Led by former minister Joginder Singh Mann, Congress workers tried to march towards the venue of the 'Punjabi Pravasi Sammelan' to submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, but were stopped by police.
Mann alleged that a "lip service" was being done in the name of the NRI summit, whereas the "reality" was that all announcements of the government "remained on paper."
"A cash-strapped state government is squandering huge public money while funds for various development schemes, including those meant for dalits, are not being given for long," he alleged.
Criticising the state machinery for not allowing them to meet Badal, the agitating workers accused the police of high-handedness, and later submitted their memorandum to the district authorities.