Jalandhar News/ Punjab government’s claim to boost sports infrastructure in state fall flat-Sanjay Sehgal

Jalandhar, December 4, 2013: The state government's claim to boost sports infrastructure in the state fell flat with the fact that it had renovated the Guru Gobind Singh Stadium at a cost of Rs 20 crore to pledge it later to raise money to develop Surya Enclave, a residential-cum-commercial project on 94.97 acres at GT Road. The trust pledged the stadium to Punjab National Bank at Rs 175 crore in 2011.
The Information was sought by Congress leader Sanjay Sehgal who is District President RTI Activist's Fedeartion.  Sehgal said Punjab Government is already on ventilator due to financial crisis and Punjab Government is mortgaging government properties for purchasing Helicopters / Toyota Landcruisers,  Audi Cars / Entertainment expenses incurred to pay Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra & others. The women's final match of the World Cup Kabaddi will be played at the same stadium on December 12.
The Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) under the directions of the state government had renovated the stadium in January 2011 and after completing it in June that year pledged it to the bank. Later, the owners of the land where the Surya Enclave was to be constructed managed to get court stay on some portions of the project in question. Following this, the JIT was not able to sell the plots on time. Due to the stay, there was a sharp dip in the sale of plots. It was also supporting the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation at a time when the latter faced a financial crunch.
Presently, due to this JIT is facing a lot of difficulty in paying back Rs 1.0065 crore as monthly interest and Rs 3 crore as bi-annual EMI of the aforesaid loan. To deal with the cash crunch, the state government has recently approved the trust's proposal to rent out some portions of the stadium to reputed food chains and a gym. The trust is now finding it difficult to pay the hefty EMIs from its account as no new project has taken off in the last few years. However, JIT officials said the stadium was the trust's property and they could pledge it anytime. "It is our property and we have pledged it to raise some money to develop one of our projects. The RTI Activists Federation, which had filed an RTI query into the matter, said the government had cheated on people. "When on the one hand the JIT is claiming that they are working on a no-profit-no-loss basis, then from where did they get the money to renovate the stadium? It has cleverly built and renovated the stadium from the profit earned from previous projects and pledged it further to make more money," said Sanjay Sehgal.
He also alleged that JIT has not placed any information boards related to the Right to Service Act and the Right to Information Act anywhere on its office premises. Sources in JIT said due to shortage of funds no more projects have been planned as of now. It has been learnt that the JIT had spent almost Rs 45 crore to build the BMC flyover./ jalandhar news,  jalandhar current news,  jalandhar news live, jalandhar breaking news, jalandhar headlines, jalandhar latest news, india news, punjab news