Punjab's secretary of the personnel department Arunjit Singh Miglani and state mandi board secretary Kamaldeep Singh Sangha are among 53 candidates, including serving and retired civil servants, Army officers, judicial officers, journalists, and advocates, who have applied for the single post of Punjab state information commissioner. Miglani is superannuating on September 30 and Sangha on May 31.

 

Member secretary of the 6th Punjab finance commission, retired IAS officer G Vajralingam, is also one of the applicants. He has also applied for the post of Punjab chief information commissioner as the incumbent chief information commissioner Sarwan Singh Channy's term will end on May 4.

 

Those who have shown interest in both the posts of IC and CIC are Maj Gen RS Mann, additional director general of NCC Directorate of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, and UT cadre IAS officer Mohanjeet Singh, principal secretary-cum-commissioner of industries department in Delhi government.

 

Three retired Army officers who have also shown their interest for both the posts include Panchkula resident Lt Gen Jagbir Singh Cheema, Mohali resident Lt Gen Ajae Kumar Sharma, and Zirakpur resident Lt Gen Iqbal Singh Singha.

 

Prematurely retired additional district and session judge of Punjab Krishan Kumar and former director general of police-rank officer of West Bengal cadre Ravinder Jit Singh Nalwa are also on both lists.

 

The post of state information commissioner fell vacant on March 31 after the end of the term of Ajit Singh Chanduraian.

 

A state information commissioner holds the office for a term of five years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

 

Salary, allowances and other terms and conditions of service of the state information commissioner are same as that of the chief secretary of the state.

 

Three journalists interested in the post include deputy editor with a weekly news magazine Asit Jolly, editor of a vernacular newspaper Arunjot Singh and Pramod Kumar Mehta, who has worked with various vernacular newspapers.

 

Additional deputy commissioner (general) of Mohali and Punjab Civil Service officer Charandev Singh Mann also figures in the list.

 

Captain Yudhvir Singh Matta (retd), working as a member of the consumer dispute redressal forum for Ropar and Fatehgarh Sahib, is another applicant. The executive director in the Punjab Energy Development Agency Balour Singh and deputy secretary in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) Harpreet Singh Aulakh have also applied for the post.

 

Retired officers who have also applied include engineer-in-chief of PSPCL Joginder Singh, SSP Brij Mohan Sharma, SSP vigilance Jagjit Singh, joint director in the department of prosecution and litigation Iqbaljit Singh and deputy director in the higher education department Hardeep Singh Teja.