CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Chief Minister, Harcharan Singh Brar, Oct.14 expanded his five week old ministry with the induction of two cabinet ministers, seven ministers of State and one deputy minister.
The Governor, Lt. Gen, (retd) B.K.N, Ghhibber, administered the oath of office and secrecy in a ceremony at Raj Bhavan. The swearing in was delayed about half an hour.
In time with the drive to project a clean image, the Beant Singh loyalists have been ignored in the expansion. They were conspicuous by their absence at the swearing in.
The cabinet ministers are Mrs. Surjit Kaur Kalkat and Gurchet Singh Bhullar, while the ministers of state include Sardool Singh, Raghubir Sahai Puri, Aviar Henry, Jasjit Singh Randhawa, Brij Bhupinder Singh, Bhagwan Das Arora and Hamek Singh, Harminder Singh Jassi is the lone deputy minister. Brar told media persons after the Swearing in that the ministry would be further expanded after Diwali, He did not specify as to how many more persons would be inducted. Mrs. Kalkat and Mr. Bhullar, who were previously a parliamentary secretary and a minister of state, respectively in the Beant Singh Ministry, have been elevated to the cabinet rank, Sardool Singh and Puri were ministers of state in the Beant Singh Council of Ministers while Jassi was the parliamentary secretary. The Chief Minister has accommodated two supporters of the Union Minister, Buta Singh. They are Hamek Singh and Jasjit Singh Randhawa. The new faces Include Henry, Randhawa, Brij Bhupinder Singh, Arora and Hamek Singh.
The expanded ministry has eight cabinet ministers including the Chief Minister, seven ministers of state and one deputy minister. The Beant Singh council of ministers had 26 members.
Brar claimed he had chosen Legislators with a clean image. He said that the new ministers represented various sections of the society, He denied any interference by the party high command in the selection of his team, “I was given a free hand,” he asserted.
According to the Chief Minister, providing an administration which is more effective and responsive to the people of the state is the top priority of the state government and the ministry has been constituted keeping this in view.
Reacting to the allegations leveled against Bhullar about his links with militants the Chief Minister said the government would not go by just newspaper reports. He said a com plaint could be lodged with the Lok Pal. The allegations against him were leveled by the Tama Dal Nihang chief, Ajit Singh Poohla, following a controversy about the possession of a dear at Rattoke village in the Valtoha constituency represented by Bhullar. Bhullar had retaliated by blaming the Tam Taran senior Superintendent of Police, Ajit Singh Sandhu, as the agent provocateur.
The Jalandhar district has been given the maximum representation in the ministry with two cabinet ministers and two ministers of state, The districts of Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mansa and Kapurthala remain unrepresented.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 20, 1995
