Former Deputy Speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha Bir Devinder Singh Tuesday welcomed the departmental inquiry ordered by Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot into the misappropriation of the centrally-funded SC post-matric scholarship scheme in Punjab. “Ordinarily the disclosure made by the administrative secretary of the department in his report to the Chief Secretary should have been trusted and welcomed by the CM. He should have sought comments of the minister rather than putting the issue on the back burner. Amarinder Singh should have acted immediately in this case to ensure transparent inquiry. After all it’s a huge amount of Rs 57.71 crore siphoned off by the dishonest conduits of the welfare department with the active connivance of Minister Sadhu Singh Dharmsot, as alleged in the report,” said Bir Devinder. He added that he felt very sorry about Amarinder’s “misconceived notional understanding” of the doctrine of federalism. “The discipline of the doctrine of federalism does not guarantee freehand to the states to embezzle scholarship funds meant for SC students, with impunity. Chief Minister’s objection to the departmental inquiry ordered by the Central Minister is not only absurd and misplaced; it’s ridiculously inappropriate. Captain’s aggressive response on the issue has exposed his lack of grasp of the Centre-State relations, defined under the Indian Constitution,” he said.
