IAS officer who’s BJP LS candidate submits resignation again, Mann govt approves
This comes days after the AAP government in Punjab had turned down Sidhu’s request for voluntary retirement from service (VRS) and waiver of her three month notice period.
4 min read
Punjab govt had earlier denied Parampal Kaur Sidhu’s VRS request. (File Photo)The uncertainty over Parampal Kaur Sidhu’s electoral debut finally ended Saturday with the Punjab government informing the Centre that it has no objection to the resignation tendered by the IAS officer, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election as BJP nominee from the Bathinda Parliamentary constituency.
This comes days after the AAP government in Punjab had turned down Sidhu’s request for voluntary retirement from service (VRS) and waiver of her three month notice period.
Earlier, Sidhu had applied for VRS from the Indian Administrative Service in April and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Union government had formally relieved her. However, the state government rejected her request for the VRS for allegedly “falsifying” grounds and asked her to resume her duties.
While initially she refused to join duty, saying she was “not a servant of government for life”, Sidhu later, apprehending that she may face problems in getting a no-due certificate for government dues for filling her nominations, tendered a fresh resignation from IAS on May 8.
Following this, the Centre wrote to the state government seeking to know within two days if it had any objection to her resignation. On Saturday, the state government wrote to Centre that the government had no objection to her resignation.
“To avoid any confusion, I had tendered fresh resignation. I have heard that it has been accepted. I was not being given a no-due certificate (for electricity and water charges for availing government accommodation) citing that I have not retired. They were playing games,” ,” Sidhu said.
Sidhu was to file her nomination on Friday. However, in want of the no dues certificate, she deferred filing of papers to May 13.
A low-profile IAS officer who ‘challenged’ Punjab govt
A low-profile IAS officer, Sidhu had put in her papers in April last month and later joined the BJP in Delhi. Sidhu is the daughter-in-law of Akali Dal leader Sikandar Singh Maluka. She has been fielded by BJP to take on SAD stalwart and former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal in Bathinda.
On Wednesday, she challenged Punjab government, led by Chief minister Bhagwant Mann, to take an action against her saying she would not rejoin duty, and will file her nomination papers and contest the Lok Sabha election.
The 2011-batch officer, who made her entry into the Indian Administrative Services in 2016 through ‘nomination route’, Sidhu was not given any significant posting by successive governments. A row had erupted when she was elevated to the IAS, as her father-in-law was a Cabinet minister in the then SAD-BJP government in the state. She was District Development and Panchayat officer (DDPO) then and Maluka was the minister in-charge of the department.
A Masters in Zoology from Punjabi University, Patiala, Sidhu had started her career as Block Development and Panchayat Officer. She was BDPO, Nathana when she got married to Maluka’s son, Gurpreet Singh Maluka. After her marriage, she was elevated to the post of DDPO.
At the time when she put in her papers, Sidhu was Managing Director PSIDC. She was due to retire on October 31, 2024.
It was on December 2015 that she was promoted as deputy director of the department. Two days later, her name was recommended for the IAS. Her husband was then the zila parishad chairman in Bathinda district. At the time, Bathinda was the nucleus of political activities, being the home district of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
You May Like
