Punjab: Govt suspends two IAS officers Principal Secy and Director of State Panchayats Dept in dissolution matter of Panchayats

In Punjab, the State government has suspended the Principal Secretary and Director of the State Panchayats Department today in the dissolution matter of Panchayats. The panchayats were dissolved on the 10th of August. While criticizing the move by the State government, Opposition parties challenged it in Punjab and Haryana High Court.
 
Akashvani correspondent reports that the State government this morning gave an assurance in Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding withdrawing its decision to dissolve Panchayats. After this assurance the government suspended its two senior IAS officers, Principal Secretary Panchayat Dhirendra Kumar Tiwari and Director Panchayat Gurpreet Singh Khaira.
 
The Opposition parties were criticising the government on the panchayats dissolution issue by terming it an undemocratic act. Meanwhile, some State government employee unions including Patwari unions are also at loggerheads with the government on various issues. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has warned unions not to adopt the path of any kind of agitation while union leaders are strongly opposing it and adamant about agitation.
 
The State Opposition leader Partap Singh Bajwa, however, has raised the question of why Chief Minister Mann has not taken any action against the Rural Development Minister. The notification could not have been made without his knowledge, and if it had been made without his knowledge then it shows the incompetence of the Minister, he added.
 
Mr. Bajwa said that action should be taken at the top, rather than looking to scapegoat others for his government’s failure.