Taking a serious view of government officials going abroad and extending their stay there unauthorisedly, the Punjab government Wednesday announced the dismissal from service of six government veterinary doctors for prolonged absence from duty.
A state government spokesman said that those dismissed are Gurpreet Singh Batth (Fathegarh Sahib), Pushpinder Singh (Sangrur), Ravinderpal Singh (Amritsar), Harbhajan Singh (Fathegarh Sahib), Neeraj Sharma (Patiala) and Baljit Singh (Moga).
The Punjab government had recently asked all departments to submit lists of officers and staff who had gone abroad and continued to request extension of leave.
Sources in the government said that over 300 officials had gone abroad and not returned.
The state government, after dismissing such staff, will recruit new people for these jobs.