To advise the Punjab Government on matters of public importance pertaining to Public Administration “officially”, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has decided to constitute a temporary “body”. The chairperson and its members would not be entitled to any compensation or remuneration.
If sources are to be believed the new body is being constituted to have room for Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha in the government officially. Opposition leaders have all along been alleging that the AAP Government was being run by Delhi leadership, with Chadha calling the shots.
The decision to formulate the temporary advisory committee was taken on Wednesday — a day before the Chief Minister’s wedding.
As per the notification issued by the General Administration Department and signed by newly-appointed Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua, the Chief Minister decided to constitute a temporary committee to advise the government on matters of public importance pertaining to public administration as and when such advice is sought from it after undertaking a review of Government’s working at various levels.
Chief Minister “is of the view that a body (temporary in nature) is required to tender advice to the government of Punjab on matters of public importance pertaining to public administration”, it added.
According to the terms of reference of the temporary or ad-hoc committee, the committee would be advisory in nature and will serve as per the pleasure of the Chief Minister.
“The committee shall consist of a chairman and such other members, if any, who may be required from time to time, as appointed by the government,” it stated.
It added, “The office of chairman and members, if any, will not be entitled for any compensation, remuneration or perks of any kind or nomenclature in respect of such appointment. The chairman and members shall not even be entitled to payments that are compensatory in reimbursements.”
It further added that the details of the terms of appointment of chairman and members are further explained in detail, in terms of Appointment being issued separately in respect of the individual appointments of the chairman and each of the members.
With the setting up of the committee, its chairperson would be able to be a part of official meetings and give his advice to the Government on paper. Also, the committee will be able to meet the government officers directly, besides giving instructions.
It is believed that by forming this new body, an attempt would be made by the State Government to expeditiously implement the much-talked about Knowledge Sharing Agreement between the Delhi and Punjab Governments in April.
Warring questions its legality; Bajwa says novel way to handover Punjab’s reins to Delhi
Coming down heavily on the AAP-led Punjab Government, the State Congress unit on Friday questioned the constitution of the new advisory committee.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring questioned the legality of the proposed 'advisory committee' to be headed by a chairman “who may eventually end up as the defacto Chief Minister of the state”.
“It amounted to creating an extra-constitutional authority without any accountability that will undermine the constitutional mandate of an elected government and its Cabinet,” said Warring while asking the Government to specify and spell out the motive and purpose behind this committee. “Or you want to outsource the governance to an ad-hoc committee without any legal or constitutional mandate,” he asked.
Warring maintained that in the past, the governments have set up advisory committees, but these were with specific and limited period and purpose and did not have overarching control and authority like the one that is being proposed to be set up by the government.
“If ad-hoc advisory committee has to be appointed, what is Cabinet there for? Or AAP wants to outsource governance?" he asked, while adding, there are strong apprehensions among people that the elected government will be made subordinate and subservient to the proposed 'advisory committee', which cannot be acceptable in a constitutional democracy.
Mincing now words, the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa said that the Government’s decision to constitute a temporary body to advise the Government on matters of public importance was to “appoint Raghav Chadha as the Regent of Punjab”.
“It is a direct reflection of the incapability of the Chief Minister to protect the interests of every Punjabi,” he said.
Bajwa said that in a roundabout fashion, AAP Government in Delhi now has a legitimate way to take control over the governing of the State, further reinforcing the image that the Chief Minister of Punjab is now a subservient puppet of the Chief Minister of Delhi.
“This pattern of the Government of Punjab to hand over governance to the AAP Delhi first began with the knowledge sharing agreement signed with the Delhi Government, on April 26, 2022, in direct violation of the constitutional provisions...This has now been followed by the current issue, which authorises the back-door entry of the Government of Delhi to Chandigarh,” said Bajwa.
The senior Congress leader, strongly opposing the decision, said that he would seek the Governor’s intervention to act as a guardian of Punjab’s interests against this notification.