CANADA IMMIGRATION MANIPULATION PLAYED IN PUNJAB PROVINCE OF INDIA WHERE FROM IAS OFFICER TO CLERKS WHO ARE ENTITLED FOR 5 YEARS LEAVE FROM GOVT HAVE OBTAINED PERMANENT RESIDENCY IN CANADA AND DURING LEAVE PERIOD FOUND WORKING IN CANADA AND HAVE FAMILIES SETTLED HERE AND THERE ARE ALMOST 2000 GOVT OFFICERS MISUSING LEAVE RULES AND PUNJAB GOVT LOOKING TO PLUG THIS LOOPHOLE BY CANCELLING 5 YEARS LEAVE SYSTEM CHANDIGARH : A Deputy Inspector General of Punjab Armed Police has a permanent resident permit for Canada, where he has business interests. A district development and panchayat officer in the rural and panchayat department of the Punjab government, who is also the daughter-in-law of a state cabinet minister, holds an immigrant visa for Canada and has visited the country a number of times. A senior Punjab Civil Service officer enjoys immigrant status in Canada, never mind the fact that he is set for nomination to the IAS cadre. A five-year “study leave” granted by the Punjab government to all employees has become a passport to foreign shores for the beneficiaries of the largesse. According to rough estimates, as many as 2,000 employees, from top ranking officers to clerks, may have taken advantage of the sabbatical to make some greenbacks by working abroad during the period, secure in the knowledge that their jobs would be waiting for them at the end of the five-year break. Alarmed at the extent of misuse of the scheme, the government is now contemplating to abolish the system and has started a vigilance probe to gauge the extent of the racket. Sources said the malpractices came to light “accidentally”. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau was investigating disproportionate assets charges against some executive engineers of the Irrigation and Mandi Board when they stumbled upon the scam. The bureau found out the accused not only sent money abroad through hawala transactions but also made full use of the five-year leave to work abroad. The money they earned there was routed back to India. The preferred destinations appeared to be Canada, the US, UK and Australia. With the government waking up to the scam, plans are afoot to do away with the leave scheme that has been in existence since 2002. “Employees who are taking five-year leave and going abroad on permanent residency are doing so in violation of service rules. Once the details are in, action will be taken,” said a senior state official. “Now the plan is if an employee remains absent from duty for longer than those years, it will not be counted in his or her years of service rendered. From last year, any leave of more than three months is being sanctioned by the Chief Minister himself,” he added. The list of suspected employees indulging in moonlighting abroad includes IAS, PCS, IPS and PPS officers, said sources. So far, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau has filed cases against six erring officers who subverted service and immigration rules. However, the road ahead appears tough. Though the bureau has written to various departments for details on other officers, none have reverted as yet. The government has received a note from the vigilance bureau which states that service rules are being subverted by availing five-year leave for self-employment and false affidavits are being submitted on conduct rules. It also says all such employees were also violating Rule 19 of Passport Rules, 1980. Sources said many of the suspected erring officers are from the education, health, finance, cooperative, agriculture, panchayats, cooperative, PWD and B&R, technical education, food and civil supplies, animal husbandry, excise and taxation and soil conservation departments, as well as Punjab Roadways, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Punjab Mandi Board, Punjab Agriculture University and fisheries department. Said an officer: “The officers and their families have emigrated to US, UK, Canada and Australia. The families of most officers stay abroad.” Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has ordered a detailed vigilance enquiry into the matter. Badal directed Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal to get the vigilance enquiry conducted and identify all those state employees who had acquired permanent residency or immigrant status abroad in contravention of service rules and submit a report within two months. While Chief Director-cum-Director General of Punjab Vigilance Bureau Suresh Arora said the matter is under investigation, another senior officer said those found guilty will face departmental proceedings. He added that those found guilty could be dismissed from service or their increments stopped. However, if they forged documents or indulged in any other criminal misconduct, then other course of action would follow.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 02:42:55 +0000
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