The Jalandhar Municipal Corporation is set for another change at the top, with PCS officer Surinder Singh appointed as its new Commissioner and he will replace IAS officer Sandeep Rishi, who has been transferred in the latest reshuffle.
Surinder Singh, a 2012-batch PCS officer, was serving as Additional Deputy Commissioner (Rural Development), Amritsar and his services have now been placed at the disposal of the Punjab Local Government Department, following which he has been appointed Commissioner of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation.
His appointment also marks a return to a PCS officer heading the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation after a period in which IAS officers have generally held the commissioner’s post.
Surinder Singh’s appointment will be the 10th change in the Municipal Commissioner’s post since the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power in Punjab in March 2022 and the changes include periods when the post was held by different officers as well as one vacancy.
The sequence began with Karnesh Sharma, who served from March 16, 2022, to May 5, 2022, for 50 days and he was followed by Deepshikha Sharma, who remained in the post for 64 days, from May 5 to July 8, 2022.
Devinder Singh then served from July 8 to November 2, 2022, for 117 days.
Abhijeet Kaplish had a comparatively longer tenure, remaining Commissioner from November 3, 2022, to August 11, 2023, for 281 days.
Rishi Pal Singh took charge on August 11, 2023, and served until November 17, 2023, for 98 days, following whichthe commissioner’s post then remained vacant for 23 days, from November 18 to December 10, 2023.
Aditya Uppal was appointed on December 11, 2023, and remained in the post until January 31, 2024, completing a 51-day tenure, later Gautam Jain had the longest tenure among the commissioners listed since March 2022. He served from February 2, 2024, to August 22, 2025, for 567 days.
Sandeep Rishi subsequently took charge on August 25, 2025, and served until July 9, 2026, completing 318 days. Nikas Kumar then held the post for 32 days, from July 10 to August 11, 2026.
Rishi returned as Commissioner on August 12, 2026, but his second stint lasted only 27 days, ending with his transfer on September 7.
Surinder Singh will now take over the post.
The repeated changes have kept the Municipal Corporation under a succession of different administrative heads and with every new commissioner, the officer has to familiarise themselves with the corporation’s departments, ongoing projects, pending files, financial matters and administrative procedures.
The commissioner is also responsible for overseeing several areas that directly affect residents, including sanitation, road-related works, illegal construction, parking, traffic management and other civic services.
A change at the top can also mean that a newly appointed officer needs time to review projects and decisions already initiated by the previous administration before deciding how to proceed.
The tenure data shows that several commissioners since March 2022 remained in the post for only a few months and at the same time, the corporation has also seen longer tenures, particularly under Abhijit Kaplish and Gautam Jain.
With Surinder Singh’s appointment, attention will now shift to the duration of his tenure and the issues he takes up after assuming charge, and for Jalandhar residents, the immediate focus will remain on routine civic services and long-pending city issues, while the Municipal Corporation’s administration adjusts to yet another change in leadership.
