Congress to move court over Punjab govt’s Rs 31,000-cr grain ‘scam’ - Hindustan Times
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Congress to move court over Punjab govt’s Rs 31,000-cr grain ‘scam’

By, Chandigarh
Oct 07, 2016 12:33 PM IST

Rejecting the Punjab government’s move to convert an alleged misappropriation of Rs 31,000 crore into a loan for grain procurement, the Congress on Thursday said it has decided to approach court to scuttle the move.

The Punjab Congress on Thursday rejected the state government’s move to convert alleged misappropriation of Rs 31,000 crore into a loan and said it would approach the court to scuttle the move.

Punjab Congress vice-president and chief spokesperson Sunil Jakhar.(HT File Photo)
Punjab Congress vice-president and chief spokesperson Sunil Jakhar.(HT File Photo)

The Congress has also demanded resignation of food and supplies minister Adaish Partap Kairon for the alleged misappropriation.

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The move comes a day after the HT report ‘Punjab to borrow Rs 31,000 cr to settle procurement loan’.

Reacting to the admission made by the state government about missing foodgrains to the tune of `31,000 crore, Punjab Congress vice-president and chief spokesperson Sunil Jakhar said: “You cannot convert a theft into a loan and put the liability on the people of the state for another 20 years.”

Also read | Punjab will borrow Rs 31,000 cr to settle procurement loan

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the consortium of 33 banks refused to provide cash-credit limit (CCL) guarantee to Punjab over what was earlier thought to be a Rs 21,000-crore scandal.

Jakhar demanded that instead of putting the liability on the people of the state, responsibility should be fixed and the theft amount recovered from the personal properties of those responsible.

“The truth has finally come out and the state government has to eventually admit the fraud despite the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre desperately trying to shield it under the patronage of Union finance minister Arun Jaitley,” he said.

In a statement, Congress MP Ravneet Bittu said the Akali-BJP government in Punjab did not deserve to be in power after the expose. “The Badal regime is leaving an additional debt of Rs 31,000 crore that the people of Punjab will have to repay to the commercial banks. This is exactly the value of missing stock in the custody of Punjab government godowns, which has been stolen, mismanaged and misappropriated by the state government,” Bittu alleged.

Demanding Kairon’s resignation, leader of opposition Charanjit Singh Channi said: “After confessing to the foodgrain scam, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal should also have the courage to name the beneficiaries, even if they are his family members,” Channi stated.

AAP SEEKS CLARIFICATION

Terming the Punjab government move to take central loan against the allegedly embezzled foodgrain stocks worth Rs 31,000 crore as a “cover up” exercise by both the Centre and the state, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday said that the Union government should clarify what action it has taken in the alleged multi-crore scam.

AAP state convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi said the party had raised the issue when the amount was Rs 12,000 crore, but by taking a loan of `31,000 crore, the government is trying to cover up the scam.

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