‘Tough taskmaster’ riles education dept, Punjab school board staff

I question officers only when members of the public come up to me with complaints of pending work. The education secretary thinks he is the only honest man and everybody else is corrupt, which is very unfair.

MOHALI:Employees of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) and the education department have claimed that the style of working of education secretary Krishan Kumar was insulting to them. To take up this issue and the issue of vacancies in the education department, unions of the two offices from across the state formed a federation on Sunday.

Members of the newly-formed ‘Federation of Punjab School Education Board and Ministerial Staff of Education Department’ claimed that the working conditions under Kumar had become ‘unpleasant’ as nobody listened to their problems.

“Any employee who approaches the education secretary is treated disrespectfully and rudely. Krishan Kumar thinks he is the only honest man in the organisation and everybody else is corrupt, which is very unfair. We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour,” said a member of the federation Parminder Singh Khangura.

Incidentally, since taking charge in June, Kumar has charge-sheeted 11 employees for various irregularities and workrelated issues. These include PSEB secretary Janak Raj Mehrok and finance development officer Gurtej Singh. Deputy secretary, accounts, GS Randhawa and Surinder Singh Alkong are also among those chargesheeted.

Kumar, who also holds the additional charge of PSEB board chairman, has also suspended 10 officials and ordered disciplinary action against five retired employees.

“People are taking premature retirements in various departments as after serving for so many years in the department and other institutes of the board they are being treated in an insulting manner,” said another federation member Simranjit Singh Khokar. Federation members added that the secretary must concentrate on improving the infrastructure in education and filing vacancies. “More than 500 clerical posts are vacant with the PSEB and another 80-odd posts are vacant with the education department,” a federation member claimed.

‘I INTERVENE ONLY WHEN WORK IS

NOT DONE’

Rubbishing all allegations of impolite behaviour, Krishan Kumar said, “I am polite and professional in my behaviour and working. However, when members of the public come up to me with complaints of pending work, I have to intervene. In such cases, I question the officer concerned on the pendency. I also ask that why was the work not finished in the stipulated time.” He added, “Recently, a Class-12 pass-out girl complaint to me that her correction certificate had not been issued for four months. After my intervention the work was done in ten minutes.”