With the appointment of seven new Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, the ruling SAD-BJP alliance has provided additional facilities to 60 per cent of its MlAs while putting additional burden on the State Government’s already empty coffers.
The State Government on Tuesday appointed seven new chief parliamentary secretaries (CPS), taking their total number to 25.
The Government already has 18 Ministers, including the Chief Minister and his deputy, taking the total strength of MlAs “in power” to 43. In all, the combine has 72 legislators, including 60 of SAD and remaining 12 of the BJP.
However, the fat list is expected to put additional burden on the already cash-starved Punjab Government of a few crores of rupees in monthly bills with the salaries, perks and other facilities extended to them.
They include SAD MlAs Gurtej Singh Ghuriana, Manjit Singh Mianwind, Darshan Singh Shivalik, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Pargat Singh, and BJP MlAs Sukhjeet Kaur Sahi and Seema Kumari. The Government has dropped SAD’s Inderbir Singh Bolaria from the CPS list.
The approval for the appointment of the CPS came from Punjab Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki on Tuesday morning.
The CPS post is one rank below that of a Cabinet Minister but above the administrative secretaries of the concerned department. They are liable to all kinds of perks and privileges similar to that of the Cabinet Ministers, including official vehicle.
Their salary was recently enhanced from Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 plus other perks and facilities. The Government has also allotted one Toyota Corolla car and one jeep to each of them, and is paying their fuel bills too.
Those CPS who do not have their residences in Chandigarh, the capital city, also receive maximum of Rs 50,000 per month as house rent. On an average, the Government is bearing Rs 1.50 lakh as their daily expenses.
The move to induct new faces as CPS is seen as Parkash Singh Badal Government’s apparent attempt to please the leaders, and also reward them for their good work in their respective constituencies. The State is scheduled to go for polls early next year.
The appointments have come at a time when the practice of inducting CPSs is under the judicial scanner. Already, a petition has been pending with the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries.
The appointments have been challenged on the ground of being “unconstitutional”, maintaining that there is no provision for the appointment of CPSs, and also being “extra” burden on the State exchequer.
In fact, the petitioner-advocate Jagmohan Singh Bhatti had sought directions to the State finance department against bearing the expenses of alleged illegal appointments, which were “in violations of 91st amendment 2004 of the Constitution of India”, and withdrawal of all facilities extended to these CPSs.
Interestingly, the post of CPS is said to be nothing but a white elephant with no “active” role to play in the Government as no official file was to be routed through them.
However, the Chief Minister had, in 2012, issued directions to route all files to the ministers via CPSs, and not to hold any meeting without ensuring their presence.
In Badal’s previous term, 14 MlAs were appointed as CPSs, including five from the BJP and nine from the SAD, against a huge figure of 25 this time — setting a record of sorts.
The new CPSs will sworn in by Badal on April 28 at Punjab Bhawan.