Jalandhar: Former minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia today demanded registration of a criminal case against Kartarpur legislator Balkar Singh for claiming he had 50 percent disability to secure reservation for his son as a Sub Inspector besides calling for action against the legislator’s son and all police officers who had colluded in this illegality.
The SAD leader also revealed how non Punjabis were being hired at extremely high salaries by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in violation of the clause which required all candidates to have knowledge of Punjabi. These include Adil Azmi of Okhla in Delhi who has been hired as OSD (Media) of chief minister Bhagwant Mann as well as social media manager at salaries of Rs 1.50 lakh and Rs 1.25 lakh respectively along with perks of government house and vehicle.
Giving details while addressing a press conference here, Bikram Majithia said Kartarpur legislator and former Punjab Police DCP Balkar Singh’s son Shishobitveer had failed to qualify in the examination held to recruit Sub Inspectors the process for which started in the previous Congress government in August 2021.
He said more than one year after failing to qualify the examination in the scheduled caste category, Shishobitveer sought to change his category. “On 20-10-22 the State DGP gave a letter to the former DCP at the latter’s request stating his son qualified for recruitment under the two per cent reservation given to wards of disabled police officers and said Balkar Singh was 50 per cent disabled”.
Asserting that the certificate, on the basis of which Shishobitveer had approached the high court and stalled the recruitment process in which 4,000 candidates had been shortlisted, was false, Majithia showed pics to prove that Balkar Singh was not 50 per cent disabled as was claimed. He also asserted that as per rules, a candidate applying for a government post, could not change his category once the application for the same had been submitted.
“It seems chief minister Bhagwant Mann has gone out of the way to help the Adampur MLA and the State DGP has also given a wrong certificate to the legislator. Both issues should be probed and action should be taken against all the guilty”,Majithia asserted while demanding that a medical board should examine the Adampur legislator and determine whether he was fifty per cent disabled as claimed by him.
Speaking about the two recruitments done in the media department, Majithia said both the recruitments should be set aside on the basis of the candidates not having studied Punjabi till matriculate level. He also spoke out against the import of officers from Delhi and other parts of India. “It seems Punjab does not have any talent whatsoever”. He said recently the government had hired two yoga teachers at a salary of Rs one lakh each to please the Delhi chief minister. He said similarly former Delhi bureaucrats were being adjusted in Punjab with Satya Gopal being made Chairman of RERA, Rakesh Goyal, Member RERA and Satbir Bedi Chairperson of PSPCL.
Replying to a media query, Bikram Majithia said there was no question of realigning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said the BJP was working against the interests of farmers in Punjab who were being harassed at every level including value cuts imposed on their wheat produce as well as youth who were persecuted under draconian laws like NSA.