BDPO shifted for claiming farmers' protest proposed by Pb govt

The Punjab government had neither planned such protests against the farm ordinances nor asked the BDPO to issue the letter in question, the statement said. The chief minister has asked the officials concerned to inquire into the whole affair and pin down the responsibility for this incorrect communication, it said..

A Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BPDO) on Saturday was shifted for issuing a letter claiming that a farmers' protest would be organised by the Punjab government over the issue of farm ordinances on September 21. “Taking serious cognisance of the matter, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered shifting of the Sardulgarh BDPO to the headquarters, and immediate withdrawal of the letter issued by him regarding some farm protests which he incorrectly claimed to have been organised by the Punjab government,” a government statement said here.

The directions came a day after Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema had uploaded the BDPO letter on his Twitter handle accusing the ruling Congress of “outsourcing its programmes” to the Panchayati Raj Department. The Punjab government has not organized any such protest, as claimed by the BDPO, according to the statement issued on Saturday.

Far from organising any protests, the government, led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, has in fact been appealing to all political organisations to refrain from organising any public gatherings in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. The overzealous BDPO had, on his own, announced a protest 'dharna' on September 21 and had issued a letter asking all panchayat secretaries under his block to intimate all sarpanches about the same, the statement further said.

He had also wrongly claimed that ministers and MLAs will also join these protests, it said. The Punjab government had neither planned such protests against the farm ordinances nor asked the BDPO to issue the letter in question, the statement said.

The chief minister has asked the officials concerned to inquire into the whole affair and pin down the responsibility for this incorrect communication, it said..