New Delhi: In a startling revelation, the Punjab government has acknowledged that one of its ministers, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, was in charge of a department that did not exist for nearly 20 months. This oversight has sparked sharp criticism from the opposition, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) labeling the situation as a “joke.”
The Department of Administrative Reforms, which was assigned to Dhaliwal, was found to be non-existent, according to a recent gazetted notification issued by the Punjab government. As a result, Dhaliwal will now be responsible solely for the NRI Affairs Department. This development comes after a series of cabinet reshuffles, including one in May 2023, where Dhaliwal lost key portfolios such as agriculture and rural development, and another in September 2024, where he continued to hold the non-existent department.
Dhaliwal’s role as the NRI Affairs Minister has been under scrutiny, particularly since the United States began deporting illegal Indian migrants to Amritsar on February 5. The BJP has seized on this issue, questioning the governance of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government. “AAP has made governance in Punjab a joke The AAP Minister ran a department for 20 months which never existed Imagine for 20 months the CM did not even know that a minister was running a ‘NON EXISTENT DEPARTMENT,'” said BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari.
The administrative blunder has highlighted inefficiencies within the Punjab government, with officials noting that the Department of Administrative Reforms had no officers in charge and existed only on paper. The government’s delayed realization and subsequent action have raised questions about the effectiveness and oversight of the current administration.
