Women officers calling shots in districts
Now women officers call the shots in Punjab. A 2013 batch IPS officer Kanwardeep Kaur is the new SSP of Ferozepur. Amrit Singh, a 2014 batch IAS officer is the first woman deputy commissioner, Promila Jaiswal is the CEO of Cantonment Board and Ekta Uppal is the CJM. Besides, Seema Sharma is the DRM of Ferozepur Railways. In the neighbouring district of Fazilka, IAS officer Seenu Duggal is the new deputy commissioner, whereas In Gurdaspur, Dr Nidhi Kumud Bamba is the additional deputy commissioner. Whereas, SDM Amandeep Kaur and her Batala counterpart Shayari Bhandari are charged with additional work.
Min draws flak for comments on farmers
Local bodies minister Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjer landed himself in a controversy after his remarks on Punjabis. Nijjer who was in Amritsar, was talking on dwindling ground water level, said, “Punjabiyan toh bewakoof kaum koi ni” (There is no community stupider than Punjabis). He also said that farmers have become complacent with the wheat-paddy cycle and chose to use ground water, instead of canal water. Sensing trouble, he later apologised in a video message, “I am also a Punjabi and am well aware of the contribution the community has made. I apologise for the hurt my comments have caused.’’
No work at secretariat amid poll frenzy
Official administration work at the civil secretariat in Punjab remained affected as Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, cabinet ministers, MLAs and other officials were on campaigning for the first phase of polling. As most of the ministers were away to poll-bound Gujarat, the corridors in the secretariat that normally sees a lot of hustle-bustle, remained deserted. As the bureaucrats, senior officials and other staff members have been out on election campaigning duty, not much official work has been being taken up, which is also the reason that hardly any files have moved.
Harpreet Bajwa
Our correspondent in Chandigarh
hsbajwa73@gmail.com