Chandigarh: In a hard hitting statement released here today, Leader of opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira termed Captain Amarinder Singh government, a government of Commissions. He said on one hand Capt. Amarinder Singh is suggesting small austerity measures like doing away with the income tax paid for the MLA’s by the state, or urging well off farmers to shun power subsidy, but on the other hand he’s on a largesse spree setting up Commission after Commission, which is having a devastating financial affect on the already bankrupt exchequer.
Khaira said he wondered what the newly set up Revenue Commission will achieve in their tenure of one year, that a top heavy Revenue department could not achieve in decades? Khaira said the Revenue department is already loaded with top heavy bureaucracy at the Civil Secretariat at Chandigarh, besides an army of officers at the divisional and district levels. He said the top heavy bureaucracy headed by a Financial Commissioner Revenue (FCR), are all trained officers with decades of experience in the field as well as the administrative side.
LoP Khaira said the task handed out to the Revenue Commission is to make existing laws and procedures on land administration in tune with requirements of agricultural and non-agricultural uses, and propose new laws and procedures to make revenue administration more transparent. Khaira said if at all Capt. Amarinder Singh is so concerned about improving matters in the Revenue department, he could always set up a committee of serving department or other department officers to achieve the purpose mandated to the commission. Khaira said the proposed Revenue Commission is bound to work at cross purposes with the Revenue department and create conflict of authority.
Khaira said he had not heard anything from Punjab Governance Reforms and Ethics Commission set up under a former Chief Secretary in March last year, are these commissions platforms to adjust and accommodate near and dear ones, questioned Khaira.
Khaira said it was unfortunate that Punjab already has almost two dozen such commissions, at a time when the state is under a colossal debt of over Rs. 2.5 lac crores. Similarly, Khaira said that Capt. Amarinder Singh has already appointed an army of Advisors and OSD’s and bestowed upon them status and facilities of Cabinet and State Minister’s, which has added to the financial woes of the state.
Khaira chided the Chief Minister, that if at all he believes that only Revenue Commission headed by a retired judge of the High Court is competent to improve revenue related matters, then he should disband the top heavy Revenue department and save Punjab from the agony of extreme poverty. This so as the Punjab government is unable to pay the salaries to its employees timely, doesn’t has money for social welfare schemes, is failing to honour its commitment of debt waiver leading to large number of suicides by farmers etc., hence setting up such costly commissions is not a wise step, said Khaira.