Sons of farm leader, Preneet’s friend on PPSC member list

Patiala connection, too, comes in handy

CHANDIGARH: Six posts, 182 applicants. But the right political links seem to have been the main criteria for choosing members of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC). The list, accessed by HT, has to now be sent by the chief secretary to the governor for a final nod.

Amid agitations by farmer unions over debt waiver in Punjab, Gurpartap Mann, son of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Mann) president Bhupinder Singh Mann, has made it to the final list of six by the Congress government. G ur par tap has been part of thesocial media team of the Congress in the last two state elections after his stint at the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board and the Punjab State Industrial Development Board. Mann is a confidant of Der a Bab a Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Randhawa.

Among the finalists is also Jamit Kaur Teji, a PhD-holder with “58 years” of experience in “central government”. But her age on the list is 56 years! Even if out of negligence, it exposes how selections were made from a list with typos. There is no mention of which department of central government Teji workedf or. The Tejis are also Congress loyalists.

There are some more “sonrises” in the list. Supreet Ghuman, the only non-official member on the list, is the 38-year-old son of Surinder Kaur Ghuman, a socialite friend of Preneet Kaur, former Union minister and the CM’s wife. A resident of Hira Nag arin Pa ti ala, G human’ se ducation al qualification is BTech and LLB, and his experience is listed as advocate in the Punjab and Ha ryan a high court. There is no mention of his years of experience. He has also worked as deputy advocate general, Haryana.

Ghuman has been selected against two other contenders: Harmohan Kaur Sandhu, a writer and columnist, and Asit Jolly, a journalist.

Interestingly, many applicants are from the CM’s home town Pa ti ala which also explains the higher success rate. Another finalist with a Patiala connection is Amar Partap Singh Virk, a bureaucrat due to retire in April.

There’s more. A non-gazetted officer who joined the Punjab police on com passionate grounds will select gazetted officers if chosen.Lok Nath Angra started as a station house officer (SHO) in Amritsar and retired as inspector general of police (IGP). His selection has raised hack les of many in Congress as they claim he was close to former Akali minister Sucha Singh Langah. After the change of guard, hei snow learnt to have proximity with assembly speaker Rana KP Singh. While An gr a has made it to the final list, the name of HS N and a, a IAS officer who retired after noted service as division al commissioner of Jalandhar last year, has not even been shortlisted.

Leader of opposition Sukhpal K hair a claims An gr ah ada“cheque red” career. K hair a, who has raised objection to the selection process saying he was not invited for the meetings, has also sent a letter to chief secretary Karan Av tar Sing has king why claims of some deserving ones have been overlooked.

The sixth name on the final list is of Ne el am Grew al. But she had not applied for any post. The name of Grewal, who is working as dean for postgraduate studies at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has been nominated. When contacted, she said it was nominated by“some intellectuals” in the state.