Chandigarh: On March 24 this 12 months, Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, a 2001 batch IAS officer within the Punjab cadre, was eliminated because the state house minister by the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP authorities. Greater than eight months later, he’s nonetheless with no publish.
Many state officers can solely speculate as to why he was fired. There are a number of theories floating round amongst senior officers, however most agree that the fees, together with these of the Dwelling Ministry, have one thing to do with Mann’s refusal to signal a file as mining secretary, and that he was “punished” as a result of he would not just like the political forces that govern Punjab (a mix of Mann and AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia).
In another state, Gurkirat Kirpal, the highest All India UPSC athlete with an impeccable profession spanning over 25 years, would have been a treasure. Earlier than the Aam Aadmi Get together got here to energy in Punjab, he served as particular chief secretary to former chief ministers Parkar Singh Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh.
Gurkirat Kirpal declined a request from ThePrint to debate the bizarre “achievement” of not being paid for work by the Man authorities for greater than eight months. However he’s no exception.
Kanwar Preet Brar, a 2007 IAS officer, was ready to imagine the publish from February 24 after being eliminated as managing director of Punjab State Warehousing Company. When contacted by ThePrint, she additionally declined to debate the rationale for her paid sabbatical.
Puneet Goyal, a 2011 IAS officer, has been unemployed since February 25 after being eliminated because the Director Common of Meals and Civil Provides.
The case of those three law enforcement officials is without doubt one of the most shocking due to the size of time they spent with out posting, however it is not uncommon in Punjab for the AAP authorities to take pleasure in a ‘chilly struggle’ with law enforcement officials.
Dozens of IAS officers have been out of labor for a number of months since AAP got here to energy within the state in March 2022, for causes that haven’t been clearly defined however are linked to their displeasure with the occasion management in Man and Delhi. Sources stated the “punishment” would solely be accepted if the officer provided an unconditional apology and was granted a gathering with the management.
The Print tried to hunt the federal government’s views by calls and messages by chief secretary KAP Sinha and AAP spokespersons Malvinder Singh Khan and Neil Garg. Nonetheless, there was no response.
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lengthy checklist
Ajoy Kumar Sinha, a 1996 IAS officer, has not held any publish since his dismissal. in october As chairman of Punjab State Energy Company Restricted (PSPCL), he had been given the publish in February. Mr. Sinha is scheduled to retire on January 31, 2026, which may set a brand new administrative file in Punjab if he’s not allotted a publish by then.
Paramvir Singh, a 2015 IAS officer, has not been given any publish since he was eliminated as Commissioner of Patiala Municipal Company in October. Mr. Paramvir has had a reasonably bureaucratic response over the previous 12 months. He was first relieved of his publish as Deputy Commissioner Mansa in August 2024 and remained unemployed till October final 12 months when he was appointed Deputy Commissioner Tarun Taran. Nonetheless, he was sacked inside weeks after he reportedly shared the stage with Akali Dal leaders. He remained unemployed until March 2025, after which he was appointed Commissioner of Patiala Municipal Company.
Rahul Bhandari, born in 1997, was faraway from his publish as chief resident commissioner of Delhi’s Punjab Bhawan in February 2024 and was not given any work till September 2024, when he was lastly given accountability for animal husbandry and fisheries, which is taken into account one of many state’s “secondary” posts.
Ajoy Kumar Sharma, a 1999 IAS officer at the moment posted as Joint Secretary within the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Authorities of India, has not been within the publish for greater than 4 months after being transferred because the Well being Minister in January 2023, and the fees had been solely leveled in Could 2023. His political superiors had been reportedly livid after he spoke out in assist of different officers and later refused to supply funds for the promotion of the Aam Aadmi Clinic.
Vikas Pratap Singh (admitted in 1994) and Mohammad Tayyab (admitted in 2007) didn’t publish from the final week of June till mid-August. Vikas Partap was ultimately posted as Extra Chief Secretary, Social Safety, Girls and Little one Growth, whereas Tayyab was posted as Prisons Commissioner and was additionally given the publish of Inspector Common of Police and Prisons on an interim foundation. Equally, Jiwan Jot Kaur, a 2014-batch Punjab Civil Servant (PCS) officer, didn’t maintain the publish from the primary week of June to mid-August and was appointed as Extra Secretary, Political Affairs in mid-August.
Another law enforcement officials stay with out posting for weeks. When requested whether or not the federal government’s service code permits for such lengthy sabbaticals with no publish, a senior official who beforehand labored within the human assets division (who requested anonymity) instructed ThePrint that the service code is totally silent on such conditions. “The service rules set tips for bureaucrats throughout their tenure. There is no such thing as a rule prohibiting the federal government from giving jobs to officers. This case was not envisioned when the service rules had been established,” the official stated.
Former executives lament the present scenario. Creator Ramesh Inder Singh, who has resigned as chief secretary of Punjab, instructed ThePrint that this can be a punitive tactic. “Officers are stored with out posts as a result of the federal government has no different approach to file a case towards them. The federal government can’t discover something towards them. It has the impact of reducing the morale of the paperwork. It additionally has adverse implications for the federal government. The remainder of the paperwork stops working, which in flip results in poor efficiency. In that sense, it’s of no use to the federal government both,” he stated.
Former Punjab particular chief secretary and columnist KBS Sidhu instructed ThePrint that there needs to be an affordable time frame earlier than an officer is appointed to a cadre publish or a publish equal to a cadre publish.
“If the federal government is unable to deploy officers, it’s in violation of the cadre rules. Secondly, it’s financially inefficient as a result of the federal government continues to pay salaries with out receiving work from the officers. This case is used to ship a message to the cadre and colleagues that these positions are usually not on the right books of the federal government of the day. 15-20 days is okay, however it’s not proper to make officers wait that lengthy for deployment,” he stated. Sidhu.
One other former senior official instructed ThePrint on situation of anonymity: “Conserving workers for weeks or perhaps a month with no publish has occurred in different governments, however it was nonetheless thought of uncommon.” Conserving workers with no publish for such a protracted time frame isn’t a good suggestion for bureaucrats. It is a clear message to the paperwork: Working individuals are being instructed that there is no such thing as a room for dissent or completely different views inside the system. In the event you do not do this utterly, you’ll be part of the ranks of the unemployed. ”
(Edited by Manat Chu)
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