Friday, July 22, 2016

How Akali Dal showered 25,000 tubewells to cronies ignoring common man

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.