Acting on directions from AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi Congressmen in Punjab have flooded the Punjab administration with queries under the Right to Information Act seeking very specific details of expenditure on welfare and developmental schemes.
Former Punjab Youth Congress chief and member parliament Ravnit Bittu said the queries, submitted simultaneously at all district headquarters in the state, “are designed to expose the lies being perpetuated by the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Punjab.”
Significantly, the information sought by the Congress includes details on funds received from the Centre versus money actually contributed by the state on various schemes. The applications also seeks details on the diversion of central funds to pay for welfare works that have been claimed as “achievements” by the SAD-BJP Coalition.
Mr Bittu said, “the state government claims to have spent Crores on welfare but this money was in fact derived from schemes initiated and paid for by the Union government.”
He said, “the people have a right to know what their government’s real role and contribution has been.”
For instance, we have information that many central schemes were forfeited only because the state government could not raise its share of the finances.”
The Congress men plan to centrally compile all responses received from the districts and “publicise the real facts so that people can make an informed opinion on the competence of the government well ahead of the elections.”