Two Punjab govt officials nominated to IAS

In total, 10 officers who had been recommended by the Punjab government ranging across a wide spectrum of state services were interviewed by the board for two posts on February 5 at the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) headquarters in New Delhi. The state qualification criteria for the recommendation of candidates for the UPSC interview entailed rigorous matching up of exemplary service record, length of service and, above all, the nuanced understanding and appreciation of their departmental domain areas.

Gulpreet Singh Aulakh, 48, is a B. Tech engineer who joined the soil and water conservation department on September 14, 2000, as soil conservation officer. He has been instrumental in leading several consequential projects undertaken by the department over the last two decades. At present, he is serving as divisional soil conservation officer and is posted at the Chandigarh office.

Dr Thind, a 2005-batch Punjab Civil Services (PCS) allied officer has carried on her department’s special tradition of churning out IAS officers regularly. She is the third officer of the food and supplies department to have been elevated to the IAS in the last five years. Karnesh Sharma and Dr Bhupinder Pal Singh have both served as deputy director, field, and additional director respectively before being appointed to the IAS in 2015 and 2016.

Dr Thind, who holds a doctorate in history from Panjab University under the UGC Research Fellowship Scheme, is currently the joint director of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Punjab.