Senior Haryana IPS officer Mr Arshinder Singh Chawla has been divested of all work following a surprise visit to the Panckula Police Headquaters by the State Home Minister Mr Anil Vij. It is learnt that similar action may be taken against other civil servants also, for alleged negligence of duty.
The Home Minsiter’s prescribed punishment to the IPS officer- who, on the eve of this Independence Day, was selected for the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service- is rather unusual. Mr Vij said the officer would come to the officer, sit out and leave without doing any work.
Immediately after the public reprimand, Mr Chawla is said to have proceeded on a 15-days leave.
According to Mr Vij’s interaction with the media, officer Chawla of the ADGP rank had been sitting on the Haryana Government’s prestigious `Dial 112” scheme, aimed to accelerate the police forces’ response time to the people’s SoS messages, for over a year. Mr Vij apparently discovered the lapse after a surprise visit to the police headquarters.
Speaking to the media-persons after the “inspection’’ of the headquarters, Home Minister Mr Vij minced no words. For over a year, said the Minister, the police officer had been sitting on this project. “There has been no progress on it. He has never taken the trouble to brief me about it,’’ said Mr Vij.
