NEW DELHI: The 10-month-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government in Punjab is embroiled in a tussle with bureaucrats – a fight which seems to have intensified on Wednesday with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann sending a stern message to protesting officers to either join duty immediately or face action.
As the AAP decided to set its foot down in this situation to set an example in line with its “anti-corruption” credentials, which its political opponents have been constantly attacking citing the Delhi excise policy case and the arrest of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case, Mann went on to call the ongoing strike “illegal”.
A range of public services were hit in Punjab as scores of Punjab Civil Service (PCS) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers on Monday went on a five-day long leave protesting against arrest of one of their colleagues and registration of FIR against another by the vigilance department allegedly without the government’s sanction – both under charges of corruption.
The current tussle, according to several AAP insiders, can lead its government to a Delhi-like situation in Punjab too. In the national capital, the AAP government has been in loggerheads with bureaucrats over a range of administrative issues since it came to power in 2015. The party came to power in Punjab with a thumping majority in March 2022.
To be sure, Punjab is a slightly different case in terms of administrative structure. Unlike Delhi, where the services department is caught up in a legal tussle between the elected government and the lieutenant governor, Punjab is a full state and the entire bureaucracy is part of a top-down hierarchy with the chief minister’s office at the helm of it.
A senior Punjab-based leader of the party told TOI that the government has decided not to come under pressure as it can potentially set a bad example for the future and can pose challenges in administration of the debt-ridden state.
The strategy was clear, as Bhagwant Mann posted a message on Twitter on Wednesday: “No one will be spared in the case of corruption, be it a minister, a sentry or any of my relatives…every penny of the public will be accounted for.”
In May 2022, Punjab health minister was sacked from the Cabinet under corruption charges. Earlier this week, horticulture minister Fauja Singh Sarari was forced to resign amid corruption allegations. According to AAP insiders, in both cases, Mann was thoroughly guided by the party’s chief Arvind Kejriwal.
In his Wednesday order, addressed to chief secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, Mann said: ‘It has been brought to my notice that some officers are not attending duty in the garb of some strike. They are protesting against strong action taken by the govt against corrupt officers.”
“Let this be very clear to everyone that the govt has zero tolerance to corruption. Such a strike amounts to blackmailing and arm twisting. It cannot be tolerated by any responsible govt,” said the order, a copy of which TOI has seen.
The chief secretary was directed to declare the strike “illegal”, suspend all officers who fail to join duty by 2 pm on Wednesday and their period of absence from duty so far to be marked as absent.
As the AAP decided to set its foot down in this situation to set an example in line with its “anti-corruption” credentials, which its political opponents have been constantly attacking citing the Delhi excise policy case and the arrest of Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case, Mann went on to call the ongoing strike “illegal”.
A range of public services were hit in Punjab as scores of Punjab Civil Service (PCS) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers on Monday went on a five-day long leave protesting against arrest of one of their colleagues and registration of FIR against another by the vigilance department allegedly without the government’s sanction – both under charges of corruption.
The current tussle, according to several AAP insiders, can lead its government to a Delhi-like situation in Punjab too. In the national capital, the AAP government has been in loggerheads with bureaucrats over a range of administrative issues since it came to power in 2015. The party came to power in Punjab with a thumping majority in March 2022.
To be sure, Punjab is a slightly different case in terms of administrative structure. Unlike Delhi, where the services department is caught up in a legal tussle between the elected government and the lieutenant governor, Punjab is a full state and the entire bureaucracy is part of a top-down hierarchy with the chief minister’s office at the helm of it.
A senior Punjab-based leader of the party told TOI that the government has decided not to come under pressure as it can potentially set a bad example for the future and can pose challenges in administration of the debt-ridden state.
The strategy was clear, as Bhagwant Mann posted a message on Twitter on Wednesday: “No one will be spared in the case of corruption, be it a minister, a sentry or any of my relatives…every penny of the public will be accounted for.”
In May 2022, Punjab health minister was sacked from the Cabinet under corruption charges. Earlier this week, horticulture minister Fauja Singh Sarari was forced to resign amid corruption allegations. According to AAP insiders, in both cases, Mann was thoroughly guided by the party’s chief Arvind Kejriwal.
In his Wednesday order, addressed to chief secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, Mann said: ‘It has been brought to my notice that some officers are not attending duty in the garb of some strike. They are protesting against strong action taken by the govt against corrupt officers.”
“Let this be very clear to everyone that the govt has zero tolerance to corruption. Such a strike amounts to blackmailing and arm twisting. It cannot be tolerated by any responsible govt,” said the order, a copy of which TOI has seen.
The chief secretary was directed to declare the strike “illegal”, suspend all officers who fail to join duty by 2 pm on Wednesday and their period of absence from duty so far to be marked as absent.