Jalandhar, Jan. 20 -- Congress leaders and workers staged a protest at Nakodar alleging the state government of committing financial and administrative fraud in the name of rural development. Addressing the gathering, Dr Navjot Singh Dahiya, party's constituency in-charge, claimed that the funds sent by the central government specifically for village development are being illegally diverted and transferred into a "reverse pooling account" and then utilised to clear electricity department bills, instead of being spent on roads, sanitation, drinking water, streetlights and other essential rural infrastructure. Dahiya alleged that Gram Panchayat Basli (Jalandhar) is only one example, and several other panchayats have faced the same diversion of funds under the 15th Finance Commission grants, in complete violation of established financial norms and central government guidelines. He said, "On one hand, villages are being deprived of their rightful Finance Commission grants, and on the other, all legal, financial and constitutional rules are being openly violated, which may lead to the stoppage of future central grants for Punjab's villages".HTc...