ChandigarhShiromani Akali Dal today appealed to Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to intervene and order a high level judicial probe into the brutal lathi charge on scheduled caste women and sanitation workers in Barnala besides ordering a CBI probe into the ten examination paper leak scams presided over by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab.
A delegation of senior leaders of the SAD led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal met the Governor and presented two memorandum to him urging him to safeguard democracy by taking exemplary action against police officials who had committed brutality against safai sewaks in Barnala besides securing the future of ten lakh students who had been adversely affected by the repeated paper leaks and irregularities in the conduct of examinations by the AAP government.
Giving details of the memorandums to newsmen, the SAD president said the party delegation had requested the Governor to institute a judicial probe headed by a retired or sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court into the Barnala incident. “We apprised the Governor that the police was being used as ‘gundas’ of the AAP government and had been given directions to suppress all democratic protests ruthlessly. Accordingly we have demanded that an attempt to murder case should be registered against DSP Satvir Singh Bains and all other police officials who had hit women as well as men safai sewaks on their heads with lathis. These officials should also be dismissed from service”.
Mr Badal also informed the Governor that adequate compensation and proper medical treatment was not being provided to the injured sanitation workers. He also called for initiation of a genuine dialogue with the sanitation workers and an early resolution to their genuine and long-pending demands.
The SAD delegation also briefed the Governor regarding the ten paper leaks and irregularities in government recruitments. It informed the Governor that an impression had gained ground that the examination leaks were occurring in connivance with senior functionaries in the AAP government and that this was a case of jobs for money racket being run by an organized criminal network. Accordingly the delegation demanded the role of the chief minister, council of ministers and AAP leaders, public servants and private persons in the examination scam should be probed thoroughly by the CBI. It also called for forensic examination of all digital records, CCTV footage, servers, communication records and examination-related documents. It also demanded a comprehensive audit of all recruitment examinations conducted by various State agencies during the last four and a half years.
In another serious development, Mr Sukhbir Badal informed the Governor that a large number of government jobs were being given to outsiders under an AAP conspiracy to expand its footprint in other States. “More than half of prevailing jobs in Punjab are being given to outsiders in lieu of political help for AAP in Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh”.
The delegation said while the recent paper leak in the Pharmacy Officers examination had exposed how even sophisticated electronic devices including bluetooth receivers and miniature head phones were used to compromise the integrity of government recruitment in Punjab, this was part of a succession of paper leaks. It said the papers which had been leaked included the PPSC Naib Tehsildar recruitment examination, PSEB class twelve English board examination, Punjab State Teacher Eligibility Test, PPSC Agriculture Development Officers examination, Bhasha Vibhag recruitment, PSSSB Group B Officers Combined examination, Punjab Excise Inspector examination, class ten State Board examination and the Punjab State Rural Livelihood examination. It said in the last examination, 30 per cent interview marks had been awarded arbitrarily necessitating an intervention by the high court and formation of a committee to examine the entire case in his chamber. It also informed that some of the recruitment papers had also been stayed by the high court.
The SAD delegation comprised of Mr Balwinder Singh Bhundar, Mr Heera Singh Gabria, Heera Singh Gabhria, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Mr Sikandar Singh Maluka, Mr Bikram Singh Majitha, Mr Darbara Singh Guru and Mr Naresh Dhingan.