Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa

TRIED HARD BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Age: 60 Education: Graduate

Even as Randhawa took steps to increase productivity in cooperative offshores, including Milkfed and Markfed, the minister made headlines because of the jails department and his anti-badal rant. He took the use of mobile phones in jails seriously and was quick to suspend senior jail officials. However, his promise to install 5G jammers in jails is yet to see the light of the day. In the cooperation department, apart from waiving loans of farmers from co-operative banks, efforts were made to modernise sugar mills. Pending payments of cane growers have not been cleared. Twenty district central cooperative banks were merged with the Punjab State Cooperative Bank and recovery from defaulters increased.

During the budget session, he criticised his own government before live streaming assembly proceedings for inaction on Akalis, particularly Bikram Singh Majithia. His act of putting a black tape on the Kartarpur corridor foundation stone left the state top brass red-faced. Randhawa was objecting to the names of former CM Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal engraved on the foundation stone. Many even question his approach to suspend jails officials without a proper probe. Few days after becoming minister, he accused then police chief Suresh Arora of not taking action against threats to him.