Anganwadi Smartphone Delay: The Punjab Government on Friday night took strict administrative action by suspending two IAS officers and transferring two senior bureaucrats over a prolonged six-year delay in procuring smartphones for Anganwadi workers under the Centre’s Poshan Abhiyan scheme. The long-pending project was aimed at digitally tracking nearly 12 lakh beneficiaries but remained stuck due to procedural lapses, legal hurdles, and shifting tender conditions.
Kamal Kishore Yadav, who was serving as Administrative Secretary in the Department of Industries, Investment Promotion and Information Technology, and Jaspreet Singh, Managing Director of Punjab Infotech, were placed under suspension with immediate effect. During the suspension period, both officers will remain attached to the state headquarters in Chandigarh and will receive subsistence allowance as per service rules.
In the same case, the state government also ordered the transfer of two senior officers. Additional Chief Secretary of the Social Security Department, Vikas Pratap, has been relieved of his responsibilities and has not been assigned any new posting so far. Joint Secretary Anand Sagar Sharma has been posted as the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Gurdaspur.
The administrative reshuffle also brought relief to Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, a 2001-batch IAS officer, who had remained without a posting for nearly 11 months. He has now been assigned charge of the Industries, Investment Promotion and Social Security departments. The additional charge of Managing Director, Punjab Infotech, has been handed over to Harshuinder Singh Brar.
According to official sources, the officers placed under suspension were directly responsible for handling the smartphone procurement process through Punjab Infotech. The delay reportedly worsened after the vendor selected by the government approached the court, leading to an adverse order that further stalled the purchase process.
The project involved the procurement of 28,515 smartphones for Anganwadi workers to enable real-time monitoring of beneficiaries. Officials familiar with the matter said that the extended delay not only made better technology available but also led to a sharp rise in costs. The estimated expenditure increased from around ₹34 crore to nearly ₹60 crore over the six-year period.
Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi, the Central Government had released ₹27 crore to Punjab in 2018, covering 60 per cent of the project cost, while the remaining 40 per cent was to be borne by the state government. Initially, tenders were floated for 4G smartphones, but as technology advanced, the state revised the conditions to procure 5G devices. These changes, coupled with bureaucratic delays, kept the project in limbo.
In the absence of government-provided devices, Anganwadi workers were given an annual allowance to use their personal smartphones to continue tracking beneficiaries and reporting data under the nutrition programme.
The government’s latest action is being seen as a strong message on administrative accountability, particularly in welfare schemes linked to digital governance and public health. Officials indicated that efforts are now being made to fast-track the procurement process and ensure that long-pending projects are completed without further delay.