UPA can't be trusted with country's assets: Badal

Chandigarh: The CAG report on coal block allocation has proved that the UPA government now cannot be trusted to remain the custodian of country's assets for "even one more day", Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday said.

"The CAG report has clearly established that loss to the country's exchequer could have been prevented had the government chosen to auction the blocks through transparent and competitive bidding instead of handing them down on the recommendations of a committee chaired by Coal Secretary," Badal said.

"Things have now reached a point where this government can no longer be trusted with the country's wealth and its future," the chief minister.

Badal questioned the moral authority of the UPA government remaining a custodian of country's assets "for even one more day".

It is no longer safe for the country and the people to keep their precious resources and hard earned wealth in the hands of this government, he said.

"It is people's money and people's future which is being looted in broad daylight. At stake is not only our present but also the destiny of our coming generations. What is being enacted before the country is a robber's dream and a common man's nightmare, Badal said in a statement.

Reacting to the "multi-lakh crore Coalgate" and other scams of the UPA government allegedly exposed by what he described as "a constitutional, unbiased and credible authority like the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)," Badal said that things have now reached a point where this government can no longer be trusted with the country's wealth and its future.

"It impinges even on the security of the country," said the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal. The chief minister said that the CAG report tabled in the Parliament "holding the UPA government responsible for largesse of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to private firms made it clear that there is no one in the government who treats himself as a conscientious trustee of the assets of the country and the wealth of its people."

"The latest estimation of loss was much higher than the notional loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer due to non auction of the 2G-Spectrum in 2008 by the UPA government," Badal claimed.