Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who has formed eight consultative groups to accelerate implementation of his Government's flagship programmes, preferred to keep Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu out of these crucial groups.
Sidhu, who has been at loggerheads with Capt Amarinder, was divested of Local Government, Tourism and Cultural Affairs portfolios and was given Power and New and Renewable Energy Sources Department in cabinet rejig on Thursday.
The cricketer-turned-politician, however, is yet to take charge of his new assignment and is reportedly camping in the national capital to have an audience with the party's top leadership.
Apart from Sidhu, Medical Education and Research Minister Om Prakash Soni have also not been made part of any of the consultative groups, which include some MLAs and officials.
The eight dedicated consultative groups have been mandated to review and assess the performance of the programmes or schemes and give their respective recommendations for further improvements.
The Chief Minister said his government had, in the past two years, initiated a number of pro-poor programmes or schemes in keeping with its commitments to the people of Punjab. These programmes or schemes had shown substantial results, but during recent field tours, it was gathered that participation of elected representatives and communities in formulation and implementation of these programmes or schemes needed to be more impactful, he said.
The groups would meet as often as may be required to ensure that the assigned task is completed within four weeks and reports thereon are submitted to the Chief Minister. The chairman of a group may co-opt any other member, if so required, to achieve the objectives of the group.
The reports of the groups would be considered by the Council of Ministers in its meeting in July 2019, as per the notification. The Chief Secretary has been asked to issue the necessary orders.
As a part of this exercise, the Chief Minister would head the consultative group on Urban Renewal and Reforms – Smart Cities, AMRUT, UEIP, HUDCO as chairman, with Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Housing & Urban Dev Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Public Works Minister Vijay Inder Singla, Food & Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu besides MLAs Pargat Singh, Sushil Kumar Rinku, Sunil Dutti, Amit Vij, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Surinder Kumar Dawar and Dr. Harjot Kamal Singh as members.
The Chief Minister would also head the consultative group on Drugs – Comprehensive Action Plan against Drug Abuse as chairman, with Health & Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, Rural Dev and Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, and Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla among the members, along with DGP Dinkar Gupta and ADGP/STF Gurpreet Kaur Deo.
‘Farmer and Farm Workers Debt Waiver’ consultative group includes Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as chairman, with Revenue Minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar, and Welfare Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot as members.
The Universal Health Insurance would have Health & Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu as chairman and Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary among its members.
The Ghar Ghar Rozgar group has Employment Generation and Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi as chairman, with Labour Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora as members.
All the groups have MLAs and senior government officers of various departments as members. The Urban Renewal & Reforms group also includes mayors of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala.