Dabinderjit Singh

Dabinderjit Singh Sidhu (Punjabi: ਦਬਿੰਦਰਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਿੱਧੂ) was a Director at the National Audit Office (United Kingdom) who retired early in May 2022 after more than 33 years. He is an internationally known and well respected Sikh activist and spokesman for Sikh rights and interests.
He was awarded an OBE in 2000 for his work on equal opportunities.

Protection of Sikh rights and interests

Singh has acted as a spokesman for the Sikh Secretariat, formed in 2001, and has been the Principal Adviser of the Sikh Federation (UK), a non-governmental organisation formed in September 2003 to encourage Sikhs to participate in mainstream politics and to protect the rights and promote the interests of the hundreds of thousands of Sikh residents in the UK.

Singh was associated with the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) although never a member as he wore a jacket with a small ISYF emblem at his investiture at Buckingham Palace in December 2000. The ISYF was controversially proscribed in the UK in March 2001, followed by India in December 2001 and Canada in July 2003.In the UK the organisation suspended its membership and national and local structure to legally challenge the proscription. In March 2016 following a legal challenge the UK Government lifted the ban on the ISYF in the UK and in May 2016 removed all restrictions across the EU.

The Vancouver Sun, reported in February 2008 that Dabinderjit Singh was in Canada promoting a Sikh Agenda for the Canadian Government. Dabinderjit Singh clarified he was not on a speaking tour, but on a family holiday to Canada and the USA and spoke at a Gurdwara and one other event. The alleged agenda included challenging the proscription of Sikh organisations in Canada.

He was appointed to the board of Transport for London in 2006, under former Mayor Ken Livingstone, and served until 2008.
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National Audit Office career

He was employed at the National Audit Office (United Kingdom), National Audit OfficeNational Audit Office
/ref> from 1 September 1988 until 6 May 2022.
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The National Audit Office is not part of Government; therefore Singh was not a civil servant but in a politically restricted role.

In November 2000, the National Audit Office reported that Singh ("known as Sid Sidhu to his colleagues") had been promoted to Director. (NAO Focus Issue 9).
/ref> Since 2000 NAO has published one further reference to Singh under the name Dabinderjit Singh.
/ref> All other references have used the alias 'Sid Sidhu'.

In March 2004 he was appointed the first Chair of the EU College of External Auditors for the European Defence Agency. By summer 2007 he no longer held this post.
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See also

Sikh Federation (UK)

References

External links

National Audit Office

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Dabinderjit
English Sikhs
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
British Sikhs