Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said the move to bring a resolution against the VB-G RAM G Act in the Punjab Assembly was “undemocratic and against the basic spirit of the Constitution, which reflected “blind opposition” politics.
Addressing a press conference in Bhopal, Chouhan said it was the constitutional responsibility of states to abide by parliamentary laws.
Citing a report, Chouhan alleged that large-scale corruption had surfaced in several schemes, including MGNREGA, in Punjab. “However, no action was taken against the guilty and neither the embezzled money recovered,” he added. He claimed that social audits were conducted in only 5,915 of 13,304 panchayats in Punjab.”The report mentions around 10,653 cases of financial embezzlement, but no action has been taken in any of them,” Chouhan added. He alleged that irregular expenditure was incurred on activities not permitted under the erstwhile MGNREGA. He said workers were complaining that they were not being paid their wages.
“No effort is made to end corruption, no action is taken even when it is detected, and on the other hand, there is talk of passing resolutions against parliamentary laws in the Assembly. This is an undemocratic mindset, which I condemn,” Chouhan added.
Chouhan said the resolution reflected “blind opposition” politics. “Some people oppose merely for the sake of opposition, without any regard for democracy or constitutional propriety. If a law is made by Parliament, passing a resolution against it in an Assembly goes against the spirit of our Constitutional framework,” said the minister. Would it be appropriate if panchayats passed resolutions against state laws, Chouhan asked