Punjab Government, it appears, is heading for yet another face-off with the state Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has summoned the Deputy Commissioners and the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) of all districts to Chandigarh for attending a high-level meeting on the day the Governor is scheduled to visit the border districts.
Protocol demands that district heads, both Deputy Commissioner and the SSP, have to remain present whenever the Governor — the state’s constitutional head — visits the districts.
Notably, Governor Purohit will begin his two-day visit to the state’s border districts from Wednesday, covering Gurdaspur, Pathankot, and Amritsar on the first day — that is February 1 (Wednesday); and Ferozepur and Fazilka on the next — that is February 2 (Thursday).
Having visited the border districts in the past also and highlighting several important issues, including drugs and illegal mining, the Governor had planned his another visit to the border districts much before. The district-level officers have been asked to be prepared with the status and action taken reports related to the issues raised and orders given by the Governor during his previous visits.
On the other hand, the Chief Minister — only a few days back — convened a meeting of all DCs and SSPs to discuss district-related issues. Sources informed The Pioneer that all the district officers have been asked to prepare the status reports of the development works in their respective districts and other issues related to their districts.
The entire series of events has put the district officers, especially DCs and SSPs of these border districts, in a quandary — whether to attend the Chief Minister’s meeting in Chandigarh or remain present in their districts during the Governor’s visit.
The development has given rise to conjectures and surmises on the possible course of action to be adopted by the bureaucracy in a situation where the protocol demands their presence during the Governor’s visit and the non-compliance of Chief Minister’s diktats is viewed seriously.
As per the schedule, the Governor will be holding meetings with the panchayats, and prominent residents, listening to the grievances, and redressing them.
“The district police chief (SSP) and the administrative head (Deputy Commissioner) should remain present in the district whenever the Governor visits to accompany him. In this situation, when their presence is required at both the places, videoconferencing could be the solution as during the COVID days, this has emerged as quite useful tool, so these DCs and SSP, who have to be in their districts for Governor’s visit, can attend the meeting, if required, via video conference,” said a senior administrative official, requesting anonymity.
The official maintained that a junior officer can also come to represent the DCs, and SSPs for the meeting. The Chief Minister has scheduled the meeting at 12 noon at Punjab Bhawan.
This is not the first time that Punjab Governor Purohit and Chief Minister Mann have come face-to-face against one another over issues related to the state and governance.
In the past also, the two — Purohit and Mann — had been on collision course over several issues ranging from withdrawing his consent to convene special assembly session to turning down the appointment of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Vice-Chancellor to seeking removal of Dr Satbir Singh Gosal as Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) VC, to returning the ordinances okayed by the Punjab Cabinet, to removal of Punjab-cadre IPS officer Kuldeep Chahal from the coveted post of SSP of UT Chandigarh.
In fact, the Governor — who has been communicating through “official letters” with the Chief Minister or the State Government — also came before the media to put forth his stand to substantiate that his decisions or objections were “right” as per the Constitution. The Governor, during his previous visit to the border districts in September, had minced no words to say that issues like drug smuggling and illegal mining were real.