Smart City project: BJP alleges scam, submits complaint to Governor

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, April 26

The Bharatiya Janta party (BJP) on Friday submitted a memorandum to the District Election Officer-Cum-DC Himanshu Aggarwal addressed to the Punjab Governor, seeking an investigation by the CBI/Enforcement Directorate into the alleged corruption and financial mismanagement in the Smart City Project in Jalandhar on the basis of CAG report submitted by auditors.

The memorandum was submitted by BJP leaders a day after the local party leadership alleged irregularities in the utilisation of Rs 638 crore given by the Modi-led government at the Centre for the Smart City development projects in Jalandhar. They accused the AAP government in Punjab of trying to shield those responsible for it. The leaders also sought registration of an FIR, based on discrepancies found in the CAG audit report regarding this.

The complaint to the Punjab Governor stated that a special purpose company “Jalandhar Smart City Limited” was formed under the Company’s Act 2013 for the Smart City Mission envisaged by the Government of India. The purpose of the company was the development of Jalandhar city. As per the audit report, an amount of Rs 693 crore (dedicated by Centre) was received under the project for development of the Smart City. The report further stated that an amount of Rs 618.13 crore had also been shown already spent on the project, but ground visits denote nil visibility of the usage of the said money.

In the complaint it was alleged: “Even a common person on a spot visit to Jalandhar can easily gauge that this huge amount received from the Centre has been embezzled and misused. The very same report under financial management shows that an amount of Rs 618.13 has already been spent. The visibility if this amount being spent is nil on the ground. Reports of the auditor clearly point out material irregularities.”

The complaint was written by BJP district president Sushi Sharma and endorsed by signatories including Jairvir Shergill, Manoranajan Kalia, Rakesh Rathour, KD Bhandari, Sishil Rinku, Sheetal Angural, Avinash Chander, Inder Iqbal Atwal, Sarabjit Singh Makkar, Anil Sachar, Raman Pabbi, Rajesh Kapoor, Ashok Sareen and Amarjeet Singh Goldy.