SAD-BJP deal on sewa kendras to be probed

The Punjab government will inquire into the ₹1,400crore deal signed by the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government with a private firm for running sewa kendras in the state.

Announcing this, finance and governance reforms minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Tuesday said he will discuss the issue with chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and get an inquiry done into the contract within three months.

“We have saved more than ₹900 crore of the state government by scrapping and renegotiating the contract,” he said during question hour.

Manpreet was responding to BJP MLA Som Prakash’s query whether the state government was making any provision to make the sewa kendras functional in cities and villages. “The electricity supply to sewa kendras was stopped due to non-payment of bills. They are using diesel generators without any funds for fuel and barely function one or two days in a week. The employees have not been paid for eight months,” he said.

In response, the minister said the previous regime had signed the contract with an outgo of ₹1,400 crore for 2,139 centres for five years, but the present government cancelled it because the deal smacked of corruption. “The company will give us ₹250 crore, besides footing the electricity and internet bills. About 100 services are being offered. Their number will go up to 550 in four years. We will run the centres in a transparent manner,” he said before announcing the probe on the demand from a ruling party member.

We have saved more than ₹900 crore by scrapping the contract and renegotiating it. MANPREET SINGH BADAL, state finance minister