Punjab Sikhya Kranti plaques ‘fiasco’: AAP govt corrects course — one plaque for all works

Since its launch on April 7, the 54-day drive has been mired in controversies from day one for different reasons. During this period, the AAP government has to inaugurate at least 25,000 big/small development works in over 12,000 government schools of Punjab and Education Secretary Anindita Mitra ordered a separate plaque for each work.

“Separate inaugural plaques are required to be made for each completed project, i.e. separate for boundary wall, separate for classroom, etc… The size of the plaque shall be 30″*24″ and shall be made of granite. Further, it is required to be ensured that the inaugural plaque is placed/fixed at a place where it is properly visible e.g. plaque of the boundary wall shall be fixed near the gate on the outer side, the plaque of the classroom/laboratory/toilet shall be placed on its wall where it is prominently visible,” reads Mitra’s April 3 order.

However, as soon as the drive started on April 7, and the photos of plaques crediting Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Education Minister Harjot Bains for repaired toilets went viral, it drew flak from several quarters, including the public, and came a fresh order that teachers should not get plaques installed for toilets.

Senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia posted a photo of a plaque and wrote, “Is the renovation of toilets an educational revolution? Punjabis will always remember this education revolution in the future.”

The inauguration functions, inviting MLAs and ministers as chief guests, cost at least Rs 20 crore to the government. Of the total budget, Rs 12 crore was estimated to be for plaques alone.

BJP leader and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu posted on X: “Where the national home is meant to be written with pride, AAP shamelessly put an inauguration plaque instead. This isn’t just disrespect- it’s a stain on our national identity. Bhagwant Mann and Kuldeep Dhaliwal must apologise first. The nation comes first.”

The government was severely criticised for plaques installed for repaired toilets went viral; in a school in Amritsar district, a plaque was installed covering the national anthem on the wall; in Ludhiana, MLA Madan Lal Bagga inaugurated repaired toilets where curtains were installed to hide incomplete work; and, in Bathinda’s Maur, villagers did not allow the local MLA to inaugurate a boundary wall, which they alleged was “four years old”, among others.

In Government Primary School, Beed Talaab Basti 4-5 in Bathinda district, an inaugural plaque for a new classroom was plastered on a notice board. Photos of AAP leader Navdeep Singh Jeeda, also the chairman SUGARFED, unveiling a plaque plastered on the school’s green notice board, went viral on social media, drawing flak from the Opposition and others.

As videos of ministers and MLAs inaugurating even up to five plaques in one school went viral, social media users slammed the AAP government for spending crores on plaques alone, even for repairing toilets, boundary walls, etc.

Congress MLA and leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said, “Punjab’s Sikhya Kranti reeks of a plaque scam. Welcome to ‘ribbon kranti’ where political photo-ops shine brighter than classroom lights… when nameplates outnumber notebooks and inaugurations outshine infrastructure.”

Confirming that a fresh order has been received to install just one plaque from now on, a teacher from Ludhiana said, “Had this been done earlier, the education department would not have become a subject of mockery. The damage has been done, and the effort behind the entire drive goes in vain owing to this plaque fiasco.”