Punjab Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has been told that he now has only the department of NRI cases, because the administrative reform department he had for the last 21 months is no longer in existence. This was said in an official notification.
After the matter came to light, the opposition parties are fiercely targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Sources said that no employee was given to the minister for the administrative reform department and no meeting related to it was held.
Dhaliwal, while trying not to give up this issue too much, said that his purpose is to serve Punjab and not to become in charge of any department.
He told reporters in Jalandhar, “We are engaged in saving Punjab and bringing the state back on track. Departments have no meaning for me. It is up to the Chief Minister to get whatever work he wants to do. ,
A notification issued on Friday said, “Regarding the allocation of departments among ministers, the Punjab Government notification number 21/1/2022-2 cabinet/2230 dated 23.09.24, while amending partial amendment, the Administrative Reforms Department which first Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was allotted, no longer in existence. ‘
Therefore, on the advice of the Chief Minister, the Governor is making the amendment effective from February 2, 2025.
During the cabinet reshuffle in May 2023, Dhaliwal was given the responsibility of the administrative department when he was freed from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, but the NRI (Pravasi Bharatiya) Affairs Department was upheld. The department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare was given to Gurmeet Singh Khudiyan.
When asked about the opposition being questioned by the opposition on the ‘existenceless’ department, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the name of the department has been changed.
He said, “We have changed its name to a new department. Earlier it was only for name. It had no office nor an employee. It is now designed to improve bureaucracy. Now there are two departments, one department minister Aman Arora is handling. ”
Mann said that his government is considering merging those departments whose work is the same.
‘AAP’ retaliated against the opposition parties and accused them of making an issue unnecessarily.
Neil Garg, leader and spokesperson of the ‘AAP’ Punjab unit, said that the administrative department was started in 1994.
He said, “In 2018, this department was under the then Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Therefore, it is completely baseless and false claiming that this department was never in existence.”
Garg said that the central and state governments have dissolved various departments several times in the past.
He said, “For example, there used to be a ‘disinvestment ministry’ during the BJP government, but the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had dissolved it as they did not need it.”
Garg said in a statement, “Similarly, the Honorable Sarkar has issued a notification to dissolve the Administrative Reforms Department as its work is being handled by the ‘Government Reforms Department’. Therefore, the government no longer needs this department.
Leaders of the opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that this shows the seriousness of the government led by Bhagwant Mann in the state.
BJP’s national general secretary Tarun Chugh targeted the Honorable government and alleged that “the government has completely collapsed, which is shaming the state.”
He said, “Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal to lead the Administrative Reforms Department for 20 months, which is not in existence, shocking revelations. This has exposed the completely disability and chaos of Bhagwant Mann’s government. ”
The BJP leader said in a statement, “This government has become a completely circus. This kind of disaster comes when the state is run by irresponsible and ignorant leaders. ”
Senior Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa made fun of the ‘AAP’ government and asked if this is the change he had promised.
BJP’s Punjab unit general secretary Subhash Sharma said, “It shows the mental bankruptcy of the government that a department was allotted, which is not in existence.” Neither the allocated to the allocated nor those who were allocated the department were aware of the fact that this department is not in existence.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, leader of Shiromani Akali Dal and MP from Bathinda also took a sarcasm at the AAP -led government. Badal said in a post on ‘X’, “Look at your sample of your rule. Ministers have been allotted such departments which are not in existence and they themselves do not know which departments they have. All this is happening because the ministers have no role in the rule and the government is running from Delhi with ‘remote control’.
Amarinder Singh Raja Wading, head of the Punjab unit of Congress and MP from Ludhiana also took a sarcasm at the government in a post. Sharing the clipping of a newspaper on this matter, he wrote, “What is the change.”
