Chandigarh:
In a move of considerable generosity, Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is the deputy chief minister of Punjab, has donated a crore to his alma mater, the Lawrence School Sanawar, an elite co-ed boarding school in the hills near Chandigarh. The people of Punjab must really like the school, or its graduates, because they're footing the bill.
There's also the fact that the donation, by the taxpayers of Punjab, is for a school in a different state. Awkward.
Mr Badal invoked nationalism to justify the transaction. "Isn't Himachal Pradesh a part of India?" he asked today. "I have seen the Himachal Chief Minister... other Chief Ministers giving to other states... when I went to Ladakh, I gave to a school in Ladakh,' he said.
The Punjab Nirman Fund had a budget of one crore this year. And all of it has been gifted to the Lawrence School.
Mr Badal, whose father Parkash Singh Badal is the chief minister, also says the donation was cleared by the cabinet. The opposition, however, has threatened to take him to court, alleging that this is a misuse of taxpayers' money and the state's development funds
"It is highly deplorable," said Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, adding that there are plenty of government schools in terrible condition that could use the money instead. "Our party condemns Sukhbir Badal for doling out one crore rupees from Punjab Nirman Fund which is meant for cremation ground, dharmshalas, public toilets. Our schools have no infrastructure. Sanawar school is for rich people."