Punjab Congress legislature Party chief Charanjit Singh Channi on Sunday called upon Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to own up responsibility for leading the State towards bankruptcy.
Channi, in fact, asked him to resign as it has been proved from the candid confession of Food and Supplies Minister Adaish Partap Singh Kairon that even the cash credit limit for food grains was diverted to fund Atta-Daal scheme in 2010.
Channi demanded a registration of case against Kairon for Rs12,000 crore alleged food grain scam which has been highlighted by the CAG also. “The entire investigation into the missing food grains from the godowns should be handed over to the CBI,” he demanded.
“All this time, the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal has been denying financial crisis that Punjab has been confronting for the last several years and giving presentations even in Delhi that was more of an exercise to cover-up the misdeeds and financial bungling,” he said.
Channi added, “Now, Kairon has himself admitted that more than Rs800 crore was diverted in 2010 to finance Atta-Daal scheme for blue card holders. This is the amount sanctioned by the the Reserve Bank to make payments to the farmers for the crops procured.
It is evident that the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that the state government diverted even part of this loan.”
He said that Badal must own up moral responsibility and resign as he has failed to administer the state with Punjab going deeper and deeper into the morass.
Channi made it clear that it is the people of Punjab who were indirectly funding welfare schemes meant for them but with a heavy cost as the same would be recovered from them by way of other means like heavy taxation.
The situation was now so alarming that loans were being raised to repay earlier loans and Punjab had entered into a vicious circle, all due to mismanagement of the present dispensation, he added.
“Congress demands the registration of case against the Minister concerned and investigation to be handed over to CBI. If not, after forming the government after February 2017 elections, the Congress would order a high level probe into this financial mess created by the Badal Government,” said the ClP leader.
He said that it was strange that while the finances of the state government had been mismanaged to the extreme, the fortune of the Badal family had multiplied during the same period and as such, there was more than that meets the eye.
Already the state will be under financial debt of Rs2,25,000 crore by the end of this year, in which Rs1,25,000 crore will be the debt on the government, Rs70,000 crore is the debt on the corporations, Rs19,500 crore is the overdraft limit on the Punjab Government, he said.