Form committee to check smart city funds utilisation: Pratap Singh Bajwa, Punjab Congress chief

JALANDHAR: Welcoming the announcement of three smart cities in Punjab, state Congress has said that the Centre should form a committee to check that funds were not used as "election supply" by the SAD-led government.

"The Centre should form a committee to monitor the funds allocated to state government for all of its projects so that the amount is not used as election expenditures by Shiromani Akali Dal," Punjab Congress Chief Pratap Singh Bajwa said yesterday.

During the previous UPA government at the Centre, thousands of crores of rupees were allotted to Punjab but where these funds were spent is a "mystery", Bajwa said.

He claimed that the financial situation of Punjab was precarious.

The state government has to arrange Rs 1,500 crore for the smart city project for which it would "surely put further pressure on people" likely by "introducing a new tax", he said.

And after collecting the funds, these would be used in elections, he said.

Over the protest by MLAs Navjot Kaur and Pargat Singh, Bajwa said the ministers and MLAs are themselves troubled by the Punjab government, then the situation of common people can be reckoned.