Punjab House ‘not to provide’ details of recruitment to Vigilance

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, December 19

The Vidhan Sabha will not provide any record to the state Vigilance Bureau, regarding the alleged recruitment scam in the previous House, when the Congress was in power.

Official sources in the Vidhan Sabha have told The Tribune that since the jurisdiction of the Vigilance did not allow it to investigate the legislature or the judiciary, the bureau could not hold a probe into the recruitments made in the Vidhan Sabha.

Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan told The Tribune that the matter was being heard by the high court. “Whatever is the decision of the court, it will be implemented,” he said, adding that the VB had sought permission to probe the scam in September.

The VB had sought permission from the state government under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act to initiate inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the recruitment.

Relatives of many members of the 15th Vidhan Sabha (2017-2022) were allegedly recruited. This scam was exposed by AAP when it was in the Opposition with now Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains leading the charge against 154 such recruitments. These persons were appointed as clerks, stenos, peons, reporters and even as personal staff of some of then MLAs.

In one case, the former Deputy Speaker got his niece appointed as a cook in his house, who was later adjusted as a clerk. A niece of then Speaker Rana KP Singh was also appointed as a clerk during the term of the previous Vidhan Sabha.

The preliminary inquiry by the Vigilance into the recruitments has reportedly revealed that though the posts were advertised as temporary, the candidates were appointed as permanent employees. Among other irregularities pointed out by the VB are that merit list was made only on the basis of interviews, no reservation policy was implemented and more than 1,800 candidates were interviewed on the same day.

Vidhan Sabha job ‘scam’

• Relatives of many members of the 15th Vidhan Sabha (2017-22) were allegedly recruited
• Though the posts were advertised as temporary, candidates were appointed as permanent employees
• Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains is leading the charge against 154 such recruitments. The persons were appointed as clerks, stenotypists, peons, reporters and even as personal staff of some of MLAs
• In its investigation, the VB found out that the merit list was made only on the basis of interviews and no reservation policy was implemented. More than 1,800 candidates were interviewed on the same day

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