Punjab govt can't spare officers for Election duty

Lily

B.R
Staff member
Chandigarh March 8:

The Election Commission of India has asked for 44 IAS officers from Punjab for the election duties in different States, but Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has turned down the request, saying that his State is already working with a handful of IAS officers and could not spare them for 45 days.

Chief Minister Badal asked Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal to inform the Election Commission accordingly. Confirming this, Aggarwal told reporters: “As the SGPC elections are drawing closer, Punjab is not at all in a position to spare so many IAS officers to the EC for supervising the assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.”

“How can Punjab give approval for the election duty to as many as 44 IAS officers for the more than a month? If this happens, Punjab will face a huge administrative problem. We cannot bear the shortage of officers in such a huge number,” Aggarwal said. During a meeting with the Planning Commission meeting in New Delhi last month, Chief Secretary Aggarwal had raised the issue of shortage of IAS officers. In 2010, Punjab had sent his 22 IAS officers for the election duty in Assembly polls in Bihar.

Punjab is already faced with a huge staff crunch at senior level, especially in the rank of IAS officers. As of now, the state has around 193 IAS officers and has demanded 28 more new posts of IAS to meet administrative requirements. Out of a total of 193, 29 IAS officers are on deputation at the Centre and the Chandigarh Administration.

 
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