Substandard items given at sangat darshan? Harsimrat orders probe

The union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has ordered a probe into the distribution of substandard items to voters in her last sangat darshan in Mansa.

The Bathinda MP had distributed water tanks to the voters of about 21 villages in Mansa earlier this month. In the past, the minister has also distributed vessels, sports kit and RO (reverse osmosis) machines but none of those came under scanner in the last 10 years.

As the minister received complaints regarding the quality of items, she ordered the deputy commissioner to initiate probe in this matter. “I was asked to probe the issue and a three-member committee, including two executive engineers, has been constituted for it. It is regarding the quality of the purchased items which were distributed in the last sangat darshan,” said deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma.

Senior officials within the district administration, on the condition of anonymity, said that the quality of the purchased items were compromised as senior officials including politicians from Bathinda and Mansa districts favoured a particular firm.

Harsimrat had called a meeting with the deputy commissioner of Mansa in Delhi on Friday and sources have confirmed that the minister had raised this issue with the concerned officials.