Chandigarh, Oct 1 (Inditop.com) Punjab’s former chief minister Amarinder Singh Thursday accused the Akali-government of various corrupt practices and for leading the state into extreme financial crunch.
“The financial situation of Punjab is very poor and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal is not making his stand clear on this front. Every month this government is selling its securities worth Rs.400 crore (Rs.4 billion) to pay the salaries of its staff,” said Singh, while addressing reporters here Thursday.
Singh also spoke about the Punjab Institute of Medical Science (PIMS) project in Jalandhar.
“PIMS project is spread over an area of 54 acres and they have given this land on lease for Rs.173 crore (Rs.1.73 billion) for the next 99 years. This is not at all justified as it is the land of Punjab’s people and they have given it on lease at a very low price, which is worth thousands of crores,” Singh added.
He said that during the Congress tenure in Punjab, they had also come across such projects but they did not go for them as the terms and conditions were not in the favour of the masses.
Talking about another project, Singh said: “There is also gross mismanagement in the Bathinda refinery project in which HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited) and Mittal investments are the main stake holders. The government should understand that they are only the facilitators in this project and should not try to take undue mileage out of this.”
Singh also accused the Parkash Singh Badal-led Akali Dal government for the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab.
“Law and order situation is at an all time low in the state. They (Akali Dal activists) are beating government officials who are not in favour of them. Police is working in connivance with them and is not registering cases against Akali men,” he alleged.
“The government is also unable to provide power to farmers to run their tube-wells. They are spending money out of their own pocket to buy fuel and generators to run them. Punjab’s industry, agriculture, education and every sector is in doldrums,” said Singh.
