Harpreet Bajwa By

CHANDIGARH: There is trouble in store for the Badals as a `1,700-crore rural development scam during the last year of the SJD-BJP government has come to light. The scandal allegedly relates to development works undertaken in villages across Punjab without tenders being called or utilisation certificates issued for completed works.



According to sources, in the one-year period before the February Assembly elections, the SAD-BJP Government decided to spend `2,100 crore for various rural development schemes.



The details of the scam emerged when Rural Development Minister Tripath Rajinder Singh Bajwa called for a list of all developmental works in the villages in which more than `1 crore was spent. The list had 194 such villages, but the initial audit reports accompanying it revealed that no tenders were called by the panchayats to allot the work; nor were utilisation certificates issued in terms of completed works.



Consequently, there is no record of the financial transactions. These certificates are required by the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) to release the second installment of grant. Of the `2,100 crore meant for these works, `1,700 crore has been released, but the remaining `400 crore has been stopped by the new government.



The maximum grant

has gone to 70 villages in Muktsar district of the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, followed by Bathinda with 27 villages and Amritsar district. But villages in eight districts, namely Pathankot, Ropar, Fazilka, Sangrur, SBS Nagar, SAS Nagar and Ferozepur did not get any money.



The new government has asked for a report on the money spent in the constituencies of Parkash Singh Badal (Lambi), Sukhbir Singh Badal (Jalalabad) and Bikram Singh Majithia (Majitha) in the last 10 years and whether the money was actually spent or not.



Sources said that 33,929 developmental works have been completed while 22,000 works are in progress; some 4,000 works were yet to be started. A total of 60,666 works were ordered by the previous government in 12,000 villages across the state.

Rural Development Minister Tripath Rajinder Singh Bajwa is smelling a `big scam’ behind these works. “We will take action against all those involved in this `scam’ and will place the whole matter after investigation before the cabinet sub- committee,” he said.



The members of the committee include Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Rural Development Minister Tripath Rajinder Singh Bajwa.