Ghost department in Punjab? Minister held fake portfolio for 20 months

AAP minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal managed a non-existent department for 20 months, a Punjab govt notification reveals, sparking sharp criticism from the Opposition

Punjab Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal was found to have been overseeing a department that did not actually exist for nearly 20 months, according to a report by The Tribune, which cited a gazette notification issued by the state’s chief secretary.  

 

The notification stated, “In partial modification of the previous Punjab govt notification regarding the allocation of portfolios, among ministers, the department of administrative reforms earlier allotted to Dhaliwal is not in existence as on date.”  

 

Following this, the Aam Aadmi Party leader will now exclusively handle the NRI affairs portfolio in the Punjab cabinet. The notification further mentioned that the revision of Dhaliwal’s portfolio, as directed by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, took effect on February 7.  

 

 

Dhaliwal initially managed the agriculture and farmers' welfare portfolio before being reassigned to the administrative reforms department during a Cabinet reshuffle in May 2023. Despite another reshuffle in September 2024, he continued to be in charge of the department, which only existed on paper.  

 

Sources cited by The Tribune revealed that the administrative reforms department had neither staff nor any recorded meetings.  

 

Recently, Dhaliwal has also been in the news in his capacity as the NRI affairs minister, particularly for handling cases related to deportees from the United States arriving in Amritsar.  

 

Opposition reactions  

 

Reacting to the revelation, BJP leader Amit Malviya criticised the Punjab government. In a post on X, Malviya said, “You can imagine the crisis in Punjab government if it took nearly 20 months to realise that a department assigned to one of its prominent ministers never actually existed. Arvind Kejriwal is a charlatan who must be banished from public life.”  

 

Pradeep Bhandari, the BJP’s national spokesperson, also condemned the AAP-led government, stating, “AAP has made Governance in Punjab a joke! The AAP Minister ran a department for 20 months which never existed! Imagine for 20 months, the CM did not even know that a minister was running a ‘NON EXISTENT DEPARTMENT.’”  

 

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal also criticised the situation, saying, “Governance AAP-Punjab style. Allocate non-existent departments to ministers who themselves are ignorant of the portfolios they hold. All this is happening because ministers have no role in governance as the govt is being run in remote control from Delhi.”