Don’t donate for Rangla Punjab Fund, says Bajwa; AAP calls him ‘anti-state’

Ruling AAP and the Congress on Friday sparred over the state government’s Rangla Punjab Vikas Fund, with Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa urging people “not to donate” for it.

The comments drew a sharp response from Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, who accused Bajwa of adopting an “anti-Punjab stance” by trying to stop people from contributing to the rebuilding exercise.

The Rangla Punjab Vikas Fund was created by the state government earlier this year on the lines of the PM Cares Fund. The government is seeking donations into the fund under its Chardi Kala Mission, launched on September 17 to raise funds for rebuilding efforts in the wake of the state’s worst floods in decades.

Urged people “not to donate” into it, Bajwa said “Since the fund will not be under the scrutiny of auditors and is exempt from Right to Information Act, no one will know where and how the funds being utilised”.

Bajwa demanded that people of Punjab should be told about the “disappearance of the Rs 12,000 crore State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)”.

“The PM (Narendra Modi) says the state has Rs 12,000 crore. The CM says the state has Rs 1,500 crore. The CAG report mentions that the SDRF head had Rs 9,041 crore up to March 2023. Where has the money been diverted,” he asked.

Reacting to the attack, Cheema accused Bajwa of “trying to mislead the public and stop them for contributing towards rebuilding Punjab”, thus showing his anti-Punjab stance. Bajwa immediately clarified that he was not against people contributing money but was only questioning the creation of the Rangla Punjab Vikas Fund when the CM Relief Fund already existed.

Made corporate funding easier, says CM Mann

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann countered Bajwa on the issue of the fund and the money available under the SDRF). “Why would you oppose the Rangla Punjab Fund. We will keep updating the amount of funds, all being received through cheques, on the official website,” he said.

“The website is also being hosted on a government domain. Since corporates were shying away from donating much needed funds, we have created a fund that will allow them to donate here as part of their CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative,” he said.

On the demand to suspend officers, Mann said as legislators they must not demoralise officers who worked hard. “Don’t forget that in your term in office, an officer was running the entire show,” the CM added.