Issues of corruption and non-governance in Punjab continue to be raked up. Nothing changes except party in power.

Chandigarh: One has to begin from 2016, if not earlier. Here are some quotes, past and present:

April 18, 2016: There is something wrong at the bottom as the power has been purchased at inflated rates by ignoring the state owned power plant. Why they did not stop the payments when one of the companies fail to deposit the penalty. We demand a high level probe into the purchases," Congress MLA and former Leader of Opposition, Punjab said.

The leader was now state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar.

Then on Feb 05, 2018: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president, Sunil Jakhar on Sunday said he has written a letter to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh a week ago to investigate power purchase agreements (PPA) inked with private power companies. He said he has asked for a high-level inquiry into PPAS with private plants near Talwandi Sabo and renegotiation of the tariffs.

In-between, the Punjab Congress manifesto for February 2017 assembly elections on page 98 promised that “The existing PPAs will be renegotiated to ensure that low cost power is first availed by the state for the benefit of its consumers”.

And here is what he has said on December 27, 2019 at the time when his party government is about to complete three years in power: “in form of thermal plants set up by the Akali government under utilised assets were created just to corner benefit to the private players adding that these were the real white elephants of the state. He said that due to these under utilised liabilities, which could have cater to need of state only for two months, the power tariff in the state has been enhanced. Mr Jakhar urged the Chief Minister of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh to get a thorough probe conducted for fixing the accountability of all those people who were responsible for this plunder of state exchequer.”

He continues to raise the same issue that he raked up when in power was the Akali Dal government.

The PPCC chief and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh maintain the best of relations but that is entirely a different issue.

There has been no probe in power purchase agreements.

On the other hand, Delhi under Arvind Kejriwal has set the example in power reforms.

There is yet another interesting bit of news. Congress MLA from Qadian Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa on Friday joined the protesters who were sitting on a dharna seeking police action over robbery of Rs 4 lakh from a shopkeeper in Qadian.

Both the statement of Jakhar and the action of Bajwa reflect desperation at lack of governance.

It was only some days back that several Congress MLAs from Patiala district had leveled allegations of  corruption in the administration. It is not just perception but too well-known a fact that the bureaucrats especially in the home district are not appointed without approval from the chief minister, at times even the family members. Capt Amarinder Singh might not be a frequent visitor to his native district but his families stays there.

These MLAs had referred to transparency in corruption. But then one need not go to interior to have a feel of this transparency. One can visit any tehsil office around Chandigarh to have a feel of the situation.

It the only the party in power that has changed, nothing else has changed.

Capt Amarinder Singh tried some firefighting by appointing six such MLAs who were raising their voice against this continuing rot by accommodating them as his  political advisers.

But the situation remains the same.

The issue is that of governance.

The headline in one of the papers on Saturday said: “Bureaucrats in Punjab, NE are most corrupt”. This was not a political statement but comment from former bureaucrat N C Saxena who at one time headed the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, the institute that trains the bureaucrats.

It should be taken up as a wake up call.

It is the governance that has to be transparent, not  transparently corrupt.