Row over gate in Sangrur village

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, August 8

Sanctioning of Rs 5 lakh by Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot from his discretionary grant to construct a gate in the memory of a retired government employee, Sham Singh, who died last year at Badrukhan village, has kicked up a controversy.

Residents of the village submitted an application to the Sangrur Deputy Commissioner’s office demanding that the gate must be named after some prominent personality from the village like Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lt-Gen Harbaksh Singh, Major-Gen Gurbaksh Singh or Sant Attar Singh.

“Sham Singh has not done anything for the village while these people have brought laurels. The authorities must name the gate after some prominent personality,” said Pritam Singh, a villager.

After Sham Singh’s death, Dharamsot had sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the construction of a gate in September 2017. Badrukhan village sarpanch Harbans Kaur said they were trying to solve the issue at the earliest. “Some people who want to contest the next panchayat elections are trying to create an issue,” she added.

Narbhinder Singh Grewal, District Development and Panchayat Officer, Sangrur, said the panchayat had no right to make any change in the utilisation of the grant.“Since the grant has come from the minister’s discretionary fund, the panchayat does not have any right to make any changes in its usage,” he added. Despite repeated calls, Dharamsot could not be contacted.