Bhagwant Mann Government Will Leave Punjab Bankrupt: Balbir Sidhu
Says, ₹191 Crore ‘Commission’ Will Prove to Be a Major Scam
MOHALI: Senior Congress leader and former Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu has strongly condemned the “Tughlaqi” decision of the Punjab government to push GMADA towards taking a massive loan of ₹15,000 crore and paying a hefty ₹191.16 crore “brokerage” to a private firm from Gujarat for arranging the loan. He stated in clear terms that the Bhagwant Mann government has become a pawn in the alleged plundering of Punjab’s resources by the “people in Delhi.”
Launching a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party government, Mr. Sidhu said, “GMADA, which was once one of Punjab’s richest and most profitable institutions, is today on a ventilator due to the AAP government’s reckless exploitation and failures. Forcing an institution already burdened with approximately ₹8,000 crore in debt to take on another mountain of ₹15,000 crore is a conspiracy to destroy GMADA’s very existence.” He questioned whether a government that is even reluctant to provide a guarantee for the debt bonds is laying the groundwork for mortgaging GMADA’s highly valuable land assets worth thousands of crores into private hands.
He directly accused the AAP government of openly misusing provisions of the Land Acquisition Act and said, “By taking shelter under one provision of this law, the government has raided the finances of GMADA and other development authorities in the name of developing agricultural land and making alternative arrangements. Under the guise of the law, more than ₹10,000 crore has allegedly been forcibly taken from these authorities and deposited into the account of the Finance Department.”
The former minister said that instead of spending this money on the development of the state, the Bhagwant Mann government is allegedly wasting it on political schemes, advertising and trips of its political bosses in Delhi. He said that the government, which has already become financially bankrupt, does not have enough money to run its vote-bank schemes, which is why GMADA is now being forced to raise a fresh loan of ₹15,000 crore to fill the empty coffers of the Finance Department. He further said that by imposing an annual interest burden of ₹1,200 crore on the people of Punjab for the next 20 years, the government is pushing future generations deeper into a debt trap.
Mr. Sidhu also questioned the huge payment of ₹191 crore being made to the Gujarat-based firm “Tipson Consultancy”, saying, “When government banks and officials can easily arrange these funds, whose ‘commission’ has been fixed behind handing over crores of rupees to a Gujarat-based firm? Bhagwant Mann must answer why the hard-earned money of Punjab is being put into the pockets of businessmen from Gujarat.”
The Congress leader warned that the Congress Party would not remain a silent spectator to the alleged financial ruin of Punjab’s assets and the exploitation being carried out under the cover of law. He demanded that the Bhagwant Mann government immediately withdraw this anti-Punjab decision, failing which the Congress Party would make people aware of this alleged mega scam through every possible means.
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