(MOREPIC1) Face2News/Chandigarh
Following the zero-tolerance policy adopted by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Maan led Punjab Government, the Punjab Public Works Department (PWD) has suspended an Executive Engineer (XEN) and 3 Junior Engineers for misappropriation of government funds during the construction of the Judicial Court Complex, SBS Nagar.
Revealing this here today, PWD and Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO said that PWD XEN Rajinder Kumar, and 3 Junior Engineers Rajeev Kumar, Rakesh Kumar and Rajinder Singh have been suspended from government service with immediate effect under Rule 4 of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970 after conducting a preliminary investigation into the complaints received in this case. He said that during the suspension, the headquarters of these officers will be the Chief Engineer Office Patiala and these officers will not leave the headquarter without the approval of the Chief Engineer (Headquarter).
The PWD Minister further revealed that the decision to file a criminal case against 8 officials in this case including 3 Executive Engineers Balwinder Singh, Jasbir Singh Jassi, Rajinder Kumar, Sub Divisional Engineer Ram Pal, 3 Junior Engineers Rajeev Kumar, Rakesh Kumar and Rajinder Singh, and Divisional Accounts Officer Rajesh Kumar Sinha, has already been taken.
Harbhajan Singh ETO said that the Punjab Public Works Department was the nodal agency for constructing this Judicial Court Complex. He said that not only the completion of this project was delayed but also many other discrepancies like excess payments to the contractors and flaws in construction were found in this case. He said that in this regard action has been taken against the said 8 officers after fixing their responsibility.
The PWD Minister said that the officials and employees of the department have been repeatedly given a clear message by him that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Maan is committed to using every penny of the people in a judicious manner, and no one will be allowed to misappropriate public exchequer.
