Terming the offer of soft loan to Punjab Government and latter’s accepting to take the loan of Rs 31,000 crore in lieu of embezzlement of foodgrains as “Cover up” exercise by both Centre and State to hide the “loot” by Akalis, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today said that Union Government should come clean on the issue and clarify what action it has taken in the multi-crore scam. State Convener of AAP, Gurpreet Singh Waraich said that AAP had raised the issue of multi-crore foodgrain scam, when there was estimated figure of Rs 12,000 crore and even took a massive protest march at Chandigarh, but with taking the loan of Rs 31,000 crore to cover up the scam, it seems that amount of figure is much higher.
Taking of loan of Rs 31,000 crore for next 20 years, indicates that SAD-BJP have already smelled their humiliating defeat in the upcoming assembly elections and were trying to ‘loot’ the state at the last leg of their tenure by pushing the burden of their huge loot” to the state ex-chequer, Waraich said. “What action Centre took against the Punjab Government for embezzlement of food stock worth multi-crore?, Under what condition the Cash Credit Limit (CCL) was given to Punjab Government for procurement? Isn’t offering and accepting the loan request by Akalis to cover-up food scam indicates nexus of Centre-State in the foodgrain scam”, Waraich quipped. AAP Convener accompanied with Vice President of the Party Col (Retd.) CD Kamboj said that Badal’s bid to take the loan of Rs 31,000 from banks, itself shows that “Thief as accepted the theft” and the law enforcement agency (Centre) is giving an offer to “Thief” to settle the score by paying equal amount of the theft to get bail.
AAP leaders demanded that instead of putting the liability on the people of the state,Centre should fix the responsibility for the “loot” and theft amount should be from the personal properties of “thieves” It is pertinent to mention here that state cabinet had approved the measure, the food department under minister Adaish Partap Singh Kairon had sought mandatory consent from the Union government to float Rs 31,000-crore bonds for market borrowing. The decision to convert Rs 31,000 crore into a loan flies in the face of what the Badal government had claimed — that it’s the Centre that has to reimburse Punjab Rs 26,000 crore. It is after the Centre refused to sanction the CCL for paddy procurement until Punjab settles the outstanding “legacy food credit amount” by converting it into a clean term loan that the state agreed to repay Rs 31,000 crore. The state will repay the banks Rs 3,250 crore every year in two parts.