Punjab Poll: Also a battleground for former IAS, Army officers and cops

PUNJAB poll scheduled to be held on February 4 will also see many a battle of former civil servants including cops and Army officers. Here are a few prominent former officers given tickets by ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the two main challengers — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress. Here below are the details:

Who is this brave Punjab Police officer? And how he rescued a woman teacher from Sirhind canal

A Twitter photo showing Bathinda DSP's daring plunge 

“Daring plunge by Punjab police DSP to save lady protestor from drowning. Such motivated officers keep the flag high!!”: When a Delhi police officer Madhur Verma released this photo on a social media site on Sunday with the above-mentioned caption, there followed hundreds of reaction. And rightly so. BoI here gives you more about this Bathinda-based deputy superintendent of police (DSP) that you see in this photo, date and place of the incident, and also the circumstances in which a lady teacher jumped into the canal:

No Affidavits Please: Can GoI prevent a loss of Rs 8,000 crore by following Punjab model?

THREE years ago, the government of Punjab abolished affidavit raj prevalent in ministries and state PSUs so that it could shed the tag of what it calls a “mai‐baap sarkar”. Instead, it wished to move towards “participatory governance”. With the Punjab model being discussed now in the Central government’s department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG), there are speculations that…

Jaspal Bhatti as poll brand ambassador; how an ex-IAS remembers him

Bhatti with wife

“Hope in swarg, mahaul theek hai! Will miss you Jaspal Bhatti.” This is what former IAS and ex-chief election commissioner Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi wrote in a social networking site after the tragic news broke out that satirist Jaspal Bhatti died in a car accident in Punjab on Thursday morning. Everyone remembers Bhatti for his cult comedies such as Ulta Pulta and Flop Show, but BoI here reproduces…

Beyond Babudom: IAS, IPS officers set to contest forthcoming Punjab polls

A NUMBER of serving bureaucrats and former bureaucrats in Punjab including IAS officers Darbara Singh Guru of 1980 batch and Ujagar Singh of 1977 batch, and IPS officers SS Virk, PS Gill and Mohammad Izhar Alam are seeking tickets to contest Punjab’s coming assembly polls. There has already been a huge media attention at non-descript Bhadaur assembly constituency in Punjab where there could be a straight fight between Darbara Singh Guru, principal secretary to the chief minister who will retire in May 2012 and Ujagar Singh, former principal secretary (finance) of Tamil Nadu government. Whereas Guru may get a Shiromani Akali Dal ticket, Singh is reportedly knocking at 10 Janpath to secure a Congress ticket.

That’s not all. Former Punjab and Maharashtra DGP SS Virk has asked for a Congress ticket to contest at Dasuya assembly seat. The other police officers who have made serious bids to get Shiromani Akali Dal tickets are ex-Punjab DGP PS Gill for Moga seat and ex-DGP (prisons) Mohammad Izhar Alam for Malerkotla constituency. In fact, ruling Shiromani Akali Dal is said to be serious in projecting Mohammad Izhar Alam for Malerkotla seat as the constituency is currently represented by Congress MLA Razia Sultana who is wife of another IPS officer, Additional DGP Mohd Mustafa.

Only last year, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s close aide and 1984 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS Ram Chandra Prasad Singh or RCP, became an icon among serving bureaucrats when he clinched a berth in Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of Parliament. Way back in 1984, BJP leader Yaswant Sinha left the elite IAS to join politics and went up the ladder to become the country’s finance minister. Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi is yet another example of a bureaucrat jettisoning cushy government job to get a taste of politics and emerge successful.

Netagiri could well be a serious career option for many more serving and retired Indian bureaucrats in days to come.

Incredible! Punjab bureaucrats doled out revolvers at throwaway price

A NUMBER of weapons including Chinese revolvers and MM Mauser pistols, which were recovered by the Punjab police from terrorists and criminals during the last 20 years were allotted to political leaders and bureaucrats for a pittance, according to a report in The Times of India quoting a Bathinda resident who had filed an RTI application.

Bureaucrats and politicians were doled out .32 bore Chinese revolvers for Rs 25,000 each which were much lower than the market price of Rs 2 lakh each. As many as 79 such revolvers were sold at lower prices.

The report named former deputy commissioner of Bathinda KP Sinha and Faridkot DC Hussan Lal as beneficiaries of the state’s largesse. Both those bureaucrats were allotted German made .32 bore revolvers. The RTI further found that about a dozen DSPs in Punjab police and SDMs were also allotted the weapons at below market prices.

A DoPT clarification on PS

The government has clarified that the services rendered by an officer (of a service

participating under the Central Staffing Scheme) as private secretary or OSD to ministers will be treated as service under the Central Staffing Scheme, for the purpose of empanelment as additional secretary or secretary to the Government of India. The DoPT issued this CIRCULAR dated March 25, 2011.