CHANDIGARH: The ruling Congress government and the principal Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab on Tuesday opposed the Centre’s September 25 notification which diluted Punjab’s control over Chandigarh.
The notification brought various posts of Chandigarh’s Administration, including the post of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, within the ambit of the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS) Cadre.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to reconsider the notification. He added that he would take up the issue with the PM at a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. The 60:40 ratio, as decided upon in 1966 at the time of division of Punjab and Haryana must not be disturbed,he stressed.
Former Punjab Chief Minister and SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal also issued a strong protest. “It’s a wrong decision and is an injustice to Punjab. It is an injustice with Punjab that it has not got its capital. In case of bifurcation of states, generally, the parent state retains the capital. But it is not the case with Punjab, The party MPs will take up this issue with the minister concerned and the central BJP leadership,” he said.
Punjab’s Local Government, Culture and Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu also wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh terming the notification as being “against the very foundation and purpose of the Punjab Reorganisation Act and the Rajiv Longowal Accord”. Both Punjab and Haryana have been repeatedly asking the Centre for a higher share to their officers in Chandigarh’s Administration.