Will not let Centre dilute state’s share in Chandigarh, says Capt
Says will meet PM on the issue tomorrow; Sidhu, Bajwa also shoot off letters to Rajnath
CHANDIGARH : Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said his government has taken a strong exception to the Centre’s notification diluting Punjab’s share in the Chandigarh administration and he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the move.
The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) last week had issued a notification on the merger of the UT police with DANIPS (Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service)-cadre officers.
Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the inauguration of a Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojna (MGSVY) camp in Mohali, Amarinder said, “I will again take up the issue with the PM during our meeting in Delhi on Thursday. The 60:40 ratio, as decided at the time of division of Punjab and Haryana in 1966, should not be tinkered with,” he said.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Kanwar Sandhu was first to flag the issue on September 29, followed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) opposing the move.
“Attempts are being made to dilute Punjab’s stake in Chandigarh. A similar erosion has taken place, over the years, in the posts of class-i gazetted officers. Punjab would not allow further erosion of its interests,” he added.
State local bodies minister Navjot Sidhu has also written to Union home minister Rajnath Singh saying the notification “shakes the very foundation and purpose” of the Punjab Reorganisation Act and the Rajiv-longowal Accord.
The letter states that all assets and liabilities were bifurcated between Punjab and Haryana in the ratio of 60:40. It was decided in principle that the union territory of Chandigarh will be the capital of Punjab and it was only given the status of UT till newly constituted state of Haryana forms its own capital.
‘RAJIV-LONGOWAL ACCORD NOT FOLLOWED’
Former state Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP Partap Bajwa also shot off letter to Rajnath saying Chandigarh was stipulated to be the Punjab capital as per the States Reorganisation Act, 1966, and it was to continue to be joint capital of Punjab and Haryana to till the time Haryana develops a new capital.
Bajwa’s letter says the Rajivlongowal Accord signed in 1985 clearly mentioned that Chandigarh would be given to Punjab overruling the Shah Commission’s suggestions that it should be given to Haryana.
“The Government of India appointed the Venkataramiah Commission to chalk out a plan to determine which Hindi-speaking areas of Punjab should be given to Haryana. However, no such step was taken. The administrator of Chandigarh is the governor of Punjab. Therefore, there is a symbolic acceptance of Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh which cannot be ignored at any stage,” he wrote in the letter.
“Similarly, Punjab-cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer is posted as the SSP of Chandigarh and the Punjab Civil Secretariat, the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Punjab Police headquarters are based at Chandigarh and as such the administration of state of Punjab is carried on from Chandigarh. Culturally too, Chandigarh is de-facto capital of Punjab from day one. The Punjabi speaking character of the city of Chandigarh proves the cultural and linguistic linkages between the people of Punjab and Chandigarh,” the letter reads.