Punjab minister ‘threatens’ school principal in Nabha

PATIALA: The ceremony to inaugurate the new academic block at a government girls’ senior secondary school in Punjab's Nabha turned nasty when state cabinet minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot allegedly threatened to suspend the school principal.The minister got angry when he saw his name not written at the top of the inaugural stone.The incident happened on Thursday, when the minister was invited to inaugurate the new academic block, which cost Rs 95 lakh.As he pulled the strings, Dharamsot was taken aback to see his name mentioned on the third position. He immediately lost his cool and asked the school principal, Nishi Jalota, to explain the ‘discrepancy’.The principal defended herself claiming it was not her decision, but the minister refused to accept the contentions and told her that he could get her suspended in seconds.The new academic building was brought up by two daughters of the late Santosh Kumari, one an IRS officer, and another a doctor, who are passouts of the school and had expressed their desire to construct rooms on the school premises in memory of their mother to express their gratitude. The permission was given by the state government.As the inaugural stone carried the names of the two women above that of the minister’s, he got agitated.The construction of the block consisting of 14 rooms had started in 2012 after the family members of Santosh Kumari made a trust and gathered Rs 50 lakh for it. The remaining amount was collected by school teachers, students and residents of Nabha.While the family members, who had spent Rs 50 lakh for constructing the block had been invited as chief guests, the minister was invited as a special guest, which was also mentioned on the invitation cards.When contacted, school principal Nishi said, “The minister was instigated by someone who accompanied him to the event.”On the other hand, minister Dharamsot said, “Forget what is there in the video recording. I was trying to make a point that more rooms could have been constructed in the amount that has been spent and some wrong doing cannot be ruled out. The matter is being blown out of proportion.”Meanwhile, the teaching fraternity criticised the minister’s behaviour claiming that while the chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh was pushing for ending VIP culture in Punjab, his ministers were yet to come out of that mindset.