Chandigarh, July 15, 2020 (Yes Punjab News)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh to order registration of a criminal case against a Congress legislator who had stocked central ration meant for distribution among the poor in a Jalandhar hotel besides officials who had allowed Congressmen to indulge in a multi-thousand crore central ration scam.
In a statement here former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal had written a letter to the Prime Minister recently demanding a central probe into large scale embezzlement and wrongful distribution of central ration meant for 1.4 crore people during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“The Congress government had tried to put up a brave face and denied what is common knowledge across the State. Now that misappropriation of central ration by a Congress legislator in Jalandhar has been proved beyond measure, it is incumbent on the chief minister to order a criminal case against the Congress legislator as well as officials who handed over the ration to Congress functionaries instead of distributing the same among the poor and needy.
The chief minister should also hand over the case for investigation to the CBI or any other central agency as it is clear that Congress leaders have been misappropriating wheat and pulses sent by the centre to the State”.
Dr Daljit Cheema said it was now clear that the government did not distribute the ration received from the centre to the needy through its food and supplies department. He said the Jalandhar legislator had admitted that he had kept the ration in a hotel and that he used to give it further to Congress councilors for onward distribution.
He said the legislator was so brazen that he had even put his poster along with the party symbol outside the hotel. “It seems Congress legislators are least afraid of the law even after embezzling central government food stock”.
The SAD leader said while the legislator had admitted hijacking the central rations, he had failed to present any ledger or give details of the stock he had taken from the food and civil supplies department. “It seems the food and civil supplies department is hand in glove with the Congressmen.
Thousands of disbursals have been recorded by the department which never took place. Food and Civil Supplies minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu had tried to put up a brave face earlier and denied any wrong doing. Now he must subject himself to a transparent audit in the face of fresh evidence or it will be clear that he supervised this massive bungling”.
Dr Cheema said it was a travesty of justice that thousands of tonnes of wheat and pulses were shifted to the residences of Congress legislators and leaders and then found their way into the open market or were distributed to Congress favourites. He said this had led to the flight of lakhs of migrant labourers from the State after the government refused to distributed ration to them during the lockdown.
“This also caused extreme hardship to people both in rural and urban areas. The Congressmen behind this multi-thousand crore scam should not be allowed to go free”, he added.
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