JOB FOR HS BRAR’S SON
CM to hold spl meeting today
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 15
The erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) refused to give a job to Amaninder Singh Brar more than one year ago despite the fact that his father (HS Brar) was Chairman of the board then. Tomorrow Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is holding a special meeting with a one-point agenda -- to consider appointing Amaninder to the same job.

The full-time board meeting of the electricity utility while considering the proposal to appoint Amaninder as Subdivisional Officer (SDO) had held that he did not qualify for the job. Full-time members while putting down their foot and rejecting the proposal held that there was no liability on the board to offer a job to Amaninder in lieu of his family’s land being acquired for a sugar mill 19 years back.

The land of Amaninder’s grandfather - Dayal Singh - was acquired for establishment of the Faridkot Cooperative Mill. The Cooperative Department, which acquired the land, had offered the family compensation as well as a job.

Amaninder reminded the sugar mill of this promise after completing his engineering degree in 2009. Following this, in a blitzkrieg of sorts, the matter was referred to the Cooperative Department and then to the Managing Director of the Reemployment Department. Within a month, the PSEB received a letter requesting it to consider Amaninder for appointment as SDO. His father was then Chairman of the board.

The board’s Secretary referred the matter to the full board where it was taken up for consideration and rejected with the plea that it should be forwarded to the state Cabinet. Board Members while rejecting the proposal on various grounds also pointed out that there was no scope of appointing anyone to a class one or class two job on compassionate grounds.

Today the new state electricity utility, Powercom, has received a letter from the Special Secretary, Power, stating that the Chief Minister was holding a special meeting to discuss Amaninder’s appointment tomorrow. The letter received says that the meeting, which had only one agenda, will be held at the Punjab Bhawan tomorrow evening and that it will be attended by the Finance Minister, the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Principal Secretary, Finance and Principal Secretary, Cooperation. The Chief Managing Director of Powercom - K D Chaudhary - will act as convener of the meeting.

Chaudhary, when questioned on the issue, admitted that the board had received such a letter. He said the matter had been discussed by the full-time board of the PSEB earlier but refused to go into details.