How money is wasted on non-productive things can be learnt well from the Punjab government. Never mind the financial doldrums it is in, the state spent crores of rupees to organise a one-day celebration in the name of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

Consider this: Rs 3.05 crore were spent on the function held to mark Shaheed Bhagat Singh's birth centenary, the celebrations for which started on September 27, 2007, and came to a close on September 27, 2008.

Help, a Nawanshahr-based NGO, had filed an application under the Right to Information Act (RTI), to Punjab Arts Parishad chairman Dr Swaran Singh and Principal Secretary, Punjab, for details of the money spent on the function organised on September 27, 2008 in Khatkar Kalan, the native place of the martyr.

The details provided by the authorities are shocking. By its own admission, the Punjab government spent Rs 3.05 crore on the function. The letter from the Parishad reveals that the government spent nearly Rs 1.5 crore only on the stage, the light and sound arrangements, and seating. An additional Rs 1.12 crore was spent on inviting the artistes, which included their fee, boarding and lodging, and travelling expenses.

Apart from this, Rs 18.49 lakh were spent on television and video production; Rs 11.42 lakh on advertisements in newspapers and making banners; Rs 2.52 lakh on entertaining guests; Rs 4.56 lakh were marked as transport charges and Rs 5.34 lakh were stated as miscellaneous expenses. Ironically, there was hardly any expenditure on giving greater publicity to the life and philosophy of the great martyr. In the entire year, no seminar or other activities related to the beliefs of the Shaheed were organised.

Notably, the Centre had provided Rs 3.15 crore for activities related to the celebrations. While a grant of Rs 2.36 crore has been given, the remaining amount will be provided soon, says the letter sent by the Parishad.

Prof Jagmohan Singh, nephew of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, said the money should have been utilised to organise seminars in schools, colleges and universities. "The money has been wasted in a criminal manner in the name of the Shaheed. To spend Rs 6 crore on two functions in a year is no tribute to the martyr. The money should have been used to inculcate his values among students. The state has lost a golden opportunity to do something positive in his name."

Many persons have demanded an investigation into the way money has been wasted in the name of organising these functions.