Chandigarh: Bansal’s allegations baseless, says UT administrator

UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday said Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s allegations of neglectful treatment by central government with regard to fund allocation to Chandigarh were completely baseless

Taking on former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit on Thursday said his allegations of neglectful treatment by central government with regard to fund allocation to Chandigarh were completely baseless.

UT administrator Banwarilal Purohit and adviser Dharam Pal addressing a press conference at the New Secretariat Building in Sector 9, Chandigarh, on Thursday. (Keshav Singh/HT)

While addressing mediapersons at the UT Secretariat, Purohit said, “Bansal is a mature politician. I am pained that he levelled allegations that are completely baseless and without any fact. He should have checked the facts before issuing them to the media.”

On May 28, Bansal had alleged at a media conference that the UT administration was not fully utilising the revenue collected from the city’s taxpayers. He had accused the administration of squandering the money away by not protesting the “stepmotherly treatment” meted out to the city by the Union government.

Responding to this, Purohit said the central government had been consistently allocating a budget that surpassed the revenue collected from taxes. He presented a table reflecting the total budget allocation, expenditure, revenue collection through taxes and other receipts during the past four years.

In light of these facts, it was incorrect to claim that the Union government provided inadequate budget allocations in relation to the total taxes collected in Chandigarh, the administrator said, adding that the administration was committed to prudent financial management and utilisation of allocated funds to effectively address the needs of its residents.