School uniform scam: Congress blames CM for cops’ inaction
Thursday, 13/11/2014
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CHANDIGARH: The Congress has accused the Punjab chief minister of pressing the police not to register a case against a former district education officer (DEO), who was held responsible for irregularities in the payment of ` 4.89 crore for school uniforms in Gurdaspur district in 2012.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, Punjab Congress spokesman Sukhpal Khaira said: “The police have not registered a case despite receiving several letters from the education department and the director general of school education (DGSE) for initiating criminal proceedings against dismissed DEO Shindo Sahni.”
Khaira said he had written to governor Shivraj Patil to ensure police action so that the alleged role of then education minister came to light.
He said an official letter (dated April 17, 2012) written by the then DGSE-cum-state project director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to the Gurdaspur SSP read: “Rs 4.89 crore were electronically transferred to the SSA bank account under the DEO, Gurdaspur, and the money was, in turn, directly paid to three suppliers in violation of the guidelines for spending the SSA grants. As per the guidelines, the DEO was to ensure the purchase and distribution of school uniform to around 1.22 lakh school children. Khaira added: “The DEO, under directions from then education minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan, who hails from Gurdaspur, blatantly flouted guidelines and directed all block primary education officers, through a letter dated April 7, 2011, to make direct payments to two firms — M/s Elite Tube Pvt Ltd and M/s Karan Enterprises, both from Jalandhar. Misappropriation and embezzlement of the grant has been explained in the DGSE’s letter to the Gurdaspur SSP.”
The Punjab Congress spokesman said once the investigation began, Sahni and others would name Sekhwan as the main culprit. The SSP is dithering to register an FIR and launch criminal proceedings due to immense pressure from chief minister Parkash Singh Badal,” Khaira added.
