'Poor' Punjab pays troop of advisers while unable to pay salaries to its employees
Saturday, September,14 2013 - 10:44 CHANDIGARH: Prudence is the last word that will come to mind if one looks critically at the unwanted expenditure of public money on advisers in Punjab. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal have seven advisers and 20 chief parliamentary secretaries between them. While an adviser has been given the rank of a Cabinet minister, an assistant adviser enjoys the rank of a Chief Parliamentary Secretary. Apart from official residential accommodation and vehicles, the advisers and assistant advisers get a monthly salary Rs 65,000 and Rs 56,000, respectively
. The senior Badal's advisers include Kamal Oswal (industrial matters), Tikshan Sood (political matters), H.S. Bains (media adviser on national affairs), B.S. Dhaliwal (technical matters) and Vineet Joshi (assistant media adviser). Cash crunch This issue becomes pertinent given the fact that the Punjab government, which is facing acute shortage of funds, has been unable to pay salaries of thousands of its employees. Moreover, Parkash Singh Badal is sitting on the chief minister's chair for a record fifth time and well versed with the functioning of the government machinery. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has also been provided with media adviser Jangveer Singh, who is a noted journalist. Interestingly, a sizeable chunk of the chief parliamentary secretaries are rarely found in their offices. The Shiromani Akali Dal-led government is also aware that these officials have no work to do as the ministers hardly allot work to them. Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Health) Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu had recently complained that she is never invited to department meetings and important decisions are taken without informing her. Besides the advisors and the chief parliamentary secretaries, there are about 1,000 other people who have been accommodated in various boards, corporations and other government institutions. "The government has showered plump posts on 1,000 people in various boards, corporations on political basis. The officials were appointed without issuing any public advertisement and in violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution," Dinesh Chadha, a Punjab-based advocate who had filed a petition challenging appointments of advisors and other appointments, said. The petition, however, was dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court about a month ago. Chadha has not given up and plans to challenge the High Court's decision in the Supreme Court soon. Source : Daily Mail
Saturday, September,14 2013 - 10:44 CHANDIGARH: Prudence is the last word that will come to mind if one looks critically at the unwanted expenditure of public money on advisers in Punjab. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal have seven advisers and 20 chief parliamentary secretaries between them. While an adviser has been given the rank of a Cabinet minister, an assistant adviser enjoys the rank of a Chief Parliamentary Secretary. Apart from official residential accommodation and vehicles, the advisers and assistant advisers get a monthly salary Rs 65,000 and Rs 56,000, respectively
. The senior Badal's advisers include Kamal Oswal (industrial matters), Tikshan Sood (political matters), H.S. Bains (media adviser on national affairs), B.S. Dhaliwal (technical matters) and Vineet Joshi (assistant media adviser). Cash crunch This issue becomes pertinent given the fact that the Punjab government, which is facing acute shortage of funds, has been unable to pay salaries of thousands of its employees. Moreover, Parkash Singh Badal is sitting on the chief minister's chair for a record fifth time and well versed with the functioning of the government machinery. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has also been provided with media adviser Jangveer Singh, who is a noted journalist. Interestingly, a sizeable chunk of the chief parliamentary secretaries are rarely found in their offices. The Shiromani Akali Dal-led government is also aware that these officials have no work to do as the ministers hardly allot work to them. Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Health) Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu had recently complained that she is never invited to department meetings and important decisions are taken without informing her. Besides the advisors and the chief parliamentary secretaries, there are about 1,000 other people who have been accommodated in various boards, corporations and other government institutions. "The government has showered plump posts on 1,000 people in various boards, corporations on political basis. The officials were appointed without issuing any public advertisement and in violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution," Dinesh Chadha, a Punjab-based advocate who had filed a petition challenging appointments of advisors and other appointments, said. The petition, however, was dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court about a month ago. Chadha has not given up and plans to challenge the High Court's decision in the Supreme Court soon. Source : Daily Mail
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