Punjab Congress has demanded the formation of all- party committees to monitor the central funds grant under various schemes to the states — something termed “totally unconstitutional” by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Putting forth the case before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a special meeting on Tuesday, the leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Sunil Kumar Jakhar demanded that All Parties Committees should be organized at the Centre as well as state level to further monitor funds being released under various schemes for the welfare of poor, dalit and the common man.
Jakhar, along various leaders of state Congress including several MPs and MlAs, maintained that the formation of such committees would ensure proper utilisation of funds meant for its purpose in the wider interest of general public.
“Following unearthing of scams into central funds allocated for general public of Punjab by Congress-led UPA government, the suggested committees should be formed to ensure no embezzlement into very important Food Security Bill besides other centre as well as state schemes,” said Jakhar.
He added that after introduction of food security bill, now the minimums support price (MSP of crop should be fixed in ratio to cost and profit to the farmers in future.
Funds facilitated by UPA government for the benefit of scheduled castes to Punjab had been utilized for other purposes by SAD-BJP government, he alleged.
On the other hand, the SAD strongly opposed the Congress’ demand to form committees for the proper utilization of funds for the centrally sponsored schemes (CSS). “This demand is totally unconstitutional, illegal, politically motivated and amounts to direct interference in the working of the elected state governments,” said SAD secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema.
He added that there cannot be a better committee then the elected state government of any state, which carries the desired public mandate and is accountable to the public.
Cheema said that the Congress leaders must understand that the root cause of failure of centrally sponsored schemes is not in their implementation but in their formation. “It is shocking to note that mindlessly hundreds of schemes are formed overnight simply on the basis of narrow political considerations and thousands of crores of tax payer's money is wasted in the schemes with no results,” he added.