Row over appointment of minister’s son at IKGPTU

Deepkamal Kaur

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Jalandhar, March 2

Punjab Local Bodies Minister and Kartarpur AAP MLA Balkar Singh has once again courted controversy over the appointment of his son Shishobitveer Singh on a government post.

Collusion between minister, VC

There seems to be a blatant and apparent collusion between the minister and the IKGPTU Vice-Chancellor in making the appointment, which raises concerns about the integrity of the university’s administration. — Sukhpal Khaira, Congress MLA

The new controversy is regarding the appointment of his son as manager of the business incubation centre at the IK Gujral Punjab Technical University (IKGPTU) on contract basis, allegedly by flouting norms. Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira has flagged the issue with Governor Banwarilal Purohit, seeking cancellation of the appointment and alleging that this was a case of conflict of interest of two ministers Harjot Bains, Technical Education Minister, and Balkar Singh, Local Bodies Minister.

Even RTI activist Manik Goyal has tweeted, “For such a significant post, no newspaper advertisement was issued. No examination was held. Just a small information was put on the website. A walk-in-interview was called on October 5, which was held within a day.” Interestingly, no candidate other than Shishobitveer came for the interview.

Khaira too has tweeted, “The decision to appoint the minister’s son was made by bypassing the transparent selection process. There seems to be a blatant and apparent collusion between the minister and the VC in making the appointment, which raises the concerns about the integrity of the university’s administration.” Khaira has also attached the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, directing IKGPTU to ensure transparency in appointments in future.

Insiders in the varsity said that Shishobitveer had hardly attended the office. The minister’s son is drawing a consolidated salary Rs 50,000 per month as per the e-notice.

Both Balkar as well as IKGPTU VC Susheel Mittal defended him by saying that Shishobitveer was a regular on the campus. Mittal said the university was making 100 contractual appointments every year and there was no illegality in such an appointment. “It is just that he is a minister’s son and hence these allegations,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the IKGPTU appointment, Balkar said, “An unnecessary controversy is being raked up. It is just a contractual job for six months.” Interestingly, the IKGPTU has already given him six months extension.