M A I N   N E W S

Badal orders probe into SSA fund bungling
Kanchan Vasdev/TNS

THE UNIFORM MESS Rs 50-cr grant was released under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan for school uniforms last year There were reports of Rs 5-cr embezzlement in Gurdaspur The Education Minister suspended some officials in connection with the case recently According to the Secretary Education, the inquiry report is expected soon

Chandigarh, April 20
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has ordered an inquiry into the utilisation of Rs 50 crore released for uniforms of school students under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). This comes following recent reports of Rs 5-crore embezzlement in Gurdaspur.

The Rs 50-crore grant, which has contribution from both the Centre and the state government in 65:35 ratio, was released to village development committees and projects coordinators of all 22 districts last year.

Confirming that an inquiry has been ordered into the case, Secretary Education Hussan Lal said the report would be available soon. Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka had recently suspended Gurdaspur District Education Officer Shindo Sahni, District Resource Person Ram Lubhaya, APC (General) Pawan Mahajan and clerk Narinder Kumar Sharma following reports of fund embezzlement.

Director (Administration) Manjit Kaur Ghuman in the office of the DPI (Secondary) was also suspended on the charge of negligence in duty. The Gurdaspur SSP was directed to register an FIR against the DEO and others.