Raja Warring criticises Punjab Govt’s decision to withdraw from Centre’s PM-SHRI education project

Chandigarh, July 7

Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the Member of Parliament for Ludhiana and president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) has expressed deep concern and disappointment over the AAP government’s decision to withdraw from the Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) project, resulting in a loss of Rs 515 crore in Central funding.

Raja Warring remarked, “It is sad that the AAP government continues to work against the interests of Punjab for their own personal gains. Withdrawing from the PM-SHRI project all because the AAP government wants to continue with their ‘School of Eminence’ project, under which they claim to revamp 117 schools in Punjab for classes IX-XII, is nonsensical. The ground reality of the AAP government’s project shows that existing schools are merely being repainted and new boards installed as a means of advertisement, with no actual work done to revamp the schools. Only 117 schools come under the AAP project, whereas a total of 241 schools were selected for the PM-SHRI project.”

Highlighting the inconsistency and the detrimental impact of this decision, he added, “This decision has been taken after the AAP government had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project in October 2022. This is the AAP government’s way of working against Punjab as vengeance following their loss in the Lok Sabha elections, where they only secured three seats, despite their audacious 13-0 claims.”

Warring also questioned the stance of Punjab’s Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, who criticised the PM-SHRI project for merely remodeling existing schools. “I would like to ask, what exactly is the AAP government trying to do with their education projects in Punjab? Aren’t existing schools remodelled in those projects as well?” he said.

Further, he pointed out the financial ramifications of the ongoing tussle between the AAP and the Central government over branding for Aam Aadmi Clinics, which has already resulted in the stalling of more than Rs 600 crore in funds meant for National Health Mission initiatives.

“All these issues are detrimental to the interests of Punjab, as the BJP-led Central government has withheld major funding due to the AAP government’s insistence on self-branding all government schemes and projects. The public needs to understand that crucial Central government funds are being denied to Punjab simply because the hoardings for these projects will not feature images of the Chief Minister and Arvind Kejriwal which the AAP government does not want to go ahead with,” said Warring.

He further added, “The state government is already struggling financially, with the education minister stating that there is insufficient money to pay teachers’ salaries from September. How can they expect our state to sustain itself with the ever-increasing loans and debts the state government continues to incur? We are facing a looming financial crisis in Punjab, with debts that our future generations will be burdened with, all due to the incompetence of the AAP government.”