For the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which sought an electoral victory in Punjab for the first time four months ago, the lack of administrative experience and some “restless” first-time legislators have already posed a major challenge to the chief. Minister Bhagwant Mann seems to be falling from one administrative ‘jerk’ to another.
The latest case pertains to his health minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra, who created a storm when he was “humiliated”. Dr. Raj Bahadur, Vice Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) During the inspection, he was forced to lie on the damaged mattress in front of the staff and patients at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot.
The video of the minister pushing the chief surgeon to the mattress sparked controversy with opposition parties demanding the former’s resignation. Though the chief minister acknowledged that the incident was unfortunate, he blamed his opponents for “politicizing it”.
Despite AAP’s claim that the minister is upset over the lack of cleanliness in the hospital, the optics clearly did the government no good. As regional TV channels played Dr Raj Bahadur’s video, Mann – supervising a government campaign to seize 2,828 acres of illegally encroached prime land from 15 influential encroachers – walked down the aisle. The damage had been done.
Such incidents, which have been going on for nearly 150 days in Punjab, have put AAP in the firing line for its alleged lack of administrative experience. According to officials, first-time legislators are “crossing the border” too many times. “They are not able to understand that they are in power and need to be more mature in dealing with officers,” remarked a senior official.
Officials say lines are being crossed shamelessly. Earlier this month, AAP MLA from Jalandhar West, Sheetal Angural, angered officials when he went to the district administrative office in Jalandhar and tried to drag employees and officials while going live on his Facebook page. Even as he publicly reprimanded officials for accusing them of corruption, agitated officials went on strike. Angural is forced to apologize to the authorities to return to work.
“The MLAs are running amongst themselves. They cannot let down the officials who are in the fray to implement the schemes. There is growing frustration over how the alleged Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, is treating ministers and legislators’ officials.
The opposition alleges that the chief minister seems to have lost control of his flock. “They need to rein in them before it’s too late,” said a senior leader of the Akal Dal. In many such cases, the allegations are rooted.
On July 13, a video of AAP MLA from Ludhiana South, Rajinder Pal Kaur Chhina, had gone viral in which she was seen reprimanding a police officer on duty for conducting searches in her constituency. The MLA was heard interrogating the lady officer for not taking permission before conducting the search.
With the elected government officially turbulent, some bureaucrats are looking for a “way out”.
Half a dozen IAS officers of Punjab cadre have sought central deputation. Those who opted for central deputation after the Mann government came to power include 1988-batch Ravneet Kaur, 1990-batch Anirudh Tiwari, 1991-batch Seema Jain, 1992-batch KAP Sinha, 1998-batch S Karuna Raju and Includes 2000-batch Rahul Tiwari.
To make matters worse for the Mann government are the frequent resignations of top legal officials. Just four months after his appointment, senior advocate Anmol Ratan Singh Sidhu submitted his resignation from the post of Advocate General. Although he cited “personal reasons”, many believed that his stepping down had more to do with just a personal decision.
Sources said Sidhu’s exit caused inordinate delay in finalizing the list of law officers who would have worked with him. The team could not be finalized despite taking over as AG about four months back.
The government had in March extended the contract period of existing law officers and the process of their appointment was initiated soon thereafter. But the list was not finalized.
“The government probably still has to come to terms with the fact that they are not the opposition and stop looking at the whole bureaucracy with suspicion. The government cannot implement its governance agenda if they are in constant conflict with the administration,” remarked an official.
read all breaking news And today’s fresh news Here