Punjab gets new CS, DGP

CHANDIGARH: JS Gill, IAS, and AA Sidiqqui, IPS, took over as new chief secretary and director general of police in Punjab on Friday.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said a major administrative reshuffle was in the offing. He said a free hand has been given to the new chief secretary and the director general of police to choose their own teams for better administration in the state.
Gill replaces Rajan Kashyap who retired on Thursday after 38 years of service.
Gill has been on the central deputation so far and was posted as secretary, the ministry of Steel and mines.
Sidiqqui takes over as the DGP from MS Bhullar who laid down his office this morning. Sidiqqui, a former DGP, Manipur, was recalled from the central deputation last year by the Amarinder Singh government and had since been serving as additional director general, Law and Order.
Wiht both new chief secretary and the DGP taking over in Punjab, the administration is likely to get a new look in days to come. Gill is the third chief secretary to be appointed within 16 months rule of the Congress government.
Meanwhile, Amarinder said the disinvestment process will continue and 29 corporations and boards in the state will continue to be on the block for disinvestment.
He said the former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who had earlier made allegations of malfeasance in the disinvestment process, knew nothing about the conditions that prevailed in these near defunct PSUs and that he was out of touch with the realities that prevailed in these PSUs.
Amarinder said the universities in the state would not be permitted to become dens of politics and he will give unstinted support to his vice chancellors.
In this context he referred to the controversy over the tussle between the pro vice chancellor and the vice chancellor of Punjabi university Patiala and said that he had asked the higher education minister to look into the matter and give him a report on the issue.