Congress demands judicial probe into Naib-Tehsildar
Alleging a massive scam of gigantic proportions in the recruitment of Naib Tehsildars by the Punjab Public Service Commission, Chairman All India Kisan Congress and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh demanded a judicial probe into it and scrapping of the list.
Addressing a press conference here today, Khaira said, the scam reminded of the days of Ravi Sidhu when everything was for sale in PPSC.
Substantiating his charges, Khaira said, candidates who had failed in clerical, patwari and excise inspector tests, had topped the list of Naib Tehsildars, making it obvious that something was certainly wrong and fishy about the recruitment process which needed to be probed.
Giving details, he disclosed that the candidates who secured second, third, fourth and fifth position in the Naib Tehsildar test, had earlier failed in the clerical and patwaris’ tests, which must be probed.
He said, there were several other candidates topping the list who had failed in other exams whose standard was lower than that of the Naib Tehsildar tests.
Quoting few examples, he said, one of the candidates who had scored just 32 percent in the patwari test had scored 83 percent in the Naib Tehsildar test despite it having the provision of negative marking.
The firebrand Congress leader said, the entire exam was conducted in English language while the entire work in the revenue department where the Naib-Tehsildars will have to work, is done in Punjabi only.
He took a jibe at the Aam Aadmi Party government and the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for taunting others for not speaking proper Punjabi, while denying the Punjabi students the right to take their exams in their mother tongue.
Similarly, he also referred to selection of outside candidates from states like Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana at the cost of the rights of Punjabi candidates. “On the one hand we want to stop our youth from migrating overseas, on the other hand we are giving away their rights to outsiders”, he said, while pointing out how the PPSC had omitted the important eligibility criterion of candidates needing to be Punjabi domiciles.
Asserting that the Congress party wanted a judicial probe only, Khaira said, they had no faith in the vigilance bureau, which had become a handmaid of the government targeting the political opponents while protecting its own people like Fauja Singh Sarari.
He also took a dig at the allegations of Operation Lotus, challenging the AAP government to name union Home Minister Amit Shah and Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur in the FIR as their names had been mentioned by one of their own MLAs for offering bribes.
Reiterating that the AAP was the B-team of the BJP, Khaira while quoting pre-poll surveys, pointed out how it was cutting into the anti-incumbency vote in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat to benefit the BJP. He said, despite so much sound and fury, AAP was predicted to draw a blank in HP and may be just one or two seats out of 182 in Gujarat.