Bathinda, October 27
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today disapproved of the conduct of state Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in involving himself in a war of words with state Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh.

Badal, who was here in connection with Valmiki Jayanti celebrations, said being a public servant, the DGP should not have involved himself in such a controversy by issuing statements against Amarinder.

However, the CM also advised Amarinder Singh to maintain sanctity of his status and not make unfounded allegations against government functionaries. Politicians and government officers should avoid creating such situations, he said. He was reacting to the spat between Amarinder and Saini following the alleged kidnapping of minor girl Shruti from Faridkot.

Giving a clean chit to the Punjab police on the issue, he said the role of the police was professional and it should be appreciated for having traced the boy and the girl to Goa. He denied the girl had been tutored by the police to speak against her parents because the boy’s family had connection with the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal.

He said mediapersons could interview Shruti at the Jalandhar “Nari Niketan” to know the truth. There was no restriction on people meeting Shruti, he said.

He said he had received a vigilance report about the substandard work executed in Bathinda and Mansa districts. Action would be taken against the guilty engineers and contractors, he said.

He said strict action would be taken against privately run “Adarsh Schools” that were indulging in financial exploitation of teachers and not sticking to norms. He said he had cancelled his tour to Italy because of Canadian Prime Minister’s visit to Anandpur Sahib. However, he was not aware of his other engagements in the state.

He said the proposed reshuffle in the UPA ministry by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a frenzied exercise to retain power. However, the UPA had lost ground and the people would not spare it in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Exhorting people to follow the path shown by Bhagwan Valmiki, he said the government would take every step to meet the genuine demands of the community.

Activists of various teacher unions virtually blocked movement of vehicular traffic in and out of the town on three highways as Badal arrived here to participate in the function. The police, however, did not allow them to enter the venue of celebrations.