Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, December 5: People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal today slammed the Parkash Singh Badal government for its nefarious design to murder democracy in the state by spying on the political adversaries going by the decision to place orders for the bugging devices.
“It is most shocking that rather than focussing on the governance which is at its lowest ebb, the Badal government in its desperation has gone in for methods to deal with the adversaries the way it is done in totalitarian regimes. This is contrary to the all norms and ethics of democratic functioning”, he said.
He the Akali Dal government was facing strong anti-incumbency and the purchase of spying devices only reflected the thinking of the decision makers to keep watch on the political opponents and plan moves accordingly which betrayed utter frustration and failure to improve functioning.
He pointed out that the sheer mismanagement and utter callousness of the Badal government was evident from the non-utilisation of hundreds of crores of central funds which had even lapsed. What was all the more shocking that these funds included Rs. 322.16 crore received last year under the post-matric scholarship for students belonging to minority communities. This was a scheme totally funded by the centre in which the state government was not to make any contribution. The state government did not utilise even a single rupee from this allocation. Somebody somewhere must explain this criminal negligence as it also pointed to the least priority the education sector was receiving.
He said of course, the state government released Rs. 82.76 crore but balance of Rs. 239. 4 crore were still lying unutilised. Similarly, the state government had not released a single paisa under the scheme of post-matric scholarships for other backward class students during the last two fiscal years. The state government has to contribute 50 per cent of the funds under this scheme. While the centre had released Rs. 43.42 crore last year, the funds for the current year had not been given in view of the non-utilisation.
Manpreet said while this was the state of affairs in case of the area which be priority sector as it concerned the future of not just the students but also the state, the government was resorting to the methods which had been used by them totalitarian regimes which would not be tolerated.
He warned the state government against anti-democracy norms of governance saying Punjab could not be converted into police state.
