Punjab: Congress alleges rural fund fraud

Punjab: The state government has urged the Centre to add biometric identification and iris scanning feature to prevent any possibility of fraudulent withdrawal of funds from the e-Gram Swaraj portal. Complete digitisation of panchayat records is imperative to strengthen e-governance. This information was given by Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond in the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday. Leader of Opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa raised the issue in the wake of fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 1.80 crore provided by the Centre by some officials of the state panchayat department by forging digital signatures of designated officials in Ferozepur. Alleging large-scale embezzlement, Bajwa demanded an audit of the funds provided to the department during Question Hour and sought the government’s response on the action taken in the corruption case. Responding to this, Sond said that an FIR has been registered against the accused officials after a departmental inquiry. The accused include the then BDPO Kirandeep Kaur, Ferozepur Panchayat Samiti Chairperson Jaswinder Kaur and four data operators. The minister said the department has written to the vigilance and cyber crime branch of police to probe the misuse of digital signatures to siphon off funds. Government to pay farmers for solar power generation New and Renewable Energy Resources Minister Aman Arora told the Assembly that the government will come out with a policy to compensate farmers who generate excess solar power through solar pumps installed on their farms. Currently, farmers are not paid for power generation in excess of their consumption. Replying to a question raised by MLA Naresh Puri, Arora said the Punjab Energy Development Authority looks after the rural, institutional and industrial sector, while the domestic sector is with the Punjab State Electricity Corporation Limited.
Village ponds across the state to be beautified Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond told the House that the department has set a target to clean all village ponds before the monsoon season. Machinery will be deployed wherever required for the cleaning process. Replying to a question raised by MLA Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, Sond said that wherever required, desilting and re-silting of ponds would be carried out. Besides, efforts would be made to clean the banks of the ponds and enhance their aesthetics by planting grass to make them beautiful. Rules being considered for bull and dog races On a question by MLA Jaswant Singh Gajjan Mazra, Punjab Animal Husbandry Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said new rules were being considered under the Punjab Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Organisation of Kila Raipur Rural Sports Event and Mela) Rules, 2024 to restart bullock cart races. He told the House that the file had been sent to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann after taking legal opinion from the Advocate General.