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.
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