Chandigarh: With the latest cabinet rejig, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has appointed its fourth mining minister in just two-and-a-half years, pointing at its struggle with managing critical state sectors.
Apart from irrigation and mining, the local bodies, public relations, prisons, rural development departments have also seen a new minister in every cabinet reshuffle in the last two-and-half years, signaling that governance is still a challenge for the AAP, which has a number of first time MLAs.
During the 2022 assembly elections, AAP promised a staggering ₹20,000 crore revenue from the mining sector. This ambitious figure captivated voters, who voted for better governance, an end to the mining mafia and cost-effective sand and gravel.
The reality, however, has been different. Reports suggest that the state has only been able to generate approximately ₹300 crore annually from mining activities, raising questions about the effectiveness of the government’s strategies.
The difficulties in the mining sector are multifaceted. Regulatory frameworks, environmental concerns, and rampant illegal mining have complicated things and jacked up the prices of sand and gravel drawing criticism for the government.
The irrigation and mining department was first held by Harjot Singh Bains, who was replaced by Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer. However, later CM stripped charge from Meet Hayer and gave it to administratively novice Chetan Singh Jouramajra, who failed to check illegal mining. On the contrary, he, along with his henchmen, was accused of giving a free hand to illegal miners. This led to his exit from cabinet. Now, the charge of this department has been given to Birinder Kumar Goyal, who is also a first time MLA. However, meeting the target of ₹20,000 crore from mining revenue is an uphill task and no one can achieve.
{{/usCountry}}The irrigation and mining department was first held by Harjot Singh Bains, who was replaced by Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer. However, later CM stripped charge from Meet Hayer and gave it to administratively novice Chetan Singh Jouramajra, who failed to check illegal mining. On the contrary, he, along with his henchmen, was accused of giving a free hand to illegal miners. This led to his exit from cabinet. Now, the charge of this department has been given to Birinder Kumar Goyal, who is also a first time MLA. However, meeting the target of ₹20,000 crore from mining revenue is an uphill task and no one can achieve.
{{/usCountry}}Now, the only alternative is to check the illegal mining and provide cost-effective sand and gravel to the public to provide relief from soaring prices, said an AAP leader.
The local bodies department has also seen a third minister. After Inderbir Singh Nijjer was removed from the department, the charge was given to Balkar Singh, who remained under Opposition fire over an alleged objectionable video. After his removal, the department has been given to Dr Ravjot Singh, who is a medico by profession.
Similarly, the AAP has changed the prisons minister for the third time. Prisons department has been under severe criticism over gangsters making ransom calls from the jail and later for corruption. Initially, the CM took over the department, stripping Harjot Bains of the charge, but after things didn’t improve, he found it better to shift it to another minister Laljit Singh Bhullar.
While Bhullar was given the charge of the prisons department, he was stripped of the rural development ministry. Bhullar was given the department after taking it from Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal. However, now the department has been given to newly inducted Tarunpreet Singh Sodh.
Similarly, the department of public relations has been shifted from chief minister to Aman Arora, and then to Chetan Singh Jouramajra and now to Harjot Bains, making it the fourth such change.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, “The AAP government is running like a headless chicken, lacking any sense of governance. The party’s frequent ministerial changes may be perceived as a desperate attempt to address these concerns, reflecting a government struggling to meet its own ambitious goals. Most AAP leaders have no experience of governance, thus Punjabis are suffering and the state is slipping into a debt trap.”