Retired & settled in US year ago, former principal appointed Nawanshahr DEO!

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, November 27

At a time when the state is grappling with the problem of unemployment, the Education Department has on its list of new district education officers (DEOs) a retired principal, who took voluntary retirement last year.

If that’s not enough, Paramjit Singh is settled in the US and has no intention of coming back.

In the orders issued in this regard on Saturday, 35 different postings have been made in the Education Department. In the order concerning the posting of PES A cadre officers, the name of Paramjit Singh has been mentioned as Principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Baghpur, Hoshiarpur, at serial number six. He has been posted as DEO, Elementary Education, of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Nawanshahr. Interestingly, Paramjit Singh is no longer in service. He had taken retirement in June last year and has been in the US since then.

Posting him as a DEO after about one and a half years of retirement raises questions on the process followed for the appointment. Almost all the work of the Education Department has already been computerised and online HRMS is used to manage all records and information related to the service of teachers and other employees. Even if any employee has to take any leave, that, too, is recorded through HRMS. Despite this, the posting of a retired officer in this way raises a big question.

In this regard, when Paramjit Singh was contacted over the phone, he confirmed that he has taken retirement in June 2021 and has been living in America since July last year. He said he was to retire in June 2023 but he had taken pre-mature retirement two years earlier. He expressed surprise on his appointment as a DEO.