Congress to bring breach of privilege motion against Welfare Minister Gulzar Ranike

Close on the heels of a Rs 20-crore scam unearthed by the Punjab government in post-matric scholarships for SC and BC students in the state, the opposition Congress has decided to bring in a breach of privilege motion on Welfare Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike for “misleading” the House on scholarships.

CLP leader Sunil Jakhar, while addressing the media today, said Ranike “lied” to the House in March this year by claiming that his department had disbursed Rs 280 crore as scholarship to the SC students in 2013-2014 fiscal.

Jakhar said the minister’s “bluff” was called by the government’s reply to the CLP leader recently that Rs 279 crore was disbursed in the last six fiscals. He added that when the scam was busted, it came to light that the grant did not reach true beneficiaries. Jakhar also alleged that the government has been diverting central funds meant for the SC, BC and students belonging to minorities.

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