Utensil makers accuse state govt of cheating them to the tune of Rs 50 crore

The manufacturers were supposed to supply a minimum 1,500 kits each and have already invested crores in the project but have not got a single penny till date.

As the word “Punjab Sarkar” (Punjab Government) is embossed in Punjabi on each such utensil,it can not be sold in the open market,the manufacturers said,adding that the boxes,which will carry these utensils,were carrying a photograph of Punjab Chief Minister P S Badal and a logo that reads “Raj Nahin Sewa” (no rule only service).

The government had earlier granted only a month’s time to manufactures as it wanted to distribute the kits before election code of conduct was put in place.

Depinder Singh Bahlla,the Mohali-based owner of Bhask Industry,talking to the reporters said that he was asked to manufacture 2,500 kits in a meeting held with the officials of Punjab government on October 10. The other 11 manufacturers were also instructed to to get the work done by November 10.

He informed that a short term tender notice was published in the newspapers by the ‘Controller of Stores Punjab’ in September under the head “utensils for meal serving kit”. Nearly a dozen utensil manufacturers and suppliers had contacted the authorities concerned and a meeting was called by director industry,director panchyat in Chandigarh in which several other officers were also present,added Bhalla.

Gulshan Chhabra of Rail Expert,a Jalandhar-based firm,said that government officials put pressure on them to manufacture the kits in one month only. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had himself selected the material for the kit,he added.

“Now,when we have kits ready,no one is giving any heed towards it. We are yet to get a single penny from the government while we have spent several crores.”