Chief parliamentary secys' oath ceremony at Chappar Chiri

21 legislators — 17 of the SAD and 4 of the BJP — to be sworn in as chief parliamentary secys by CM today
Chandigarh, April 9
All roads will lead to Chappar Chiri tomorrow where 21 legislators of the SAD-BJP alliance will be sworn in as Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs). Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will administer the oath of office.
Of the 21 legislators to be elevated, 17 are from the SAD and four from the BJP. Among them are seven first-time MLAs.
Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal today administered the oath of office to Amritsar (East) MLA Navjot Kaur Sidhu, who could not take the oath during the Budget session on account of ill-health. The oath-taking ceremony took place in the Speaker’s chamber. She is one of the BJP legislators who will be elevated as Chief Parliamentary Secretary tomorrow.
Others to be elevated to the post are Balbir Singh Ghunnas ,Ch Nand Lal, SS Thandal, Desraj Dhugga, Mantar Singh Brar, Harmeet Singh Sandhu, Mohinder Kaur Josh, Avinash Chander, Inderbir Singh Bolaria, Gurbachan Singh Babehali, Virsa Singh Valtoha, Amarpal Singh Bonny Ajnala, Pawan Kumar Tinu, Parkash Chand Garg, Sarup Chand Singla, NK Sharma, Nisara Khatoon (all SAD), KD Bhandari, Amarjit Singh Sahi, Som Parkash and Navjot Kaur Sidhu (all BJP).
There can only be 18 ministers in the Punjab Cabinet (15 per cent of the House strength of 117, according to the 91st Constitutional Amendment). After the resignation of Bibi Jagir Kaur, Punjab now has 17 ministers, all in the Cabinet rank.
After the swearing in of 21 CPSs, their number will be more than that of The Cabinet Ministers.This has invited criticism from the Congress which says the government has put unwarranted financial burden on the exchequer as the CPSs have all the perks but practically no work to do.
Rebutting the criticism, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD spokesperson, says the Constitutional Amendment limiting the size of the Cabinet came in 2003 when Capt Amarinder Singh was CM.
The Congress had then not only appointed Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries, but even gone to the extent of amending the provisions of the Punjab State Legislature (Prevention of Disqualifications) Act: 1952 to declare the office of the CPS as an office of no profit.
“It is surprising that the Congress is criticising the appointment of CPSs, knowing well that this precedent was set by none other than the Congress itself,” he added.
Meanwhile, preparations were in full swing today for the oath ceremony. “We expect a gathering of about 5,000 people for tomorrow’s function,” said Varun Roojam, Mohali Deputy Commissioner, who was at Chappar Chiri to supervise the arrangements. Earlier, Punjab Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh held a meeting of the top officials at the site.
The police claims to have prepared a special route plan for the visitors. “We don’t want to inconvenience the common people, so a special route plan has been prepared for them,” said a top police official. 
Altis not for all
All the 21 new Chief Parliamentary Secretaries being sworn in tomorrow at Baba Banda Singh Memorial at Chappar Chiri will not be coming in Toyota Altis cars that they are entitled to. Some of the new CPSs will be using Toyota Innovas. The number of CPSs has gone up from 14 in the previous government to 21 now.Sources in the Transport Department said apart from the Innovas, some used Toyota Camrys had been given a facelift. However, most of the escort vehicles being provided to the CPSs were new. Officials said they had a hard time arranging for the vehicles. — Rajmeet Singh 
Appointments challenged
Chandigarh: A day before the swearing in of 21 Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, a petition against their appointment was filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday. Taking up the petition, Justice Rameshwar Singh Malik fixed April 16 as the next date of hearing. The petition has been filed in public interest by advocate Jagmohan Singh Bhatti. A petition earlier filed by him on the issue already stands admitted. Bhatti has all along claimed that MLAs are being Chief Parliamentary Secretaries though no such post exists “under the Constitution of India or under any statute or Act passed by Parliament or any state legislature”. Bhatti has been seeking directions for restraining the finance department from bearing “the expenses of these illegal appointments”. Directions have also been sought to withdraw all facilities extended to the CPSs.