Cash-starved Capt Amarinder govt splurges Rs 3 cr on renovating VIP bungalows, offices

RTI info: AG tops the list with Rs 1-cr renovation bill for camp office and residence, followed by CM at Rs 50 lakh; finance minister Manpreet Badal too gives austerity a go-by with Rs 25 lakh spent on repairs

Preach austerity, practice luxury. While blaming the previous regime for leaving behind empty coffers, the Captain Amarinder Singh government has been splurging on VIP bungalows.

HT File

The estimated cost for renovating the official residence of the CM, advocate general and ministers, including finance minister Manpreet Badal, who has been preaching “every penny saved, is penny earned”, runs into crores. The total cost of repairs and renovation is Rs 3 crore for the CM, AG, ministers and two advisers to the CM.

Punjab advocate general Atul Nanda tops the list with over Rs 1 crore renovation bill for making a camp office at his official residence (Kothi number 50) in the plush Sector 2 of Chandigarh and repair and renovation of the house. The information has been obtained by Punjab leader of opposition Sukhpal Khiara through the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

While the government has not been able to pay pensions, the estimated cost for sprucing up the official residence of the CM, who has four bungalows in the same complex, is Rs 50 lakh. Of this, tenders worth Rs 22.2 lakh have already been allotted but bills for only Rs 4.7 lakh have been submitted to the state treasury. Punjab’s richest MLA and minister Rana Gurjit Singh too needed a camp office at his official residence and it cost the state exchequer Rs 35 lakh.

Manpreet may have tightened the purse strings for many departments, but the finance minister’s official residence will get a new guestroom, store, security room and bathroom at his official residence at the cost of Rs 25 lakh. And tenders worth Rs 14.7 lakh have already been allotted.

Local bodies and tourism minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been allotted the official residence of former assembly speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, has sought special repairs worth Rs 22 lakh. His office at the civil secretariat too has been given a makeover at Rs 15.7 lakh. The renovation of incumbent assembly speaker Rana KP Singh’s official bungalow too will cost the state exchequer Rs 22 lakh.

Health minister Brahm Mohindra needed an additional bedroom, vitrified floor tiles, fixing teakwood on existing woodwork, wooden flooring and interlocking paver. The cost of Rs 26 lakh may not help state’s poor fiscal health. Rural development minister Tript Rajinder’s Bajwa’s renovation bill is Rs 5.6 lakh.

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Accusing the government of being “penny wise pound foolish”, Khaira said while the government was unable to honour its social welfare schemes like the old-age pension, shagun, atta-dal .

CM’s advisers, who are drawing more salary than him and his ministers, too needed repairs. The tab for media adviser Raveen Thukral’s official residence is Rs 9 lakh and for senior adviser, Tajinder Singh Shergil, Rs 8.4 lakh. The information also reveals that Rs 4 crore have been spent on renovating 17 MLA flats, including those of former CM Parkash Singh Badal, former deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia. The renovation bill for Sukhbir’s flat is highest at Rs 16.8 lakh.

Questioning why AG Nanda needed a camp office when he already has a huge complex at the Punjab and Haryana high court which is barely a few kilometres from his home, Khaira described it as “pure waste of public money for personal whims and fancies”. “The CM spent Rs 50 lakh and Rana Gurjit Rs 35 lakh. The FM, who is supposed to be custodian of public exchequer, has also gone in for major renovation amounting to Rs 25 lakh. Other ministers who too are bent upon wasting people’s money,” Khaira said

Accusing the government of being “penny wise pound foolish”, he said while the government was unable to honour its social welfare schemes like the old-age pension, shagun, atta-dal or even pay salaries and pensions to its employees, it is wasting money to renovate the houses of ministers and the MLA flats that are already well furnished.

“Punjab’s debt is Rs 2.5 lakh crore. The government should have spent this money to upgrade schools and hospitals instead of renovating their homes and offices,” he added.