Three generations served in Armed forces, but family faces ‘discrimination’ from Panchayat Department
Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service
Sangrur, January 9
The family of late Air Vice Marshal Gurdial Singh Punia AVSM (retd) has alleged discrimination by the Rural Development and Panchayat Department.
The family claimed that the department had laid paver blocks on half of the road leading to their house in Gurdaspura village last year while the remaining portion had been left unattended causing great difficulty to the residents of the area.
The family alleged that despite repeated requests nothing had been done so far.
“My father Gurdial Singh Punia retired as Air Vice Marshal while my grandfather Subdedar Dhanna Singh served the Army.
“Our three generations have served the nation for almost a century, but still we are facing discrimination from the Panchayat Department,” said Col Inderpal Singh Punia (retd).
The officials concerned have been saying that they will construct the remaining portion of the road once they get the funds, but no one knows when they will get it, said Colonel Punia.
“Punjab Government has been making tall claims about Sangrur getting a huge amount of money for developmental works, but where are these grants going?” he asked.
“I had also filed an RTI application last year, but have not got any response from the department. I request Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who is also an ex-serviceman, to look into the matter,” said Colonel Punia.
Some other ex-servicemen and residents of the area also aired their anger against the “apathetic attitude” of the authorities concerned.
“When they are not listening to a retired Colonel, then one can only imagine how they would be dealing with a common man,” said Jaspal Singh Sekhon, a resident of area.
“It’s been more than a year now but there is no satisfactory reply from the officials,” he said.
When contacted, Gurdaspura village panchayat secretary Nirbhai Singh said that matter was in his knowledge.
“Under the MNREGA norms, we cannot construct a road wider than 10 feet. We are trying to get more funds to complete the pending work. We have sought more developmental grant for Gurdaspura village,” said Nirbhai Singh.
However, sources in the department said had the officials wished they could have got the grant sanctioned for the remaining works under some other developmental scheme.
“I can comment only after visiting the site,” said Lenin Garg, Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Sangrur, when asked about the under-constructed road.
“I will visit the area and we will provide the grant for the road from some other developmental scheme,” said Garg.
