A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced to align service conditions of all employees of the Chandigarh administration with Central civil services, the issue surrounding the claim over Chandigarh — the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana — is once again in spotlight.
Political parties in Punjab, including the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday criticised the Centre’s move and termed it an attempt to ‘snatch’ Chandigarh from Punjab.
The SAD urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to call an all-party meeting to approach the Union Government to stop “the Centre’s effort to make Chandigarh a permanent Union Territory in violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act.”
‘Ad hoc arrangement’
SAD leaders Prem Singh Chandumajra and Daljit Singh Cheema said it was incumbent on the AAP government to make the Centre understand that Chandigarh was a Union Territory as per an ad hoc arrangement only. “We have nothing against the employees of Chandigarh whose interests can be protected by the Punjab government also. But we strongly protest against this latest move to pitch the employees against civil society and use them to snatch Punjab’s rights over Chandigarh,” they said here.
The Akali leaders pointed out that the Chief Minister did not take up the issue of dilution of Punjab’s stakes in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) during his recent meeting with the Prime Minister. “.. had the Chief Minister registered a strong protest on this issue, the Centre would have desisted from going ahead with the move to extend Central rules to Chandigarh employees. It was even more galling that even as Mr. Mann did not take up this issue with the Prime Minister fearing a reprimand from AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, the Haryana Chief Minister had already demanded the release of Punjab river waters to Haryana. Mr. Mann has even chosen to remain silent on the Haryana Chief Minister’s statement,” alleged the SAD leaders, demanding all these issues should be taken up at the all-party meeting.
The leaders added that at the time of reorganisation an arrangement surrounding Chandigarh was made, and accordingly 60% of employees were from Punjab and 40% from Haryana. The SAD said the Punjab government rules were applicable to employees of Chandigarh
“A SAD delegation would meet the President shortly to apprise him of the development and demand its rollback. We will not sit idle and will decide on our next course of action in case the decisions are not reviewed,” the leaders added.
‘Dictatorial attitude’
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the BJP-led Central government was adopting a dictatorial attitude and was continuously imposing its anti-Punjab decisions.
He said if they didn’t refrain from it then the Punjab government would fight from street to Parliament. “The people of Punjab would never allow the Central government’s plans to end Punjab’s participation in Chandigarh administration, Punjab University and the Bhakra Beas Management Committee (BBMB) to succeed.”
“Since the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab under the leadership of Mr. Mann, the Central government has intensified its attacks on the rights of Punjab. The Union government has neither spoken to the Punjab government nor any such demand has been made by the employees regarding removal of service rules of Punjab from Chandigarh administration. It is implementing anti-Punjab rulings under a grand conspiracy.”
Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa said multiple decisions taken by the Union government were against the federal structure of the Constitution and required strong action by the Government of Punjab to defend the self-respect and interests of the State.
“I request the Chief Minister to consult with the Advocate General of Punjab and explore all legal remedies available to the State. I further urge him to take an all-party delegation from Punjab to meet with the Prime Minister, to make it clear that these decisions are strongly opposed by all parties from Punjab.. Furthermore, accepting these actions by the Central government would end the claim of Punjab over Chandigarh. I request the Chief Minister to also stake Punjab’s claim over the city of Chandigarh with the Central government at the earliest,” he said.
