Will send details to Guv of funds utilised from money borrowed by govt: Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said his government will give Governor Banwarilal Purohit an account on the money spent out of the debt it raised and took a swipe at him for not seeking details on borrowings from previous governments reported news agency PTIPurohit had earlier sought details from the Mann dispensation about the utilisation of the Rs 50000 crore the state government had borrowed reported PTIAddressing a gathering after the launch of a Rs 550 crore Sehatmand Punjab mission a campaign for the rejuvenation of government hospitals in the state the chief minister said the reply will be sent to the governor on Tuesday reported PTIHe asked where the money was spent However he never asked previous governments about raising Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 150 lakh crore of debt and where that was spent he saidWe have been asked by the governor and we have a reply We will give him an account of the Rs 50000 crore that we repaid the debt on Punbus and paid interest on old loans We have an account of every penny Mann addedLast month the chief minister urged the governor to take up the issue of the pending Rural Development Fund RDF amounting to Rs 563740 crore with the president and the prime ministerHowever in his reply Purohit had said he learnt that the debt of Punjab rose by about Rs 50000 crore during the AAP regime and sought details of utilisation of this huge amount so that he could convince the prime minister that the money was properly utilisedOn September 27 Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu sought details of expenditure on the use of a helicopter and a fixedwing aircraft by the Bhagwant Mann government accusing it of spending public money on luxury sorties for AAP campaigns in other statesSidhu wrote to the secretary of the Punjab Civil Aviation Department seeking the information under the Right to Information ActThe Congress leader said the Aam Aadmi Party government in the last one and a half years used the aircraft for election campaigning in Gujarat Himachal Pradesh and other statesIt has come to notice that the Punjab government on various occasions has used the official state chopper and also hired fixedwing aircraft for campaigns and tours regarding party affairs I need information on various accounts under RTI he wroteAs the state government has to pay for the financial burden caused by hiring of fixedwing aircraft I request you to kindly inform the following thingsiquest the former minister wroteFirstly on how many occasions was a private jet hired by the state government in the last one and a half years where all the aircraft was taken what was the purpose and what was the total bill of all the flights and hiring of aircraft including aircraft rent and airport charges Sidhu wroteIt has also been learnt that the state chopper was also used for campaign purposes in various states the Congress leader saidI also seek similar information in this regard he saidAs your department is responsible for hiring and paying the expenses also inform that what is the per hour hiring cost of fixedwing aircraft wrote the former MLALater speaking to reporters the former Congress chief asked why public money was being spent on luxury sorties and why the theft of Punjabs resources is taking placeThey aircraft were used for campaigning in Gujarat Himachal Pradesh and other states he allegedAttacking the AAP government over the issue of state debt Sidhu said What was said and what is happening nowPunjab will become a bankrupt state the way it is raising money he addedWith inputs from PTI