Bajwa objects to govt using ‘failed’ Seechewal model for cleaning ponds

“Seechewal’s model is completely failed. During our government’s time, some projects were undertaken using his model, but a report was later submitted stating that his model had failed. We are not against him personally, but there is PEC and Thapar, from whom advice should be taken. Seechewal says that if any work is to be done, it should come to him, and his people will execute it,” Bajwa said.

The name of Balbir Singh Seechewal, a Rajya Sabha MP of AAP from Punjab known for cleaning the holy Kali Bein rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi, was brought up in the House when Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond was responding to a question by AAP MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta. The MLA had raised concerns over the non-cleaning of village ponds in Bathinda, where stagnant water continued to cause diseases.

In his reply, the minister stated that Bathinda Rural district had 173 ponds spread across 65 gram panchayats. He said five ponds in the constituency had been developed using the Seechewal-Thapar model. “Work is underway to develop 16 more ponds using the Seechewal-Thapar technique. It is proposed to clean and renovate the remaining village ponds in a phased manner over the next three years,” he said.

At this point, the Leader of Opposition launched a scathing attack, leading to a ruckus in the House as MLAs from the treasury benches objected to his remarks. The Speaker, Kultar Singh Sandhwan, later expunged Seechewal’s name from Bajwa’s comments.

The Speaker suggested that Bajwa visit Sultanpur Lodhi to see the work done before criticising it. “I have faith in his capabilities,” he said.

Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh demanded that Bajwa apologise for his remarks, arguing that technical training was not always necessary to accomplish tasks. He cited the example of a tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand, where all experts failed to rescue workers trapped inside, but ultimately, untrained rat miners succeeded.

“People do PhDs on Shakespeare, who never went to school. They study Baba Nanak and Bhai Vir Singh, who had no formal education. Science does not belong to anyone. I have seen the model; it has a scientific basis. Seechewal has a scientific temperament. Baba Nanak had a scientific temperament. He (LoP) should apologise,” the minister said.

Bajwa, however, refused to apologise. “Why should I? Your own Chief Minister fell ill after drinking water from there. He was sent directly to Apollo Hospital. In fact, you should apologise as the health minister—you should have advised him not to go there. Now that he has become an MP from your party, you have started promoting him,” he retorted.

Nakodar MLA Inderjeet Kaur Mann accused the Congress of opposing everything. “During Congress rule, the (expunged) model was used many times. Why didn’t you object then? The Thapar model came after the (expunged) model,” she said.