Punjab not fully using Central funds: Union MoS for Coal Jaiswal

Union Minister of State (MoS) for Coal Sriprakash Jaiswal said on Tuesday Central funds,including the ones for the industry,were being misused by the SAD-BJP government in the state. He said the state government was not making full use of the Central grants and much of it was getting lapsed. “When the government is busy fighting family wars,how can it be committed to the people of the state?” Jaiswal said,referring to the ongoing controversies related to the ouster of finance minister Manpreet Badal.

Stating that he did not want to comment more on the Manpreet episode,calling it a personal matter of the Badal family,Jaiswal said such controversies led to suspicions on the credibility of the government. He came to Amritsar along with former MP Rana Gurjit Singh and MLA O P Soni. He went to the Golden Temple to pay obeisance,covering the five-kilometre distance from his hotel on foot. He also visited former MP,Union minister and governor R L Bhatia at his residence here.

Earlier,accompanied by Congress leader Ramanjit Singh Sikki,Jaiswal visited Goindwal near Tarn Taran,which failed to come up as an industrial hub,launched by late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988. He met local industrialists.