Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann-led government is betraying the Scheduled Castes (SC) community of the state and is indulging in mismanagement in various central welfare schemes, alleges BJP leader and former Union minister Vijay Sampla on Sunday, addressing a press conference. There are several SC-benefitted central schemes for the welfare of SCs that were either not implemented or were "misused" in Punjab, the leader alleges.
Mann’s AAP government had promised to appoint a Dalit deputy chief minister but "failed to honour even a single major commitment" made to the SC community, Sampla claimed.
"They neither appointed a Dalit deputy CM as promised nor extended the respect and representation due to the community. The post-matric scholarship scheme for SC students, which functions smoothly across India, is deliberately mishandled in Punjab. The Centre contributes 60 per cent of the funds and the state 40 per cent," he said.
He also accused the state government of "massive mismanagement and corruption" in handling the devastating floods that hit Punjab this year, calling it a "Mann-made disaster".
The Punjab government also failed to clear the backlog of jobs reserved for the Scheduled Castes, not fulfill its promise to raise the 'Shagun' aid for the Dalit families to Rs 51,000, and this is a betrayal of the poor and the SC community, Sampla added. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Punjab, depriving Dalit families of promised 'pucca' houses, has also not been implemented, he claims, accusing the AAP government of working for Dalit welfare was "nothing but political stunts aimed at grabbing votes".
"Neither has the amount been increased nor have the beneficiaries received the assistance. This is a betrayal of the poor and SC sections," he said.
Citing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report of 2023, he alleged that the government "diverted" the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), meant for flood prevention, relief, and rehabilitation, to other expenditures.
"The CAG report clearly shows that the AAP government did not maintain a separate SDRF account, which is mandatory under financial rules," he said.
The promise of setting up a medical college in Hoshiarpur has also not been fulfilled, even after over 2 years since the foundation stone has been laid, the leader alleges.
"The Centre has already released funds for five new medical colleges in Punjab,? including those at Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala,? But the state government has not even floated tenders," he claimed.
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