:dateline:Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa today demanded a CBI inquiry into what he alleged was a misappropriation of funds meant for Sikh victims of the 1984 pogroms by some ruling Shiromani Akali Dal leaders.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said that the Ludhiana Sikh Migrants Welfare Board had brought to his notice the alleged large-scale misappropriation of funds on the basis of fake identity cards issued at the behest of some ruling party leaders.
�I am constrained to bring to your kind notice a case of extreme hardship, disappointment and misery inflicted on nearly 22,000 Sikh migrants of the 1984 [pogroms] who settled in Punjab after migrating from all over the country,� he said.
The Gurdaspur MP, quoting a 2006 government circular, said that the circular “provided that these 22,000 families being victim of riots would be paid rehabilitation grants of R.s two lakh each. It was further decided that the state government concerned (in this case Punjab) would provide identity cards to the victims after verification and on that basis distribute the grants.�
A vigilance inquiry found that fake identity cards were issued to distribute rehabilitation allowance of Rs.200,000 each, he wrote in the letter.
�The inquiry was, however, dropped on flimsy and unconvincing grounds of shortage of staff,� Bajwa said.
�The huge amount of the grants given by the Central government, meant for riots victims, has been squandered away by ruling party politicians in connivance with the state government,� he said.
Despite that the matter was adjudicated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the state government had not succeeded in bringing the guilty to justice and ensuring that the money goes to genuine beneficiaries, Bajwa said in the letter, according to a party release here.
The Congress leader wants the matter to be handed over to the CBI for investigation as the funds came from the Centre. No senior SAD leader was available for comment.
