On the day the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution to immediately relocate Chandigarh to the state, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the city would be the joint capital of the two states. He also welcomed the move by the central government to enforce central service rules for union territory employees and accused the Punjab government of misleading the public on the issue.
As the Punjab Assembly passed the resolution on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that now the Union Service Rules would apply to Union Territory employees, a move described by several parties as interference in the rights of the state. “Chandigarh will be the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana. Both the states have a number of issues to discuss besides Chandigarh,” Khattar told reporters here.
Khattar, a BJP leader, said the Center had taken the decision considering the demands and interests of UT workers. The Punjab government is misleading the public on the issue, with the chief minister saying he claimed the move would benefit employees “immensely”.
Earlier, Chandigarh employees had to rely on the Punjab government for every central government order, he added. Earlier, orders regarding allowances or other benefits issued by the central government were implemented in Chandigarh only after Punjab issued a notification but now all these orders will be directly applicable to UT employees, the CM said.
He said Punjab has not yet given its employees the benefit of the 7th pay commission where Haryana had implemented the recommendations in 2016. Employees of Chandigarh were also deprived of these benefits till now but now that the new rules have come into force, they will get all these benefits, he said.
He said not only Punjab and Haryana, but also the people of Himachal Pradesh demanded their share in Chandigarh. “The Supreme Court in its judgment said that under the Punjab Reconstruction Act, Himachal Pradesh also owns 7.19 per cent of Chandigarh’s land. It is a different matter that Himachal Pradesh has declared Shimla as its capital,” he said. Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were formed from Punjab five decades ago.
Khattar further told reporters that Gurugram would be developed as a “global city” and a meeting was held here with leading real estate developers from across the country on the issue. Based on the suggestions made at the meeting, the government will plan to develop Gurugram as a “global city”
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