Indian Express: Chandigarh: Saturday, 3rd Feb 2024.
Four days before last year’s Jalandhar parliamentary by-election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had allocated Rs 25 crore as a grant to the Dera Sachkhand Ballan (Jalandhar) for the establishment of the ‘Guru Ravidas Bani Adhiyan Kendra’. However, the grant is still lying with the office of the Deputy Commissioner and the interest earned from it is being sent to the government, revealed an RTI response.
RTI activist Parvinder Singh had asked the Deputy Commissioner’s office under the RTI Act how much of the grant, given to Dera Sachkhand Ballan by the Punjab government on March 25, 2023, has been spent and how much of it is yet to be utilised.
In response, the DC office said the Punjab government had cleared a grant of Rs 25 crore for the Dera Sachkhand Ballan. “This grant of Rs 25 crore was to be allocated on the receipt of proposals from the committee concerned, but no proposals were received from the committee. Therefore, no amount has been released yet,” the DC office said in the response.
It added, “The amount of Rs 25 crore is lying in the office’s bank account and no expenditure has been made from it yet. The interest received from this amount is deposited into the government treasury through e-challan. No amount has been released yet, so no expenditure has been incurred.”
On December 28, 2021, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had announced the establishment of the ‘Guru Ravidas Bani Adhiyan Kendra’. The grant was to be utilised by Dera Ballan, which has political influence in parts of Doaba. A committee was formed which included the chairperson and four members of the Dera Sachkhand Ballan and five government members.
Channi had also presented a cheque of Rs 25 crore to the head of the Dera Ballan on December 28, 2021, just before the imposition of the election code of conduct for Punjab Assembly election.
Later, the grant was returned to the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Jalandhar without being utilised.
Four days before last year’s Jalandhar parliamentary by-election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had allocated Rs 25 crore as a grant to the Dera Sachkhand Ballan (Jalandhar) for the establishment of the ‘Guru Ravidas Bani Adhiyan Kendra’. However, the grant is still lying with the office of the Deputy Commissioner and the interest earned from it is being sent to the government, revealed an RTI response.
RTI activist Parvinder Singh had asked the Deputy Commissioner’s office under the RTI Act how much of the grant, given to Dera Sachkhand Ballan by the Punjab government on March 25, 2023, has been spent and how much of it is yet to be utilised.
In response, the DC office said the Punjab government had cleared a grant of Rs 25 crore for the Dera Sachkhand Ballan. “This grant of Rs 25 crore was to be allocated on the receipt of proposals from the committee concerned, but no proposals were received from the committee. Therefore, no amount has been released yet,” the DC office said in the response.
It added, “The amount of Rs 25 crore is lying in the office’s bank account and no expenditure has been made from it yet. The interest received from this amount is deposited into the government treasury through e-challan. No amount has been released yet, so no expenditure has been incurred.”
On December 28, 2021, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had announced the establishment of the ‘Guru Ravidas Bani Adhiyan Kendra’. The grant was to be utilised by Dera Ballan, which has political influence in parts of Doaba. A committee was formed which included the chairperson and four members of the Dera Sachkhand Ballan and five government members.
Channi had also presented a cheque of Rs 25 crore to the head of the Dera Ballan on December 28, 2021, just before the imposition of the election code of conduct for Punjab Assembly election.
Later, the grant was returned to the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Jalandhar without being utilised.
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