Mandi Board seeks Rs 4.75 cr rent dues from Punjab govt, writes to Bhagwant Mann

Tribuine News Service

Chandigarh, October 2

Cash-strapped Punjab Mandi Board has sought recovery of the rent from the Punjab Government for using Kisan Bhawan to house the security of late former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The Board has written a letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to clear their dues of Rs 4.75 crore. The security was housed in the Kisan Bhawan from 1992 to October 2021. Interestingly, the National Security Guards (NSG) had originally booked the Kisan Bhawan for two days, but continued to stay there for 29 years.

In the letter written by the Chairman of the Board to the Chief Minister, the former said Punjab Police had written a letter to the Board on December 2, 1992 to accommodate the National Security Guard (NSG) of former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, on the basis of which 34 beds in five dormitories and one deluxe room were allotted at Kisan Bhawan Mandi, Chandigarh. At that time, Badal was not the CM of Punjab.

The National Security Guard commandos continued to use Kisan Bhawan from 1992 to October 1, 2021. For years, Punjab Mandi Board has been writing letters to the Home Department to collect the rent but to no avail. On February 14, 2006, the Mandi Board asked the DGP office to vacate the commandos, but the Punjab Police neither paid the rent nor did the commandos vacate Kisan Bhawan. This was also objected to by the CAG office in one of its annual audit reports. Now, the Mandi Board has sought CM’s intervention for rent recovery.

29 years of overstay at Kisan Bhawan

• NSG commandos posted with late former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal were housed in Kisan Bhawan in 1992 for two days. Five dormitories and one deluxe room were allotted to them
• However, they continued to stay there for 29 years without paying a single penny as rent. Now, the Mandi Board has sought CM’s intervention for rent recovery