Chandigarh, Nov 16 (IANS) A special team of the National Commission for Minorities, which visited Punjab and this union territory Monday, pulled up the state government for its failure to work for the upliftment of the minority communities.

'They are giving us lame excuses for the lapses that we found in their functioning. We have taken very serious note of this and directed them to immediately bring in the reforms that are meant for minorities into force,' Splazes Angmo, a team member, told reporters here late Monday evening.

She added: 'We have warned the Punjab government that no further funds, under minority welfare, will be released in future till they make appropriate use of the present funds.'

The team earlier in the day met the chief secretary and other senior officials of Punjab. The team also interacted with the representatives of Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi communities, and listened to their grievances.

'During our interaction, we received 12 to 14 complaints,' said H.S. Hanspal, another member of the team.