The Bhagwant Mann-led government moved a resolution in the one-day Punjab assembly session on Friday, seeking immediate transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, requesting the Centre to honour the principles of federalism enshrined in the Constitution.
It further said that the Centre should not take any step, which may disturb the balance in the Chandigarh administration and other common assets such as the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said Punjab was reorganised through the Punjab Reorganisation Act,1966, wherein, the State of Punjab was reorganised into State of Haryana, Union Territory of Chandigarh, and some parts of Punjab were given to then Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh.
Since then, a balance has been maintained in the administration of common assets like BBMB, by way of giving management positions in some proportion to the nominees of the State of Punjab and State of Haryana, Mann said.
The resolution further stated that through many of its recent actions, the Central government has been trying to upset the balance. Most recently, the Centre had advertised the BBMB posts for all states and Central government, however, the jobs are traditionally filled up by the officers from Punjab.
Similarly, the Chandigarh administration has always been managed by the officers of Punjab and Haryana in the ratio of 60:40. However, recently, the Central government had posted outside officers to Chandigarh, and had introduced the Central Civil Service Rules for the employees of the Chandigarh administration, which goes against the understanding in the past, the resolution stated.
“Chandigarh city was created as the capital of Punjab. In all past precedents, whenever, a state has been divided, the capital remains with the parent state. Punjab, therefore, has been laying its claim for a complete transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab. In the past, this house has passed a number of resolutions urging the Central government to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab. For maintaining harmony and taking the sentiments of people into account, this House once again recommends to the State government to raise the matter with the Central government to immediately transfer Chandigarh to Punjab,” he said.
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