Disaster fund: Jakhar makes CAG report public, seeks apology from Punjab CM Mann for 'misleading' people

Bharatiya Janata Party’s state president Sunil Jakhar has once again targeted Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over the issue of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), while making a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) public. Notably, the Chief Minister had earlier claimed that he had no knowledge about the ₹12,000-crore SDRF lying with Punjab.

In this regard, Jakhar, in one of his social media messages addressing Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, wrote: “This is the CAG report, which clearly states that as of March 31, 2023, Punjab had ₹9,041.74 crore of SDRF funds, and according to the report, in violation of central government rules, the state government did not even make proper investments of this amount.”

In his tweet, he further wrote: “Even after that, funds for the years 2023–24, 2024–25, and 2025–26 have been released, which together make a total of ₹12,000 crore. Chief Minister Sahib, even your Chief Secretary, in your presence during a press conference, reluctantly admitted this, and your ministers have also accepted it. Now it would be better if you apologise to the people of Punjab for misleading them and ensure that this amount is properly used to provide relief to the people.”

Later, in a statement issued to the media, Jakhar further said that according to the next report, as of March 31, 2024, the state government had a total of ₹10,380.41 crore of SDRF funds deposited. He said all these facts made it clear that the Chief Minister was running away from his responsibility and trying to cover up the misuse of government money.

The BJP president said that the Chief Minister cannot say, “I don’t know where the money is.” He added that the Chief Minister must apologise to the people of Punjab for lying to them and that the ₹12,000 crore SDRF funds should be used to provide relief to flood victims in the state. He also advised the Chief Minister that the people of Punjab elected Bhagwant Mann, not Kejriwal, so the Chief Minister should take the reins of the government in his own hands and fulfil his responsibility. Otherwise, if the Punjab Government is run on contract by Kejriwal, the people of Punjab would never forgive him, he said.