Cabinet ministers between 2007 and 2015, as per information obtained under the RTI Act.

Sharing the information, RTI activist Dr Jasdeepak Singh said this amount did not include the expenses on the vehicles of security personnel accompanying the VVIPs.

The figure (Rs 17.77 crore) was highest for the 2012-13 financial year.

Charanjit Singh Channi, Leader of the Opposition, said this expenditure showed the insensitivity of the Badals and their ministers. “While the state is heading for a financial emergency, the politicians are enjoying luxuries at the cost of the exchequer,” he added.

2.5 lakh out of pension scheme: RTI info

Information obtained under the RTI Act reveals that the state government spent Rs 330 crore on providing old-age pension between 2007 and 2016. However, names of 2.5 lakh beneficiaries were deleted between 2014 and 2016.

CLP leader Charanjit Singh Channi said, “This means that the government kept giving pension to these people between 2007 and 2014. There is something fishy in the deletion of these names.”

The RTI information also states that the names of 5,000 beneficiaries who were receiving pension for the disabled were deleted between 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Year - Expenses on cars(Rs )

2007-08 - 10.78 crore
2008-09 - 8.38 crore
2009-10 - 10.05 crore
2010-11 - 11.81 crore
2011-12 - 10.48 crore
2012-13 - 17.77 crore
2013-l4 - 14.39 crore
2014-15 - 13.13 crore

Now, AAP out to storm sports turf

Party promises to launch ‘Khedo Punjab’ mass movement, if voted to power

HS Phoolka (centre) poses with sportspersons at the AAP’s Punjab Dialogue in Phagwara on Friday. Tribune Photo: Malkiat Singh

Rachna Khaira and Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Phagwara, June 10
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today promised to launch ‘Khedo Punjab’, a mass movement in sports, if voted to power in the 2017 Assembly elections. The party also proposed to open a sports university in the state, besides a sports school and college each at the district level.

During the ‘Bolda Punjab’ event held here today in the presence of noted sportspersons, coaches and budding players, the members of the AAP manifesto committee invited suggestions from them to raise the standard of sports and education in the state.

The party, which has inducted over a dozen ex-players from the state in the past month, announced to launch the sports movement simultaneously in urban and rural areas. This will include the upgrade of infrastructure, setting up block-level committees comprising prominent sportspersons, and carrying out major changes in the state’s sports policy.

Talking to The Tribune, former wrestler Kartar Singh said, “The infrastructure to be built by the party will be used to produce sportspersons. It will not lie in a dilapidated condition, as is the case now in Jalandhar and other districts.”

Referring to Capt Amarinder Singh, hockey veteran Rajbir Kaur said the Congress had only one ‘Captain’, while AAP had several ones who would root out the drug menace by bringing youths to the playgrounds.

International bodybuilder Prem Chand, who won the Mr World title in 1988, also extended support to the AAP movement.

The manifesto committee proposed an annual stipend of Rs 6,000 for deserving sportspersons and a sports school for at least five disciplines in each district. Also, it has been proposed to recruit volunteers for a monthly sum of Rs 10,000 to organise sports events at the village level.

Party promoting new leaders: Volunteers

During the ‘Bolda Punjab’ event, an AAP volunteer, Gurinder Singh, accused the party of sidelining senior volunteers.

Gurinder Singh alleged that new leaders were hogging the limelight. “People who joined the party recently have been given key positions.” His words received applause from the audience.

The party leaders, including Gurpreet Ghuggi and Kanwar Sandhu, assured him that AAP was only inducting people with integrity. When Gurinder started walking towards the dais, AAP leader HS Phoolka asked him and the others to sit down. Gurinder was eventually removed from the venue by party volunteers.

Workers unhappy for 21 yrs, Warring tells Amarinder

rchit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 10

IYC chief and Gidderbaha MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring today virtually opened a front against PCC chief Capt Amarinder by saying the party workers were unhappy for the past 21 years.

Addressing workers here regarding the scheduled protest on June 18 in Lambi Assembly segment against the multi-crore recruitment scam, he said, “It has been 21 years since the workers experienced happiness (Nazara ni liya). They are suffering since 1995. The last time they were happy was during the tenure of the late CM Beant Singh. I was kid then but I remember everything,” he added.

Notably, he did not mention even a single word in his speech about the five-year rule of the Congress government under the leadership of Amarinder from 2002-07.

He said, “I respect Capt Amarinder Singh and had introduced a number of schemes for farmers and saved our river waters, but we could not give a befitting reply to the Akalis for their highhandedness in that period.”

Funds not used properly: Jakhar

MLA Sunil Jakhar meets the public in Abohar. Tribune Photo

Abohar, June 10
During his public contact programme at the local Friends Colony, Congress MLA Sunil Jakhar alleged that the funds meant for development works were not being utilised properly.

He said Rs 2.30 crore had been spent to link PUDA Enclave with a sewerage system through the Old Fazilka Road but residents complained that they were still awaiting the disposal of waste water due to technical inefficiency of the executing agency. The civic bodies claimed to have utilised Rs 10 lakh on cleaning the main sewer line on the Arya Nagar Road which linked Thakur Abadi via super-suction machines last year but the pipes were getting blocked again and sewage inundated houses in Sidhu Nagari and other colonies.

The Local Bodies Department had not deployed permanent Executive Officer and Engineer for the local Municipal Council in the past few years even as Abohar has the largest population in the district. It indicates that the state government was not sensitive to the problems which people faced each day, he added.http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/community/funds-not-used-properly-jakhar/249825.html

State govt responsible for farmers' suicides, says Phoolka

Our Correspondent

Abohar, June 10

Blaming the state government for farm suicides and drug trafficking among the youth, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and lawyer HS Phoolka alleged that the alliance government had no vision to promote agriculture and combat the drug menace.

Speaking at a sports event at Sappanwali village near here, he said no efforts were made in the past nine years to give employment to the educated youth. Besides, skill development programmes and sports too were neglected.

“It is essential to involve youth in creative activities but sports stadiums by and large wear a deserted look. The situation will be changed if AAP is voted to power in the next Vidhan Sabha elections,” he added.