‘Created to bring reforms’: Bhagwant Mann reacts to opposition's ’non-existent' department charge
Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was informed that the Administrative Reforms department was ‘not in existence as on date’
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann explained on Saturday that his government created the Administrative Reforms department to implement reforms and defended the controversial circular as part of an administrative process.
Mann's clarification comes amid accusations from the BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) that minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was unaware that he was heading a “non-existent” Administrative Reforms department for nearly 21 months.
The controversy erupted over a Punjab government notification issued on Friday. “In partial modification of Punjab Government Notification No. 21/1/2022-2 Cabinet/2230 dated 23.09.24, regarding allocation of portfolios among ministers, the department of Administrative Reforms earlier allocated to Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Cabinet Minister, is not in existence as on date.,” the circular read.
“Therefore, on the advice of the CM, the governor is pleased to make the amendment effective from February 2, 2025.,” it added.
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Mann defended the notification on Saturday.
“We changed its name and created a new department. Earlier, it was just for the name; there was no staff or office. Now, it has been created to bring reforms, whether in bureaucracy or other areas. We are also looking at merging several departments with similar functions into one department," he said.
A PTI report said that Dhaliwal was given the administrative department portfolio in May 2023 after stripping him of the agriculture and farmers' welfare department. He continued to be in charge of NRI affairs.
No staff was assigned to the minister, and the department did not hold any meetings during the past 21 months, the report said.
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BJP, SAD, and Congress slam AAP
Punjab BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma said the episode reflected the AAP government's “mental bankruptcy”.
“Neither those who allotted it nor those who had been allotted the department were aware of the fact that this department was not in existence,” Sharma said.
SAD leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal claimed that the minister was unaware of his portfolio because he has “no role” in a government “remote controlled from Delhi.”
Punjab Congress chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring wrote on X, “What a 'Badlaav”.
