E-Paper
Brows raised over one-year extension to Bathinda DSP
A blue-eyed boy of the ruling Congress, Gurjit Singh Romana, deputed as a DSP-1 in Bathinda since July 2018, been granted re-employment even as the Punjab government’s policy scrapped service extension policy for its employees from March 31, 2020
A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) has been granted a one-year extension in service by the state home department.
A blue-eyed boy of the ruling Congress, Gurjit Singh Romana, deputed as a DSP-1 in Bathinda since July 2018, been granted re-employment even as the Punjab government’s policy scrapped service extension policy for its employees from March 31, 2020.
Officially, Romana retired on Saturday. But Bathinda senior superintendent of police BS Virk said he will continue duty from Sunday.
According to an official order issued by the state home department on July 26, Romana’s re-employment tenure will end on July 31, 2022, and he will not be entitled to promotion during the extension period.
Additional chief secretary, home, Anurag Agarwal said Romana’s extension was not a violation of the policy. “The Punjab government can grant re-employment to anyone in exceptional cases,” he added.
The decision of re-employment has not gone well with the government officials, who claim several employees were unable to apply for the extension due to new rules.
A senior Punjab civil service (PCS) officer said the government decided to do away with the policy of granting extension in service to open opportunities to the unemployed.
President of the Punjab Civil Service (PCS) Officers Association Manjeet Singh said according to the policy, no state government employee can enjoy re-employment.
A media-savvy cop, Romana was in the thick of controversy in 2017 when he was indicted in two departmental inquiries for releasing an accused in a drug case. He was held guilty for his suspected role in the FIR lodged against Gobind Gupta for allegedly having an illegal stock of 1,500 habit-forming tablets.
Gupta, who was arrested on April 10, 2017, was released within 10 days of lodging the FIR at Bathinda’s Nehianwala police station after a court granted him bail. In the cancellation report, Romana had reportedly cited a drug inspector’s statement claiming that the accused, Gupta, had the licence to sell and purchase such medicines.
Official sources confirmed that no action was taken against Romana as the internal report later concluded that “Gupta’s release was a mistake on the part of Romana and not a deliberate attempt. The accused in drug case was re-arrested.”
Romana said his official track record remained clean and he did not seek any political favour. “Extension in service by the government confirms my impeccable professional conduct,” Romana said.
