‘Punjab is important, not ... ': AAP minister responds to 'non-existent' department row

NEW DELHI: Punjab minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Sunday responded to the abolition of the 'non-existent'

department of administrative reforms

by the

Punjab government

, stating that the department's existence is secondary to Punjab's welfare, which remains the government's primary focus.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Dhaliwal said, “They have now abolished the department.

We have all come to save Punjab. For me, the department is not important; Punjab is important. (Whether this department exists or not) is not an agenda for us”.
A notification issued on February 21 confirmed that the department, which Dhaliwal was assigned alongside

NRI Affairs

, "does not exist."
“In partial modification of Punjab Government Notification No. 2/1/2022-2Cabinet/2230 dated September 23, 2024, regarding allocation of portfolios amongst the Ministers, the Department of

Administrative Reforms

earlier allotted to Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Cabinet Minister, is not in existence as on date,” the notification read.

The move triggered a response from BJP, who criticised the AAP government in Punjab, with Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri leading the charge against Dhaliwal for managing a "non-existent" department for 20 months.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri questioned how Dhaliwal had been running a department for 20 months that did not exist. “He was heading a department for 20 months which is ‘non-existent.’ Such a thing can happen only under the leadership of the AAP government,” Puri said.
BJP leader Fatehjung Singh Bajwa accused the Mann government of poor governance, saying, “Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal is one of the most senior leaders of the Cabinet and he was leading a non-existent Department, which means no meeting was ever taken… What kind of administrative reforms are being taken? People are going abroad through dunki routes, and no agent or tout who sent them was ever caught... This state government has taken Punjab back by 50 years”.
Defending his government’s move,

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann

clarified that the department was merged with another to streamline governance. “We changed its name and created a new department. Earlier it was just for the name, there was no staff or office. Now, it has been created to bring reforms, whether it is in bureaucracy or other areas,” ANI quoted Mann.
Mann further explained that similar restructuring is being planned for other departments. “There are two departments – the department of administrative reforms and the one held by cabinet minister Aman Arora (governance reforms). There was confusion between the two. We have made it one proper department,” he said.
He also mentioned that other departments with overlapping functions, such as irrigation, water conservation, and drainage, may be consolidated to improve efficiency.
The department of aministrative reforms had reportedly been ‘redundant’ for some time. Officials pointed out that it existed only on paper, had no dedicated officers and no significant meetings or initiatives had taken place.
Dhaliwal, who now holds only the NRI affairs portfolio, has been in the spotlight, particularly after the US deported

illegal migrants

to Amritsar earlier this month. Previously, in a cabinet reshuffle in May 2023, Dhaliwal lost key portfolios such as agriculture and rural development, with administrative reforms being handed to him after the exit of Inderbir Singh Nijjar.
However, its role remained unclear as the state’s good governance and IT departments were already handling administrative efficiency improvements.