On Wednesday, the Punjab government transferred key officials in its information and public relations department, including secretary Ramvir and director Akshita Gupta. Puneet Goyal, a 2010-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the new special secretary and PR director. This administrative change comes in the wake of criticisms that the PR department failed to effectively promote Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Shukrana Yatra, which aimed to reinforce the government's narrative as a protector of the Sikh faith. The four-day yatra, concluding on May 9 at Fatehgarh Sahib, was intended to celebrate the implementation of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Act, 2026, which imposes stricter penalties for sacrilege. However, the event was marred by the arrest of cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora on money laundering and GST fraud charges, alongside CBI raids on the state Vigilance Bureau. This is the second time during Mann's tenure that the PR department has faced significant leadership changes, previously occurring in June 2022 after a security withdrawal list leak linked to the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala.