Rajpura BDPO suspended for ‘recommending’ subscription of specific newspaper to panchayats
The BDPO's order reportedly directed all the sarpanches and panchayat secretaries to subscribe to a specific ‘Punjabi newspaper’.
The Punjab government on Thursday suspended block development and panchayat officer (BDPO), Rajpura, for his order reportedly directing all the sarpanches and panchayat secretaries to subscribe to a specific ‘Punjabi newspaper’.
The order had apparently mentioned the name of the newspaper to which the panchayats in Rajpura block had to subscribe to. To ensure the compliance, the sarpanches and panchayat secretaries were asked to send their photographs after subscribing to the said newspaper.
In the order dated August 13, which the HT has copy of, the BDPO has mentioned that the orders were issued on the directions of the Patiala deputy commissioner. However, the Patiala DC, Dr Preeti Yadav, denied any such directions.
Additionally, Yadav added that she had already issued a show-cause notice to the BDPO over this matter.
The ADC said that when such a letter came to his notice, it was immediately withdrawn. He added that BDPO Bundeep Singh had been suspended with immediate effect. The matter came to light when RTI Activist Manik Goyal raised the issue.
