For 20 months, Punjab minister headed dept that never existed

It took the Punjab Government nearly 20 months to realise that a department assigned to one of its prominent ministers never actually existed.

In a notification issued today, the Punjab Government acknowledged that the Department of Administrative Reforms, allocated to Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, was “non-existent”. As a result, Dhaliwal will now hold the charge of only the NRI Affairs Department.

Guv issues revised notification

• Kuldeep Dhaliwal was given non-existent Administrative Reforms berth
• The Punjab Governor recently issued a revised notification on the portfolios
• Now, Dhaliwal holds the charge of only the NRI Affairs Ministry

The gazette notification states that the “Punjab Governor, on the advice of the Chief Minister, is pleased to make an amendment to the earlier notification regarding the portfolios of ministers with effect from February 7, 2025”.

Dhaliwal initially also held the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare portfolio, a charge he was relieved of during the Cabinet reshuffle in May 2023. He retained the NRI Affairs Ministry, while also being allocated the Administrative Reforms Department.

In the September 2024 Cabinet rejig, he again retained the two departments, of which the Administrative Reforms has now been found non-existent.

Despite repeated attempts by The Tribune, Dhaliwal could not be contacted for comment. Sources in the government said neither was any staff allocated to the minister for the Administrative Reforms Department nor was any meeting held.

Dhaliwal is the fifth senior-most minister in the Punjab Cabinet after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Harpal Cheema (Finance), Aman Arora (New and Renewable Energy) and Dr Baljit Kaur (Social Justice and Empowerment).