HARYANA INITIATES PROCESS TO OMIT WORD ‘PUNJAB’ FROM ITS LAWS

CHANDIGARH: Nearly 55 years after it was carved out as a separate state, Haryana has initiated the process to omit the word Punjab from its laws.

The state government has constituted a committee to remove Punjab from nearly 237 Acts on the initiative of state assembly speaker Gian Chand Gupta. Most of the acts are related to revenue and police departments and have the word Punjab in them, according to officials.

Haryana was carved out as a separate state from undivided Punjab on November 1, 1966 under the Punjab Reorganisation Act. Haryana had adopted various acts which were already in force in undivided Punjab to run its administration. It was then resolved that the new state would be governed by the laws applicable in Punjab and it could make necessary amendments as per its requirements after two years.

“Haryana is gearing up to do away with the name of the state of Punjab from its laws. The state government has constituted a Committee in this regard after the initiatives of Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Gian Chand Gupta,” a state government statement said here on Thursday.

The committee constituted under the chairmanship of the legal remembrancer and and administrative secretary of the law and justice department will review and examine the amendment of the subtitles of the acts, it said.

The state government has informed the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Secretariat regarding the constitution of the committee which will submit its report to Haryana chief secretary, Vijai Vardhan, within a month.