Cong worker, ex-chief of Improvement Trust spar

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Nabha, February 17

A war of words broke out between Congress leader Pankaj Pappu and ex-chairman of the Improvement Trust Gurtej Singh Dhillon as the former has demanded an inquiry into the bungling of funds in the construction of a park for morning walkers.

Pankaj in a video clip that went viral on Facebook, a social networking site, had demanded a probe into the funds used for the construction of the park. He said except installation of iron angle and barbed wire noting much had been done in it.

He said raw material not worth more than Rs 1 lakh had been used in the work.

Pankaj had alleged that Dhillon had used foul language while talking to him over phone on the next day when the video went viral.

He said he had not criticised anyone and had asked the state government to conduct an impartial inquiry to bring out the truth about the funds.

Dhillon said tenders worth Rs 19.03 lakh had been approved during his tenure as chairman of the Trust. Works worth Rs 11.86 lakh had been completed and of these, he had issued cheques amounting to Rs 5.35 lakh.

He said the rest of the amount is with the Trust after the Congress government came to power in March 2017. Dhillon said Pankaj was unnecessarily making an issue to defame him. The works were carried out in a transparent manner. He said he would file a defamation case against him for tarnishing his image.  He said he had never used any foul language against anyone. Besides the fencing of the park, benches were also installed in it.

He said its construction was complete and there was a need for its maintenance and cleanliness which were the responsibility of the Municipal Council.

He said he had taken up the matter with the Punjab Public School management which had agreed to maintain the same if the administration provided proper security as drug addicts roam freely in the park.

Dhillon said he had challenged Pankaj to bring out the fraud, if any, and if he wanted to get information about the money used he could file an RTI.