CHANDIGARH: Accusing the Punjab government of showing leniency towards IAS lobby vis-à-vis while dealing with corruption at the lower level, senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa asked the government not to adopt separate yardsticks for everyone as there cannot be two sets of rules for the same offence.
Bajwa alleged that so far, only the political class has been made to suffer and take the blame in totality whereas its facilitators find a number of escape routes.
In a letter to chief minister Bhagwant Mann, he stated that the government must now rise to the occasion and realise why its fight against corruption has so far been disappointing. “Scams have been going on unabated even though it has been nearly a year since AAP formed the government in the state,” he said.
“I earnestly hope that this episode would make the government realize as to why it has failed to deliver its promises to the people of the State on land, mining and excise policy. It is also a matter of introspection for the chief minister to realise the impact of direct interference of the Delhi AAP leadership in the day-to-day decision-making process and the one-upmanship tussle within the CMO, which has snowballed into political instability threatening the state,” reads the letter.
While referring to the recent strike by the PCS Officers in support of their colleague held for corruption and “unjustified stance” of aggression of the IAS officers against the inclusion of the name of one of their colleagues by the Vigilance in the FIR in the PSIEC scam case, he asserted that the conduct of the officers was a cause of serious concern for the people of Punjab.
Terming the strike of PCS officers as “unwarranted and unjustified stubbornness,” the leader of opposition cited the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, according to which no government servant shall resort to or in any way abet any form of strike in connection with any matter pertaining to his/her service or that of any other government servant. The rule also provides for disciplinary action.
“I wish to impress upon you that the root cause of the recurrence of similar type of scams is that most of the industrial estates were carved by the Government on the outskirts of the cities in Punjab for industrial purposes. The expansion of towns and cities occasioned by growing urbanisation resulted in areas developed as industrial estates getting surrounded by residential townships and, ultimately, the ‘Industrial Estates’ no longer remained ‘Industrial’ but got transformed into lucrative ‘Commercial Areas’ and became attraction for the land mafia,” reads the letter. The letter further stated: “ For instance, the Industrial Sector 82, Mohali is developed by a sitting MLA of AAP and most of its area has been utilized as ‘Commercial’, without paying any applicable conversion fee to the Government, which reeks of protectionism and should be dispelled immediately.”
The senior Congress leader advised the government to charge a one-time conversion fee for all the industrial plots being used for commercial/residential purposes in Punjab. As regards those industrial plots lying unused should be permitted for conversion within the zoning limits approved by the Government. If the Government ponders over my suggestion, it would prove to be a goldmine to fill the empty coffers of the State exchequer taking however every precaution for its exploitation by the officials through single window system.
Bajwa alleged that so far, only the political class has been made to suffer and take the blame in totality whereas its facilitators find a number of escape routes.
In a letter to chief minister Bhagwant Mann, he stated that the government must now rise to the occasion and realise why its fight against corruption has so far been disappointing. “Scams have been going on unabated even though it has been nearly a year since AAP formed the government in the state,” he said.
“I earnestly hope that this episode would make the government realize as to why it has failed to deliver its promises to the people of the State on land, mining and excise policy. It is also a matter of introspection for the chief minister to realise the impact of direct interference of the Delhi AAP leadership in the day-to-day decision-making process and the one-upmanship tussle within the CMO, which has snowballed into political instability threatening the state,” reads the letter.
While referring to the recent strike by the PCS Officers in support of their colleague held for corruption and “unjustified stance” of aggression of the IAS officers against the inclusion of the name of one of their colleagues by the Vigilance in the FIR in the PSIEC scam case, he asserted that the conduct of the officers was a cause of serious concern for the people of Punjab.
Terming the strike of PCS officers as “unwarranted and unjustified stubbornness,” the leader of opposition cited the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, according to which no government servant shall resort to or in any way abet any form of strike in connection with any matter pertaining to his/her service or that of any other government servant. The rule also provides for disciplinary action.
“I wish to impress upon you that the root cause of the recurrence of similar type of scams is that most of the industrial estates were carved by the Government on the outskirts of the cities in Punjab for industrial purposes. The expansion of towns and cities occasioned by growing urbanisation resulted in areas developed as industrial estates getting surrounded by residential townships and, ultimately, the ‘Industrial Estates’ no longer remained ‘Industrial’ but got transformed into lucrative ‘Commercial Areas’ and became attraction for the land mafia,” reads the letter. The letter further stated: “ For instance, the Industrial Sector 82, Mohali is developed by a sitting MLA of AAP and most of its area has been utilized as ‘Commercial’, without paying any applicable conversion fee to the Government, which reeks of protectionism and should be dispelled immediately.”
The senior Congress leader advised the government to charge a one-time conversion fee for all the industrial plots being used for commercial/residential purposes in Punjab. As regards those industrial plots lying unused should be permitted for conversion within the zoning limits approved by the Government. If the Government ponders over my suggestion, it would prove to be a goldmine to fill the empty coffers of the State exchequer taking however every precaution for its exploitation by the officials through single window system.
