Jagtar Singh

The Covid-19 crisis is throwing up unprecedented situations. However, what Punjab is witnessing is something more than that. The situation in Punjab can be termed as uniquely unprecedented. The Congress, the ruling party in Punjab, has been rocked by Daroo while the party leaders in the most stable government should have been arranging for Dawa to confront the Coronavirus crisis. Punjab’s health infrastructure is   one of the poorest amongst the states in the country. It could be the reason that Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh appreciably opted for imposition of curfew in the very beginning itself. Not that the situation has been so rotten all along. A major push had been given to the creation of health facilities but   whatever infrastructure was developed became victim of criminal indifference over time. The situation started worsening with the developmental discourse shifting away from health infrastructure in the public sector to facilitation of investment in t

The simmering discontent among ministers against unbridled powers given by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to the bureaucracy turned into lava today culminating in the unprecedented walk out by the ministers from the cabinet meeting led by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal who otherwise is known for maintaining his cool. Capt Amarinder Singh was to join the meeting sitting from his home via video conferencing later at the time of taking the final decisions after through discussion. The agenda was the new excise policy. The department of excise and taxation is with the chief minister. The cabinet meeting started on a wrong note. Ever since the lockdown, the cabinet meetings invariably were being held via video conferencing. This time, however, the ministers and the bureaucrats were to be physically present. As the meeting started, the chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh joined via video-conferencing. This triggered the fuse in the very beginning itself. The chief

“The police Raj would be put to an end. Those police officers who misused their positions to commit excesses and indulged in blatant corruption would be punished. The victims of police excesses would be fully compensated.   Innocent people under detention under black laws like TADA would be released.” Thus stated the manifesto of the Shiromani Akali Dal for the Lok Sabha elections in 1996. This clause of the manifesto now has virtually been implemented by the government headed by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh with the registration of a fresh FIR against the former all-powerful Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in the case of forced disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani 29 years back. The case has now been filed on the complaint submitted by Balwant’s brother Palwinder Singh Multani. Balwant, an official with the Chandigarh administration, was son of Punjab IAS officer Darshan Singh Multani. The case has a chequered history. Earlier, the Supreme Court h