Patiala, April 4
The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) Secretary, who had been asked to submit his reply on the burning of a part of the record of the commission, today gave a list of the records burnt by the commission. He said they had been burnt on the orders of commission Chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu.
The Secretary also explained to the members, who are slated to discuss his reply at a special meeting of the commission tomorrow, that records of the commission were burnt occasionally on the orders of the Chairman and no need was felt to inform the members of the same. The Secretary had earlier asked the members to give him two more days to prepare his reply.
In his reply today, the Secretary submitted that around 10,000 answersheets of PCS (Executive) examination of 1998 were burnt recently. He also disclosed that the other record burnt pertained to the screening tests held for the selection of SDEs (practical), in the PWD (B and R), medical officers (dental) and medical officers (PCMS) held in 1998 and two examinations of drug inspectors and that of SDEs (horticulture) PWD (B and R) held in 1999.
Meanwhile, PPSC member Amarjit Singh Chawla said a thorough inquiry would be held into the burning of the records and the file on which Mr Sidhu had ordered the burning of the record would be examined to determine its authenticity. He said the burning of answersheets without taking the entire commission into confidence was a serious matter as they were sometimes required in court cases. It also helped maintain transparency in its functioning.
Besides the reply of the Secretary, the commission will also study the resolutions passed by the commission. The members have asked the Secretary to submit the resolutions passed by the commission since 1990 to ascertain how many meetings were held before Mr Sidhu took over the reins of the commission in 1996.
Sources said the members had deliberately called for the resolutions as meetings of the full commission were held before Mr Sidhu was appointed chairman and they wanted to highlight the fact that Mr Sidhu did not call a single meeting of the commission during his nearly six-year stay at the helm of affairs. This, they said, happened despite the fact that the members urged the Chairman on numerous occasions to organise a meeting of the commission to discuss the entire procedure of selections for various jobs and to discuss the allegations of corruption levelled against the PPSC. Even though more than 40 letters were written to the Chairman by various members in this regard, no meeting of the commission was ever called by him.
