Chandigarh, July 21
A spokesman of the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Badal, today clarified that the Leh district administration is to be blamed if relief promised by the Deputy CM did not reach some of the victims of the cloudburst last year. He was responding to the report on the front page of The Tribune today under the headline, “ In Leh, Sukhbir has many more promises to keep”.

The spokesman , in a written rejoinder, claimed that the Deputy Commissioner, Leh had called up the Principal Secretary to the CM to say that expenses to be incurred on the education of Skalzang Angmo d/o Stanzin Dolma would be borne from the Rupees one crore cash relief received from the Government of Punjab.

Pointing out that Punjab had mobilised and sent as many as 515 trucks of fodder/dry fodder and 40 trucks of animal feed to Leh, the spokesman asserted that the Deputy Chief Minister had fulfilled much more than what he had promised to the cloudburst victims of Leh.

Sukhbir Badal had himself visited Leh with 14 trucks containing dry ration and blankets. He had also announced that Punjab would bear the full expenditure of educating Skalzang Angmo studying at Chandigarh Navodaya Vidyalaya and adopt Solar village. The Leh DC had undertaken to meet the cost of the last two promises from the cash relief sent by the Punjab government, the spokesman claimed.