Congress MP from Sangrur Vijay Inder Singla has termed the foundation stone-laying spree of Sukhbir Singh Badal a cheap publicity stunt and colossal waste of public money.
It was a cunning ploy at a blinding speed to beat the deadline before the poll code of conduct comes into force, he said.
Singla said that he has been in constant touch with authorities in New Delhi for approval of the `103.89-crore sewerage project in Barnala.
Singla said, "The project is still at the appraisal stage with the National Building Construction Company. After appraisal, it will go to the ministry of urban development and then to the union ministry of finance. The union government will contribute 70% of the project cost. Instead of laying foundation stones, the state government should be having something up its sleeves to garner funds for its contribution of the `7.98 crore as state share and `32.05 crore as the share of the municipal council."
"The project 'extension & augmentation of sewerage scheme and providing sewage treatment plant in Barnala' is under the urban infrastructure development scheme for small and medium towns (UIDSSMT) of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)," Singla said.
"It is ridiculous that stones are laid even without final clearances. Even for government college project, there is no allocation of funds, no environmental clearances, no feasibility studies, nothing at all," Singla said.
{{/usCountry}}"It is ridiculous that stones are laid even without final clearances. Even for government college project, there is no allocation of funds, no environmental clearances, no feasibility studies, nothing at all," Singla said.
{{/usCountry}}"These projects will just be confined to stone slabs," Singla added.
MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon claimed that he had raised the issue of the government college in Vidhan Sabha in May 2012. He said that he deserved the credit for this project.