The Bhagwant Mann-led government on Friday moved a resolution in the one-day Punjab Assembly session urging immediate transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, urging the Center to respect the principles of federalism enshrined in the constitution.
It further said that the Center should not take any step which could upset the balance of other common resources like Chandigarh administration and Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that Punjab was reorganized under the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, where the state of Punjab was reorganized into the Union Territory of Haryana, Chandigarh and parts of Punjab were given to the then Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh.
Since then, a balance has been struck in the administration of general assets like BBMB, by giving some proportion of management posts to the nominees of the states of Punjab and Haryana, Mann said.
The resolution further states that the central government is trying to upset the balance through its many recent steps. Most recently, the Center has advertised BBMB posts for all the state and central governments, though, the jobs are traditionally filled by Punjab officers.
Similarly, Chandigarh administration is always managed by Punjab and Haryana officers in the ratio of 60:40. However, recently, the central government posted officers outside Chandigarh and introduced the Central Civil Service Rules for employees of the Chandigarh administration, which goes against the understanding of the past, the resolution said.
“The city of Chandigarh was created as the capital of Punjab. In all past instances, whenever a state was divided, the capital remained with the original state. Punjab has been demanding for complete transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab. “In order to maintain harmony and take into account the sentiments of the people, the House again recommends to the state government that Chandigarh be shifted to Punjab immediately to raise the issue with the central government,” he said.
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