Many IAS officers have missed the DC post
One IAS officer got chance to serve in 6 districts
By Amrit Pal Singh Brar
Bathinda: 15 July, 2017: Capt Amarinder Singh government has done balanced reshuffle of the bureaucracy especially at the district level after taking over the state administration. Many bureaucrats who have been feeling ignored in the earlier regime were adjusted as districts heads by the congress government. But still there are more than a dozen IAS officers could not get an opportunity to serve on the prize post of Deputy Commissioner.
During the last regime, one IAS officer got chance to serve in 6 districts as DC, though his tenure in some districts was just a few months. He served in Muktsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, SAS Nagar, Patiala and Amritsar. Others have served in two to three districts.
At present officers belonging to six batches 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 batch are serving as Deputy Commissioners. One woman IAS Guneet Tez from outside cadre (Tamil Nadu) is also serving as DC Ropar. She is on deputation to Punjab.
For the first time, three IAS couples are heading six districts in Punjab. In all, six women officers have been posted as Deputy Commissioner in the state by Capt Amarinder Singh government.
2011 batch is waiting in wings, it includes eight officers among them seven are from regular recruitment and one from state civil service.
These are serving as Deputy Commissioners, Diprava Lakda (Bathinda) & Dharmpal (Mansa) from 2005, Pardeep Kumar Aggarwal (Ludhiana), APS Virk (Sangrur), Dilraj Singh (Moga) and Gurpreet Kaur Sapra (SAS Nagar) from 2006, Mohamad Tayyab (Kapurthala, Kanwal Preet Brar (Fateh Garh) & Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal (Tarn Tarn) from 2007, Amit Kumar (Gurdaspur, Neelima (Pathankot) and Rajiv Prashar (Faridkot) from 2008, Varinder Kumar Sharma (Jalandhar), Ramvir (Ferozepur), Vipul Ujwal (Hoshiarpur), Sonali Giri (Nawanshahr), Isha (Fazilka), Dr Sumeet Kumar Jarangal (Sri Muktsar) and Kamaldeep Singh Sangha (Amritsar) are from 2009 batch, Gansyham Thori (Barnala) & Kumar Amit (Patiala) from 2010. Guneet Tez from 2007 is serving at Ropar.
The officers who did not got an opportunity to serve as DC includes Mohinder Pal Arora from 2004, Chander Gaind, Manvesh sidhu & Gagandeep brar from 2005, Ritu Aggarwal & Jaswinder Kaur from 2006, Tejinder P Dhaliwal from 2007, Dr Adapa Karthik, Rupanjali Karthik, Shiv Dular Singh, Vinay Bublani from 2008, Dr Joram Beda from 2008 is on deputation and Harish Nayar from 2010.
One officer sharing his feelings on the scenario said “Postings are the prerogative of the state leadership, it is not questionable, but some time, we just feel, why we have been left out? Do we lack administrative skills and techniques? Bas, this self -questioning sometimes kill us, the official said.
Will they get an opportunity to become a district head is the question which is debated these days in the corridors of Secretariat. According to sources “The performance of each Deputy Commissioner is being monitored regularly by the state administration headed by Suresh Kumar Chief Principal Secretary to CM, anybody whose performance is not satisfactory will be certainly shifted”.
Many DCs are doing excellent work, especially three women officers have shown their administrative techniques whereas two DCs are said to be on average score says a retired bureaucrat.