Oppn challenges Mann to take action against 48 'tainted' revenue officials

Punjab's Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Partap Singh Bajwa, on Sunday challenged Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to take appropriate action against the 48 revenue officials, who were found to be "tainted" in the Vigilance Bureau's report.

Senior Congress Leader Bajwa said that around a month ago, Punjab's vigilance bureau submitted a report to the chief secretary of Punjab that identified 48 revenue officials, including 28 tehsildars, 19 naib tehsildars, and one sub-registrar from 17 districts of the state accused of indulging in corrupt practises.

Questioning Punjab CM as to why he failed to take appropriate action against the 48 revenue officials, he said, "The report seems to have been put on the back burner. Nothing has been said or done by the Aam Aadmi Party government ever since the VB submitted the report to the Chief Secretary."

He said that CM Mann owes an explanation to the people of Punjab on the matter and reveal the name(s) of whoever is forcing him not to take further action on the report.

"Is the AAP government attempting to shield one of its cabinet ministers, by not taking action?", Bajwa added.

The opposition leader said that "now, the Punjab Revenue Officers Association has accused the AAP legislators of unnecessarily humiliating the officials of the Revenue Department. They have also threatened to observe an indefinite strike from Monday."

"The Punjab Revenue Officers Association has termed the VB report, in which 48 revenue officials were pronounced "corrupt", as baseless and demanded action against the VB DGP and Secretary. Meanwhile, the onus is on Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to go public with the reality on the issue", Bajwa added.

In a statement, Bajwa said, "The AAP government's tall claims about zero-tolerance corruption were nothing but theatricals to gain publicity. As a matter of fact, this government doesn't intend to rein in corruption. It has yet to take action against its own leaders, legislators, and cabinet ministers who indulged in corrupt practises, including Lal Chand Kataruchak, Vijay Singla, Fauja Singh Srari, Amit Ratan Kotfatta, Sarbjit Kaur Manuke, and Surinder Kamboj (the father of AAP MLA Goldy Kamboj).