Outrightly rejecting the inquiry ordered by Punjab Education Minister OP Soni to fix responsibility for the mistakes in Punjab School Education Board’s Class XII history books to be conducted by the education secretary, the Shiormani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday dubbed it as “a major cover-up” and “farce” as accusing fingers are raised at the Minister himself.
Former minister and SAD’s senior vice-president Daljeet Singh Cheema questioned Soni’s rationale of ordering an enquiry while he himself is accused by none other than the chairman of the Oversight Committee appointed by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
“Instead of holding inquiry by a secretary at the orders of the concerned Minister, the Chief Minister should have ordered inquiry which should have been held by a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court with a clear frame of reference, the role of the concerned Minister to be probed in the larger interest of justice,” said Cheema.
Moreover, how could a subordinate officer, that is department’s secretary under Soni, could be objective, impartial and fair in conducting inquiry while his own boss is in the dock, he added.
Cheema pointed out that chairman of the “Oversight Committee”, Dr. Kirpal Singh, has revealed that he had pointed out the errors or distortions in each chapter in detail in clearly typed pages but these chapters were uploaded on PSEB website without carrying the suggested corrections under pressure from the Minister.