Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday demanded a probe into the alleged misappropriation of government funds in job fair scam, besides demanding a white paper on the same in budget session, starting from February 12.
Asking the Congress-led Punjab Government to come clean, SAD senior leader and former Minister Bikram Singh Majithia said: “The Government should tell the state’s youth why it has “back-stabbed” them in the name of ‘Ghar Ghar Naukari’ when it does not have any intention of providing a single government job to them.”
Majithia demanded a high-level probe into the ‘job fair’ scam under which, he alleged, money from the State exchequer was released for jobs fairs which did not offer any jobs.
“According to recent revelations, the Congress government has wasted Rs 38 lakh on organizing six so-called job fairs in Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s home constituency of Patiala in the last two years. Similarly, crores have been wasted in organising such events across the State. This points to a multi-crore scam under which State funds have been pilfered in the name of providing jobs to youth,” he said.
Demanding a white paper on the issue in the forthcoming budget session, SAD general secretary said that the State must list how many government jobs were given to youth as part of the “sham” events hosted by it. “If the answer is none, which is the factual position, the Congress Government must disclose why tax payers’ money was misappropriated in the name of job fairs,” he added.
Majithia said that the SAD was in the process of initiating a state-wide stir to compel the Congress government to fulfil the promises made to the youth. “We will not rest till this is achieved,” he added.