Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, June 15
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday ordered a vigilance probe into the alleged usurping of government land by a relative of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal at Abohar.
He was replying to a query during Question Hour of the Vidhan Sabha here.
In a separate query by MLA Raj Kumar Chabbewal, the CM announced a departmental inquiry into alleged misappropriation of funds for SC scholarship during the SAD-BJP government.
Chabbewal said thousands of deserving students had been denied the scholarship as the funds were illegally routed to other expenditures.
MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa raised the issue of “illegal transfer” of land of the water works at Abohar in the name of Paramjit Singh Badal, a relative of the former CM, and others. He said he had raised the issue during the Assembly session last year and the CM had ordered a vigilance inquiry but nothing came of it. Minister for Local Government Navjot Singh Sidhu said the issue had massive criminal ramifications and needed a vigilance probe.
Earlier, the SAD-BJP alliance stormed the well right after the house began its session at 10 am demanding the government to reply on the “denial” of financial benefits to farmers as promised by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on assuming office.
They raised slogans in the Well of the House while flashing a newspaper cutting of farmers not getting the benefits and of farmer suicides. The SAD staged a walkout after they sat in the Well of the House for some time.
Senior Akali leader Ajit Singh Kohar alleged that Navjot Singh Sidhu abused the SAD leaders. Pawan Kumar Teenu and NK Sharma led the group in the House raising slogans demanding an apology from Sidhu.
Congress MLAs stood up and replied to this. Sidhu called the SAD leaders ‘thieves’, which was expunged from the record. Youth Congress leader Amrinder Singh Raja Warring asked Kohar to take an oath on Guru Granth Sahib that Sidhu had abused them. Speaker Rana KP said the video verification of the House proceedings did not show Sidhu abusing anyone.
In reply to a question raised by several MLAs regarding the paucity of staff in government hospitals, the CM said, “We will bring out a white paper on the financial mess that has been gifted to us by the previous government. Realise the ground reality and you will appreciate our situation. The problem does not pertain to health alone but to all government departments.”
Replying to a question on the “lack of fire services” in Sunam by AAP MLA Aman Arora, Sidhu said they needed to understand the problem in a wider perspective. “The state has 54 fire stations and 195 fire vehicles. Of these 114 fire tenders are outdated. The previous government received Rs 90 crore from the Centre to improve fire services but it used only Rs 17 crore and the remaining grant went back to the Centre.”
Question Hour finished an hour behind schedule as the Speaker extended it to compensate for the time lost during the earlier din.
