Punjab Minister for Higher Education Razia Sultana. (Express file photo by Jaipal Singh)Higher Education and Water Supply Minister Razia Sultana had to face tough questions from her own party MLAs in the Punjab Assembly Friday as the latter lamented that no work was being done to provide drinking water to Kandi areas of Hoshiarpur district.
Urmar MLA Sangat Singh Gilzian and Sham Chaurasi MLA Pawan Kumar Adia, who raised the matter during Question Hour, claimed that contaminated water was causing cancer in the area, adding that if this trend continued, people would equate the rule of Congress with that of the Akalis.
In her reply to the question, Sultana said her department was aware of the issue, but added that the water was not contaminated or carcinogenic. She added that a special grant of Rs 10 crore had been sanctioned for urgent work and a proposal for improvement of Kandi area had been submitted to the 15th Finance Commission.
Adia then said, “Ten years of Akali rule have gone and now two years of our government too. People will give our examples also if we do not do anything like the Akalis. There are no roads, no water in Kandi area.” In the Question Hour, Amloh MLA Randeep Singh Nabha had accused Forests Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot of misguiding the House and not giving a complete reply to a question he had raised on the money spent on nature parks.
“At least a detailed answer should be given. Why is the government hiding? An inquiry should be done. I am sorry to state that the answer was incomplete. The minister was misguiding. I can read the question in Punjabi if he (minister) has some problem in English,” Nabha said.
