Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 13

Amid reports of many ineligible beneficiaries getting the Covid vaccine by pretending to be construction workers, the Labour Department is now asking the Health Department to furnish utilisation certificates of the pay-off they had made to the government.

Ironically, the Labour Department had to pay Rs 7.08 crore to the Health Department for the vaccination of 2.19 lakh registered workers. However, thousands of people had, reportedly, taken the vaccine — pretending to be a construction worker.

VK Junjua, principal secretary, Labour Department, said they had requested for the utilisation certificate, which was a routine matter. “If we have given funds, we should get utilisation certificate.”

When asked about fake beneficiaries getting the Covid vaccine as construction workers, he said, “Yes, many have got the jabs in this manner, however, we will only pay for the registered workers. Therefore, we have asked the Health Department to return the unutilised funds.”

He said around 1.90 lakh registered construction workers had received the vaccine on priority, however, they had already paid for around 2.19 lakh persons. Notably, all this happened at a time when the state is jabbing people free of cost.

Meanwhile, Sardara Singh, a registered construction worker, said, “We will be filing a case in the High Court over the misuse of labour funds meant for other schemes. It is shameful that every section of the society is jabbed for free but we, the most vulnerable section of the society, have to pay for it. The Health Department should return the entire amount with interest.