Amritsar gets new Deputy Commissioner, MC chief

In a major reshuffle, the Punjab Government transferred Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori last evening. Thori has been replaced by Sakshi Sawhney, a 2014-batch IAS officer. She was previously posted as the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner.

The government also transferred Amritsar Municipal Corporation (MC) Commissioner Harpreet Singh. He has been replaced by Gulpreet Singh Aulakh, a 2015-batch IAS officer. Earlier, he was serving as Additional Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Punjab.

Frequent transfers of the MC Commissioners after short intervals affects the functioning and development works of the civic body.

Harpreet Singh served as MC Commissioner for seven months. During last 21 months of the AAP regime, eight MC Commissioners were appointed in the holy city. Residents feel that non stability in command added to their woes as they were facing hardship for getting their issues resolved.

After the formation of the AAP government in the state on April 24, 2022, the then MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi was transferred from Amritsar. After his transfer, the MC remained without head for a long time. The state government appointed Karnail Singh as the Amritsar MC Commissioner on May 23, 2022, but he did not take charge. After a month, on June 24, 2022, the state government gave the additional charge of the MC Commissioner to Harpreet Singh Sudan, the then Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar. Later, on July 7, 2022, Sandeep Rishi was again appointed the MC Commissioner of the holy city. Two days later, Sandeep Rishi was transferred as Additional Commissioner, Excise Department, by the state government. On July 10, 2022, Kumar Saurabh Raj took charge as the MC Commissioner. After four-and-a-half months, Raj was transferred and Sandeep Rishi was once again appointed as the Amritsar MC Commissioner on November 27, 2022. Rishi remained on the post for nine months and was transferred to Ludhiana on August 10, 2023.

Later, Rahul was appointed as the MC Commissioner. On December 5, 2023, Rahul was transferred after he served for four months on the post. The charge of MC Commissioner was given to Joint Commissioner Hardeep Singh and later to then DC Ghanshyam Thori on December 5. Harpreet Singh was appointed as the MC Commissioner on January 29, 2024, and transferred on September 12, 2024.