CHANDIGARH: A day after Punjab made it mandatory for all 3.5 lakh state government employees to undergo dope tests, AAP MLA Aman Arora surprised everyone by taking one himself, the first legislator to do so.
Hours earlier, Congress leader Manish Tewari had challenged Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to make dope tests mandatory for all state MLAs and MPs.
Arora, who underwent the test at the Government Hospital in Mohali on Thursday, tweeted, “Though I’m not against this order, but let’s be honest @capt_amarinder ji, it has been the Politicians who had patronised Drug Mafia. Instead of these orders, as head of the State, U should have taken the first step. Nevertheless, I got my DOPE TEST done today. When r U getting it done Sir?”
Tewari pointed out that mandating dope tests for all state legislators would remove the “unreasonable classification” between two classes of government servants.
He tweeted, “Dope Test of Govt Servants for recruitment/ promotions proposed by Punjab Govt is a welcome step. Must be made mandatory for all MLAs & MPs from state. It would not only set an example but unreasonable classification between two classes of Public Servants may not meet test of law.”
Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa too went for a dope test on Thursday. But authorities at a Mohali hospital reportedly told him to come back next week as he is on medication for a medical problem.
Soon after, Bajwa announced that all candidates planning to contest the forthcoming panchayat elections would have to take the test.
Bajwa said he had proposed mandatory dope tests for election candidates to panchayats, zila parishads and panchayat samitis. The proposal will be placed before the cabinet at its next meeting. He said such a step would take the anti-drug movement to the village level.
Representatives of various state government employee organisations have also demanded that legislators and ministers should set an example by undergoing dope tests.
Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that during the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP rule in 2013, he had demanded such tests for all MLAs. But then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had not taken action.