According to a report by a news agency, Punjab Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has been the subject of some controversy after it was revealed he had been operating a non-existent department for more than 20 months. It all came out through a gazette notification wherein the Punjab Chief Secretary removed ambiguity by asking the Department of Administrative Reforms, which had been allocated to Dhaliwal earlier; it does not exist.
It said that in partial modification of the previous Punjab government notification on allotment of portfolios among ministers, there is no such Department of Administrative Reforms during the date on which it had been allotted to Dhaliwal. Dhaliwal said, “Following this, it is only that I will now hold my portfolio in the Punjab cabinet as NRI Affairs.”
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had ordered a change in Dhaliwal’s portfolio, which became effective on official processes on February 7, 2025. In May, Dhaliwal was reassigned the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare portfolio, previously on him, before he was brought back in charge in June. After that, he was entrusted with the Administrative Reforms Department, which, as it would turn out, was also a figment of somebody’s imagination. He clung to this non-existent department even when, after another cabinet reshuffle in September 2024, he too left office.
News agency sources said the department was unmanned, met no regular and had no official functions. BJP leaders have lashed out against the AAP government’s governance and transparency and have reacted strongly over the revelation. The incident raises questions of great importance about oversight and administrative accountability within the Punjab government. Yet, ahead of the political rivals sharpening their attack on the ruling party over this humiliating revelation, the controversy unfolds.
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