Punjab Congress on Wednesday said Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had spent Rs 22 lakh on a “fruitless” tour of China in 2011 and urged him “to deposit this amount back in the Government treasury”.
Congress also urged the SAD-BJP Government to issue a white paper on all expenses incurred by the Chief Minister, his deputy, and all the Ministers on their foreign tours during the last seven years. Supporting the allegations on the basis of information provided by the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Congress alleged that Rs 22 lakhs were spend “on one fruitless tour of Deputy chief Minister and his cronies to China in 2011 exposing the junior Badal’s loot of the public exchequer for fun and frolic”.
As per RTI information, Sukhbir and his delegation of officers “spent a whopping Rs 22,19,995 of tax payers’ money on a 10-day tour to China in April 2011”.
“The purpose of tour was to explore possibilities of Biomass Power Generation Technology from rice straw combustion and low Head Technology for Small Hydro Power. Despite spending a whopping amount, neither was any MOU signed nor any agreement reached for achieving the purposes. In other words, it was a fruitless tour merely for holidaying and indulging in fun and frolic in China for 10 days, at the cost of the public exchequer,” said Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira.
Khaira has sought the details of all foreign tours undertaken by Deputy Chief Minister since March 2007 till date from the State Government, “but unfortunately, concealing all such information, the Government has provided information of only one such tour”. “If they can spend Rs 22 lakh of Government money on one tour to China, one can imagine the ‘loot’ of all public exchequer by the Badals for dozens of such foreign tours undertaken by them during the last seven years,” he added.
He said that Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister had visited many foreign shores and made lofty statements, to replicate different projects of these developed countries “but to no avail”. “Badal duo cannot list even one project implemented or achieved from any of their foreign tours,” he said.