Punjab: Chief Minister angry over poor quality of roads

Punjab: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday expressed his displeasure over the poor quality of roads being constructed by private contractors in various parts of Punjab. According to sources, the state government is also “deeply concerned” about the content being posted by Deputy Commissioners (DCs) on their social media handles. After videos of newly constructed roads went viral on social media, including one in Sangrur district of a man scraping off the top layer of the road with his bare hands, Chief Minister Mann warned DCs to properly monitor the construction work. At least two DCs told The Tribune that during a video conference with the Chief Minister today, Mann was upset that despite his public pronouncements that he would ensure only good-quality roads are constructed in Punjab from now on, DCs were unable to fulfill his promises. Mann has been advocating the use of artificial intelligence in road construction to ensure high-quality work and save money. He ordered, “You must personally inspect the quality of construction work and only then release funds. Immediately file FIRs against those building substandard roads and blacklist these contractors.” Later, Chief Secretary KAP Sinha held a separate video conference with officials, reprimanding district magistrates to exercise caution in posting on their official social media handles. Previously, the Sangrur District Magistrate was reprimanded by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for making comments critical of a top central government official. Yesterday, another district deputy commissioner hosted a meeting of the Chairman of the Air Quality Management Commission, where comments allegedly made “inadvertently at the domestic level” were circulated. The post was later removed from the official’s official handle. Officials have been explicitly instructed to monitor and scrutinize everything posted on their social media handles.