SAD requests Punjab CM to call all-party meeting on Centre's Chandigarh move
Chandigarh, March 28: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday urged Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to call an all-party meeting to approach the Central Government to stop its efforts to make Chandigarh a permanent Union Territory in violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act.
Reacting strongly to the announcement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to bring Chandigarh UT employees under Central Civil Services Rules, the SAD said, “It is incumbent on the AAP -led Punjab Government to make the Central Government understand that Chandigarh is 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”.
Senior leaders, including Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, Charanjit Singh Atwal, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Gulzar Singh Ranike, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and Hira Singh Gabria, called upon the Punjab Chief Minister to fulfill his responsibility towards the state.
They alleged 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. They said had the CM registered a strong protest on this issue, the Centre would have desisted from going ahead with the move to extend central rules on Chandigarh employees.
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Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra said the recent decision on extending central civil service rules to Chandigarh employees was not only a violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act but also that of the Rajiv Gandhi- Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal accord and several subsequent commissions, all of whom had held that Punjab had a majority share in Chandigarh Administration and that the status of the UT was ad-hoc pending transfer to Punjab.
Prof Chandumajra also requested the Centre not to interfere in state affairs to this extent and urged it to respect the principle of federalism as enshrined in the Constitution. He made it clear that the SAD was a votary of federalism and would safeguard the rights of the state at all costs.
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-PTC News
