Chandigarh-Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asserted that the Aam Aadmi Party government was set to loot Rs 341 crore from the Punjab treasury under the guise of paying commission to raise a loan of Rs 25, 000 crore which it aimed to use to contest elections in Punjab and other States.
Addressing a press conference here, senior SAD leader N K Sharma demanded an independent probe into the entire issue while asserting that there was no need to pay a commission of Rs 341 crore for raising loans when they were backed by a government guarantee. “The entire issue smacks of corruption and kickbacks and needs thorough investigation”, he asserted even as he condemned the government for not making any capital investment plan despite taking such huge loans.
Mr Sharma said the AAP government was also set to bankrupt and destroy two leading institutions of the State – PSPCL and GMADA by forcing them to take huge loans at a high interest rate of 8.65 per cent. He said the Rs 10, 000 crore loan being taken up by PSPCL would not only lead to an increase in power tariffs but also impact new industrial investment into the State. “Industrialists are getting power at Rs 5 per unit in Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan and Haryana are providing the same at Rs 6 to Rs 7 per unit”. He said industry was already being charged Rs 9 per unit and that this rate also would be increased to Rs 13 per unit with PSPCL set to cough up an interest of Rs 17, 300 crore on the loan over a period of twenty years. He said similarly GMADA would also go into the red after being saddled with an Rs 15, 000 crore loan and even the salaries of its employees would be endangered.
The SAD leader also released figures to show how the AAP government was lying and deceiving Punjabis by making wild claims of giving 65, 000 new government jobs to youth. He said according to information taken by the SAD under the right to information act, the AAP government had only advertised 24, 000 vacancies in the last more than four years. “These include all vacancies advertised by the Subordinate Services Selection Board which recruits candidates for category B, C and D jobs as well as vacancies advertised by the PSPCL and other departments”. He demanded that the government release a list of all 65, 000 government jobs it had given youth during its tenure.