India Today: Chandigarh: Friday,
July 22, 2016.
After the
sand it is water which the Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) showered
on its cronies.
The information
accessed by Dinesh Chadha, a Chandigarh-based advocate and co-convenor of Aam
Aadmi Party's (AAP) RTI Wing, under the Right to Information act, has revealed
how Akali Dal MLAs recommended nearly 25,000 tube well connections to the
cronies.
The connections
were released by ignoring four lakh applicants who were waiting for the
connections from decades. These out of turn connections were released on the
recommendations made by the Akali Dal MLAs under the garb of a discretionary
quota.
"The
nefarious move of the government is not only violative of the Constitution but
is a cruel joke with more than 4 lac applicants of the state, who have been
waiting for tubewell connections since 1996," Dinesh Chadha said.
BACKDOOR
GIMMICKRY, SAYS AAP
Terming it a
'backdoor gimmickry' AAP leader and Spokesperson Sukhpal Singh Khaira said that
the connections were recommended by MLAs to please their party workers. He said
each MLA and constituency in-charge was authorised to recommend 250 tube-well
connections under the 'discretionary quota'. Most of the connections were
recommended by the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife's
brother Bikramjit Singh Majithia.
"It is
even more astonishing, that the Sukhbir-Majithia brothers in law duo have
allotted 1055 and 1461 connections respectively in their constituencies by arm
twisting the Chairman of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). While
one copy of the sanction letter goes to the SE cum Nodal Officer of the
district, the other copy is given to the local Akali MLA or
Constituency-Incharge, so that they can influence the applicant in their favor
by handing it over in person," Sukhpal Singh Khaira said.
A CRUEL
JOKE WITH POOR FARMERS
The Aam Aadmi
Party has also accused Akali Dal of playing a cruel joke with the poor farmers
by compelling them to use the material supplied by the PSPCL besides the fat
installation charges.
"The
common farmers who have deposited money decades back have been denied the
connections.Moneyed people having political influence were given connections.
Not only this, the farmers are also compelled to buy the tube well equipment
from PSPCL which smacks of rampant corruption," Sukhpal Singh Khaira said.
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
ALLOTMENT
The AAP
leader said that the unconstitutional allotment of tube wells not only smacks
of nepotism, favouritism but is gross discrimination with the poorest of poor
four lakh applicants, who have deposited their requisite fees with the PSPCL
for decades.
"AAP
vehemently condemns this discriminatory, autocratic and blatantly
unconstitutional politically motivated decision of the Badal government, to
grant illegal tubewell connections to Akali workers and office bearers on the
recommendations of Akali MLAs and constituency incharges. It warns the Badal
government to immediately scrap the so called discretionary quota of the
Chairman PSPCL and urges it to accord precedence to the original 4 lac
applicants waiting for their turn since decades," Sukhpal Singh Khaira
said.
Khaira
threatened to take the matter to the court if the Punjab government did not
cancel the unconstitutional tube well allotments.