Unable to provide relief to ‘aam admi’ Senior bureaucrat seeks premature retirement
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service
Raj nahin sewa (service not rule) may be the adage that the incumbent SAD-BJP government claims to be its motto, but it is not true in the case of a senior civil servant who decided to put in his papers for premature retirement today. He was otherwise to retire on September 30 this year
Jasbir Singh Bir, who belongs to the 1994 batch, chose the auspicious Baisakhi day to call it a day after his sustained efforts to get justice to a group of aggrieved residents of Mohali failed even after his meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal
“I landed in a situation where all pillars of democracy - executive, legislature and judiciary - besides the fourth estate, media, failed to get a genuine grievance of people redressed. So I find no use in continuing in my office where much junior officials with a controversial service track record but strong political support don’t care two hoots for the system,” rues Bir, who till recently was Commissioner, Patiala Division.
He has been up against none other than the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, as the “buses illegally parked and operated from a Mohali Shop-cum-Office complex belong to Orbit Bus Company.”
The Chief Secretary, SC Aggarwal, confirmed that a request from Bir had been received and action would be taken on it. He said there was a three-month statutory period for the government to take action on his request.
“Whereas on the one hand, the government of the time wants public servants to be fully accountable, on the other hand, it also expects them to respect government institutions while discharging their duties for public good and public cause with integrity for which the Indian Constitution has provided some safeguards for the security of their jobs,” he said in his letter of seeking voluntary retirement. The letter was delivered to the Chief Secretary this morning
It all started over the parking of buses in a commercial-cum- residential area of SAS Nagar. Both belonging to the residential area as well as those who had made huge commercial investments in the area wanted the “illegal operation of buses shifted out of the area so that they can carry on their routine activities.”
All representations to the police, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority, Municipal Council Senior Superintendent of Police and even Deputy Commissioner of Police failed to get the affected people any relief.
They moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court where the court observed that this was a matter that could be looked after by the authorities concerned.
But orders passed by the Commissioner to the district authorities were not implemented. In one instance when he insisted on implementation of his order, he was immediately shifted and made a Director, rendering him office-less, vehicle-less and much below his seniority and status. His subsequent meeting with the Chief Minister to protest against harassment meted out to him for pursuing a public interest case was also of no avail.
“I could never have imagined that during the last remaining period of my service career and during the tenure of the present government, a time would come when I would feel helpless and think of saying goodbye to government service. In the past two-three months, I have undergone a severe mental trauma about which not only you but also the respected Chief Minister is aware. I was hoping that necessary measures would be initiated to reduce my mental trauma.”
“I hope this extreme step by me with deep pain and anguish will get the ‘governance reform’ process on the fast track and the people of Punjab will get the real feel of ‘Raj nahin sewa” as pledged by the present government,” he wrote in his letter to the Chief Secretary.
Sarvesh Kaushal, president of the Punjab IAS Officers Association, said, “I expect the government to redress the grievance of JS Bir and to relieve him of his feeling of humiliation and resultant suffocation at the fag-end of his long and unblotted career. This will help uphold the morale the civil services and enable the officers to put in their best in the public interest.”
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service
Raj nahin sewa (service not rule) may be the adage that the incumbent SAD-BJP government claims to be its motto, but it is not true in the case of a senior civil servant who decided to put in his papers for premature retirement today. He was otherwise to retire on September 30 this year
Jasbir Singh Bir, who belongs to the 1994 batch, chose the auspicious Baisakhi day to call it a day after his sustained efforts to get justice to a group of aggrieved residents of Mohali failed even after his meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal
“I landed in a situation where all pillars of democracy - executive, legislature and judiciary - besides the fourth estate, media, failed to get a genuine grievance of people redressed. So I find no use in continuing in my office where much junior officials with a controversial service track record but strong political support don’t care two hoots for the system,” rues Bir, who till recently was Commissioner, Patiala Division.
He has been up against none other than the Deputy Chief Minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal, as the “buses illegally parked and operated from a Mohali Shop-cum-Office complex belong to Orbit Bus Company.”
The Chief Secretary, SC Aggarwal, confirmed that a request from Bir had been received and action would be taken on it. He said there was a three-month statutory period for the government to take action on his request.
“Whereas on the one hand, the government of the time wants public servants to be fully accountable, on the other hand, it also expects them to respect government institutions while discharging their duties for public good and public cause with integrity for which the Indian Constitution has provided some safeguards for the security of their jobs,” he said in his letter of seeking voluntary retirement. The letter was delivered to the Chief Secretary this morning
It all started over the parking of buses in a commercial-cum- residential area of SAS Nagar. Both belonging to the residential area as well as those who had made huge commercial investments in the area wanted the “illegal operation of buses shifted out of the area so that they can carry on their routine activities.”
All representations to the police, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority, Municipal Council Senior Superintendent of Police and even Deputy Commissioner of Police failed to get the affected people any relief.
They moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court where the court observed that this was a matter that could be looked after by the authorities concerned.
But orders passed by the Commissioner to the district authorities were not implemented. In one instance when he insisted on implementation of his order, he was immediately shifted and made a Director, rendering him office-less, vehicle-less and much below his seniority and status. His subsequent meeting with the Chief Minister to protest against harassment meted out to him for pursuing a public interest case was also of no avail.
“I could never have imagined that during the last remaining period of my service career and during the tenure of the present government, a time would come when I would feel helpless and think of saying goodbye to government service. In the past two-three months, I have undergone a severe mental trauma about which not only you but also the respected Chief Minister is aware. I was hoping that necessary measures would be initiated to reduce my mental trauma.”
“I hope this extreme step by me with deep pain and anguish will get the ‘governance reform’ process on the fast track and the people of Punjab will get the real feel of ‘Raj nahin sewa” as pledged by the present government,” he wrote in his letter to the Chief Secretary.
Sarvesh Kaushal, president of the Punjab IAS Officers Association, said, “I expect the government to redress the grievance of JS Bir and to relieve him of his feeling of humiliation and resultant suffocation at the fag-end of his long and unblotted career. This will help uphold the morale the civil services and enable the officers to put in their best in the public interest.”
