The Punjab government has officially dissolved the Department of Administrative Reforms, which was led by Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and has been "non-existent" for the past 20 months. This decision is part of a broader administrative overhaul by the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government, which also included the transfer of 21 IPS officers.
A gazette notification issued by the Punjab Chief Secretary on Friday stated that the decision to abolish the department was made upon the recommendation of Chief Minister Mann. The notification clarified that the Department of Administrative Reforms, previously assigned to Dhaliwal, is no longer in operation, and he will now retain only the NRI Affairs portfolio.
"In partial modification of Punjab Government Notification No. 2/1/2022-2Cabinet/2230 dated September 23, 2024, regarding allocation of portfolios amongst the Ministers, the Department of Administrative Reforms earlier allotted to Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Cabinet Minister is not in existence as on date," the notification read.
The last cabinet reshuffle in Punjab government was in September 2024 when CM Bhagwant Mann dropped four ministers and inducted five fresh faces into his cabinet, besides reallocation of portfolios.
Tarunpreet Singh Sond, Barinder Kumar Goyal, Ravjot Singh, Hardeep Singh Mundian, and Mohinder Bhagat took their oaths as Ministers at Raj Bhavan.
CM Mann retained eight ministries, including Home Affairs & Justice, Legal & Legislative Affairs, and Sports & Youth Services.
Harpal Singh Cheema got four ministries, including Finance, Planning, and Excise & Taxation, while Aman Arora got five ministries, including New & Renewable Energy Sources and Employment Generation & Training.
Dr Baljit Kaur got two ministries, including Social Justice Empowerment & Minorities, while Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal got NRI Affairs and Administrative Reforms (earlier now scrapped).
Dr Balbir took charge of Health & Family Welfare, Medical Education & Research, and Harjot Singh Bains got Technical Education and Industrial Training, Information & Public Relations, and two other departments.
Harbhajan Singh, got the Power and Public Works (B&R) departments.
The opposition BJP has ridiculed the AAP government in Punjab, sarcastically referring to the recent dissolution of the Department of Administrative Reforms as a "Kejriwal Model."
Kanchan Gupta, a senior advisor to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, mocked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for being "blissfully unaware" of the situation. In a tweet on Saturday, he pointed out, "Punjab had a Minister for Administrative Reforms but no Ministry of Administrative Reforms. AAP government headed by CM Bhagwant Mann was blissfully unaware of this until it removed the title of Minister for Administrative Reforms. This is Kejriwal Model."
BJP's IT Cell head, Amit Malviya, also weighed in, calling AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal "a charlatan who must be banished from public life." He tweeted, "You can imagine the crisis in the Punjab government if it took nearly 20 months to realise that a department assigned to one of its prominent ministers never actually existed."
The developments arise amid speculation that the AAP is shifting its power base from the national capital to Punjab, following a significant defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections on February 5.
Currently, Punjab is the only state where the AAP holds power.
In addition to dissolving the department, the Punjab government has ordered the immediate transfer of 21 IPS officers, which includes a reshuffling of police chiefs across several districts.
Sources from the Punjab Advocate General's office informed India Today that the state leadership is also pursuing mass resignations from lawyers.
These changes come just before a two-day session of the Punjab Assembly scheduled for February 24-25.