Resume work as IAS officer, Punjab tells BJP’s Bathinda candidate Parampal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, May 7

In a fresh trouble for BJP's Bathinda candidate Parampal Kaur, the Punjab government has asked the IAS officer to resume duty immediately, saying she cannot be treated as “retired or relieved from service”.

The officer has also been accused of giving "false grounds" for seeking retirement, while she was engaged in political activities.

In a letter to Parampal Kaur Sidhu, who is the daughter-in-law of SAD leader Sikandar Singh Maluka, the Punjab Department of Personnel, said her three-month notice period for leaving the job had not been waived. The letter said the state government had not passed any order for acceptance of her voluntary retirement from the service. She has further been accused of remitting charge of the post of the MD, PSIDC, on her own in an "unauthorised" manner.

Parampal Kaur has been campaigning in Bathinda for almost a month now. Though Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had claimed on April 11 that her resignation had not been accepted, she had claimed that it had been accepted by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, on April 10, before she joined the BJP.

The letter, a copy of which is with The Tribune, says that Rule 16 (2) of All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958, clearly states that the relaxation of notice period can be given only by the state government, if it is satisfied.

“While the above was under consideration of the state government, you directly wrote letter dated 07.04.2024 to the Secretary, DoPT, Government of India, even though you were serving under the state government. In this letter, you stated that your mother is 81 years old and is not keeping good health, that both your father and your younger brother have expired a few years back and there is nobody in India to look after your aged mother, and that you immediately need to remain at the house of your parents in Bathinda to look after your aged ailing mother and pursue further plans in life. Vide the letter dated 07.04.2024, you requested the Government of India to accept the application dated 01.04.2024 submitted to the Government of Punjab for voluntary retirement from the IAS from 01.04.2024 and seeking exemption from a three-month notice under the Rule 16(2),” reads the letter.

It may be mentioned that the Centre had written to Punjab Government, asking it to accept the VRS of the officer, on April 12. “However, the GoI has not passed any order relaxing the requirements of Rule 16(2). We are also writing to the GoI separately on this,” says the letter.

The letter also mentions that the state is suffering from shortage of IAS officers, as against a sanctioned strength of 231, only 192 are “borne in Punjab cadre”.

Despite repeated attempts, Parampal Kaur could not be contacted.

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