Badals claimed Rs 3.61 crore from govt for treatment in 7 yrs: RTI

Amarinder made no claims

• Former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, during his tenure from 2002 to 2007, did not claim a single medical bill from the taxpayers’ money

Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 2

The state government has paid medical bills worth Rs 3,61,59,604 (Rs 3.61 crore) of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deceased wife Surinder Kaur Badal between 2007 to 2012 during his last term and 2012 to 2014 in his ongoing term, according to information procured under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

On the other hand, former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, during his tenure from 2002 to 2007, did not claim a single medical bill from the taxpayers’ money.

Of the total Rs 3,61,59,604 paid by state government for the medical bills of the Badal couple, Rs 3,61,23,604 were spent on the treatment of Surinder, who was suffering from cancer and admitted to a hospital in New York. She passed away in 2011.

The documents revealed that Parkash Singh Badal himself claimed medical bills of just Rs 36,000 and that too in January 2012.

The rest of the bills were paid in 12 instalments in 2010 and 2011. The state government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 4.61 lakh as an advance for the treatment of Surinder Kaur Badal on April 9, 2010. Thereafter, Rs 10.18 lakh on May 19, 2010; Rs 15.1 lakh on June 11, 2010; Rs 60.54 lakh on July 8, 2010; Rs 35.03 lakh on December 3, 2010; Rs 13.4 lakh on December 13, 2010; Rs 85.54 lakh on December 21, 2010 were given to the CM.

A medical reimbursement bill of Rs 48.49 lakh was approved on January 14, 2011. Besides, Rs 5.01 lakh were granted for the medical tests in New York on February 7, 2011. Further, Rs 19.03 lakh were released on April 7, 2011, Rs 20.8 lakh on May 17, 2011 and the last instalment of Rs 43.45 lakh on December 29, 2011.

Notably, the Punjab CM is not alone in claiming medical bills from the taxpayers’ money. Some of his counterparts too have claimed such bills in the past.

Courtesy: The Tribune