Punjab engineer suspended over Facebook comment on CM Mann, unions threaten stir

A comment on a Facebook post of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has led to the suspension of a junior engineer at the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). The employee has denied making the remark, claiming his social media account may have been hacked.

Davinder Singh, posted at the Tohra sub-division in Patiala district under PSPCL's Central Division, received his suspension order on September 11 and was ordered to shift his headquarters to Bathinda. Sources said the directions regarding the suspension originated from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) before being passed to PSPCL management.

"On September 14, I visited the central division office in Ludhiana and was told verbally that I had posted a comment on a social media post concerning Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, because of which I was immediately relieved from the Tohra sub-division," Davinder Singh told The Indian Express.

He added that he joined PSPCL in 2011 as a lineman before being promoted to junior engineer, maintaining an unblemished record throughout his tenure. According to Davinder, authorities showed him a screenshot of a Facebook post featuring CM Mann speaking in the Assembly, wearing a blazer, accompanied by a derogatory comment from an account named 'Davinder Mehra'.

The Punjabi comment translated to: "Arrogance has gone to his head; he is speaking like a woman; there is nothing manly about him." "The Facebook page from which the comment was made is mine, but I haven't made any comment… it seems someone hacked my page to defame me.

I explained this to the chief engineer of the Central Division, but to no avail," Davinder said. The action has sparked strong backlash from power sector employee unions. A delegation representing the Joint Forum of Employees Federation and Bijli Ekta Manch met Jagdev Singh Hans, Chief Engineer (Central Division), on Monday to demand Davinder's immediate reinstatement.

Union leaders stated that if Davinder is not reinstated at Tohra within seven days, they will launch an intense statewide agitation. On September 16, employee unions plan to gherao the three main gates of the PSPCL headquarters in Patiala as part of an ongoing stir for wider demands, including the old pension scheme and regularisation of contractual staff.

Unions announced plans to flood the chief minister's personal social media account with thousands of genuine comments on September 16 to protest what they termed an attempt to gag employee free speech. "We believe he did not make the comment and that someone else may have used AI or some other technology to tarnish his image," union leaders said in a joint statement, adding that if their demands are ignored, employee protests will escalate directly against the state government.

"If our demands are not accepted, as announced by the joint platform of employees, Bhagwant Mann will be sent back from the Secretariat to his village Satoj," they said. Repeated attempts to contact Chief Engineer Jagdev Singh Hans for a comment went unanswered.