Chandigarh: Citing details from the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) report, the Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Saturday cornered chief minister Bhagwant Mann over the issue of State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) allocated to Punjab.
It may be recalled that a row has been whipped up since the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to flood-ravaged areas of the state earlier this week when he announced Rs 1,600 crore compensation for the state ``supplementing Rs 12,000 crore already allocated to the state as disaster relief'', though Mann claimed that he had no knowledge about the Rs 12,000 crore of SDRF funds lying with Punjab.
Taking on Mann, the state BJP chief said in one of his social media messages on Saturday: “This is the CAG report, which clearly states that as of March 31, 2023, Punjab had Rs 9,041.74 crore of SDRF funds, and according to the report, in violation of central government rules, the state government did not even make proper investments of this amount.”
Jakhar further wrote: “Even after that, funds for the years 2023–24, 2024–25, and 2025–26 have been released, which together make a total of ₹12,000 crore. Chief Minister Sahib, even your Chief Secretary, in your presence during a press conference, reluctantly admitted this, and your ministers have also accepted it. Now it would be better if you apologize to the people of Punjab for misleading them and ensure that this amount is properly used to provide relief to the people.”
Jakhar, later in a statement also further held that according to the next report, as of March 31, 2024, the state government had a total of Rs 10,380.41 crore of SDRF funds deposited. He said all these facts make it clear that the Chief Minister is running away from his responsibility and trying to cover up the misuse of government money.
The BJP president said that the Chief Minister cannot say, “I don’t know where the money is.” He added that the Chief Minister must apologise to the people of Punjab for lying to them and that the Rs 12,000 crore SDRF funds should be used to provide relief to flood victims in the state.
