Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann faced flak for comments on Radha Soami Beas dera head Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa asked AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal to clarify his stand on the remarks. BJP leader and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu had said Mann has belittled himself with his post the religious leader. After meeting Bikram Singh Majithia at Patiala Jail, Dhillon had said charges against the SAD leader were “false and baseless”, prompting the CM to make the remark. Dhillon’s visit to Majithia at the jail just before the SAD leader was given bail generated political heat.
Many senior IAS, IPS officers await postings
The AAP government in Punjab has kept some IAS and IPS officers waiting for postings for months. Harpreet Singh Sidhu, a 1992-batch IPS officer, has not been given posting after he returned from central deputation as ITBP additional DGP. Sidhu is senior to DGP Gaurav Yadav. Also 2001 batch IAS officer Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, who was removed as the state home secretary on March 24 last year, still remains without assignment. After AAP came to power in the state, many senior officers have been kept without work for months. Though reasons have not been spelt out, upsetting the CM Mann or party leaders in Delhi could be factors.
Make environmental studies must in schools
AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP and environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal has called for making environmental studies a mandatory subject in all schools across the country. Seechewal said in the Upper House that when the foundation of environmental protection is laid in primary schools, environmentally conscious citizens will emerge as a strong force in society. Citing Gurbani, he emphasized that air, water, and earth form the very basis of human life. He lamented that due to human greed, these three gifts of the nature are facing serious threats. Seechewal stressed that environmental awareness must be developed from the primary school level for a safe future.
Harpreet Bajwa
Our correspondent in Chandigarh
hsbajwa73@gmail.com