He may have kept them waiting for one-and-a-half-years. But when Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh decide to be generous with his MLAs, while appointing chairmen of boards and corporations, he more than made up for the delay.The extent of the largesse can be judged by the fact that 19 MLAs were appointed to various boards on Tuesday, leaving only 13 of the 66 Congress MLAs without official posts. Some have even been appointed to boards which the government is planning to wind up, Punjab Tourism Development Corporation and Punjab Alkalies being prime examples.Ten members were also appointed to the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board, though the government is saying it has little to offer by way of new jobs. All these appointments come within two days of the appointment of 20 chairpersons of various Improvement Trusts in the state.The government has even granted some posts which were earlier held by the Chief Minister in his official capacity. Necessary amendments to the Act will be made.Patiala manages the most prestigious posts with Punjab Mandi Board, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation and Punjab Roadways going to three non-MLAs from Patiala, namely Sant Ram Singla, Hardial Singh Kamboj and Ved Perkash Gupta respectively.Singla’s appointment would cut Agriculture Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal to size as Mandi Board falls within the purview of her ministry, while the latter two are rural and urban presidents of Patiala District Congress.Prominent appointees include Ripjit Singh Brar, brother of Faridkot MLA Jagmeet Singh Brar and Col C.D.S. Kamboj. Two important loyalists of Bhattal, namely Raj Khurana and Sher Singh Gagowal are missing, indicating that the attempt to marginalise Bhattal continues.The exercise seems to be aimed at ensuring loyalty among MLAs, as some considered close to Amarinder have not been granted any post. These include Arvind Khanna, Rana Gurjit Singh and Randeep Singh Nabha and Surinder Kumar Dawar.Some Independents who joined the Congress later have been accomodated like Gurjant Singh Kuttiwal and O.P. Soni, though Nathu Ram, Surjit Singh Dhiman and Sher Singh Gagowal have been omitted. Other Congress MLAs who have not been appointed include Malkiat Singh Dakha, liquor baron Amrik Singh Dhillon, Parkash Singh Saini and Razia Sultan.
