Bharat Bhushan Ashu Archives

Punjab minister’s alleged involvement in CLU scam; AAP stages walkout

by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics

Chandigarh : Demanding the resignation of Punjab minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu for his alleged involvement in the change of land use (CLU) scam in Ludhiana, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday staged a walkout from the Assembly.

Amid sloganeering by AAP legislators, the party staged a walkout over the alleged involvement of Ashu in the multi-crore Grand Manor Homes scam.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) Harpal Singh Cheema raised the issue of the multi-crore scam involving the minister and asserted that the minister had reportedly threatened the officers probing the case.

He demanded the resignation of the minister who, he said, was in league with the land mafia. He sought permission to play the phone recordings on the floor of the House, which was refused by the Speaker, Rana K.P. Singh.

When Ashu offered to reply to clear the air about his alleged role in the scam, the protesting members returned to their seats. The minister also offered to face any inquiry initiated by the House.

The AAP demanded that the minister should tender his resignation so that a fair inquiry could be carried out.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh assured the House that the next action would be taken on receipt of the inquiry committee report.

Friction between cabinet ministers — Navjot Singh Sidhu and Ashu — came out in the open on Friday when Ashu openly questioned how Sidhu ordered an inquiry involving him (Ashu) in the prime land controversy in Ludhiana.

Sidhu on Friday ordered “stringent action against the officers guilty of wilful disobedience of the orders issued by him on July 7, 2018, regarding keeping the matter of according approval to Plan 98-C of the Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana in abeyance and sending the CLU case further ahead by forging the documents”.

The minister has directed the Principal Secretary of the department to take prompt action in the matter.

Reacting strongly to the probe, Ashu in an official statement on Friday said: “I have nothing to do with the building in the present controversy. However, I will like Sidhu to explain how my name got included in the enquiry.”

“If he finds any merit in it, let him report it to the CM, but if there is any mischievous intention of any official to include my name deliberately, then let the official be penalized,” the statement said.

Sidhu pointed out that the CLU was applied for on January 17, 2018, in which the documents were forged. He said the registry of the land was done two days later on January 19, whereas it is mandatory to attach the registry papers at the time of applying for the CLU.

“This means that the applicant was not the owner of the land at the time of applying,” Sidhu stated.

—IANS

Punjab Minister warns against delayed payments to farmers

by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate finance, Corporate Governance, Economy, Finance, Markets, News, Politics

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Chandigarh : Committing to protecting farmer’s interests, Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Sunday warned ‘arthiyas’ (commission agents) of action if farmers were paid less or payment was delayed for the paddy procured from them.

“Action will be taken against the ‘arthiyas’ giving lesser value against MSP (minimum support price) to farmers,” Ashu said in a statement here.

He said that in accordance with the Punjab Agricultural Produce Market Rules Act, 1962, it was the duty of the state government to make payment within 48 hours and the amount was forwarded to the farmers through cheques.

Some of the ‘arthiyas’ in the state were not transferring the payment of paddy to the farmers through cheques. Rather they were indulging in cash payments, which was in violation of the rules, the Minister said.

“Besides this, it has also been noticed that even the MSP is not given to the farmers.

“Any kind of forging and cheating with farmers will not be tolerated and they should be given the full price of their produce,” Ashu said.

He also directed the officials of procurement agencies to make sure that payments, in the stipulated time frame, were made and ensure that all the norms regarding procurement process were followed.

Government agencies and private mill owners procured nearly 75 lakh tonne of paddy in Punjab this kharif season. The procurement started on October 1, though the bulk stocks started coming after October 10.

The state government has already made payments of over Rs 9,075 crore to ‘arthiyas’ and farmers in their accounts.

Over 99 per cent of the procurement had been done by government agencies.

The Central government had sanctioned a Cash Credit Limit (CCL) amount of Rs 29,695.40 crore for procurement of paddy in the kharif marketing season 2018-19, against a demand of Rs 40,300 crore raised by Punjab.

Punjab has made arrangements for a bumper procurement of 200 lakh tonne of paddy this season.

In 2017-18, a total of 179.34 lakh tonne of paddy was procured in the state.

Agrarian Punjab contributes 50 per cent of food grains (wheat and paddy) to the national kitty despite having just 1.54 per cent of the country’s geographical area.

—IANS