Chandigarh, July 12
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today slammed the state bureaucracy, accusing it of corruption and failing to deliver.

Addressing a NABARD function in Chandigarh where top bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, Financial Commissioner (development) Suresh Kumar, were present, Badal minced no words to say: “The bureaucrats are busy collecting money.”

“They are not interested in improving governance, and if I say anything, they gang up and support each other. The politicians are always busy fighting amongst themselves. But these officers flock together when one of their own gets into any trouble,” said Badal.

After SAD’s poor show in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the party’s top brass has been on a “soul searching” mission, trying to dig out reasons for the public ire against the Akalis. One of the reasons, SAD bosses say, is the corrupt bureaucracy which failed to deliver.

Consequently, the Badal government has “trained its guns on the bureaucracy.” Raids were being conducted at the main civil secretariat and the mini secretariat to check if officers were present. All officers have been asked to spare time for public dealing. Senior officers in the government have been assigned one district each and asked to go there and ensure that various services were being delivered to the common man.

“The inefficiency of officers is giving us (referring to his government) a bad name. The way things are, we don’t need to put a balm on the wounds of the people…We need to conduct an operation and remove all the ill-will that people hold against the government. I have asked all secretaries to visit villages and other districts,” said the Chief Minister.