Terming the grant of Rs. 1 crore to The Lawrence School, Sanawar, by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal as sheer wastage of public fund, senior Congress Dalit leader Dr Ram Lal Jassi on Friday said there were more issues in the state that need to be addressed on priority basis than this purposeless squandering of money.

He alleged that stipend worth crores meant for disbursement among poor Dalit OBC students had not been released and it was feared that the sum had been illegally diverted to other purposes. He added that all welfare authorities had either been put on hold or denied the required grant.

Even the central funds under various welfare schemes have been misutilised by the state government, Jassi alleged.

"What was the need to shower such benevolence on an elite institution like The Lawrence School," he added.