Chandigarh, Mar 28 (PTI) A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the central service rules will apply to the employees of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday slammed the Centre’s decision, claiming that it goes against the Punjab Reorganisation Act.
Shah’s announcement evoked sharp reactions from AAP, Congress and SAD leaders with many of them saying this was “another big blow to the rights of Punjab” after changes in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) Rules.
However, Punjab Lok Congress president and former chief minister Amarinder Singh lashed out at AAP leaders, including Mann, and asked what is wrong if the Centre has accepted the employees’ long-pending demand.
In a tweet, Mann said Punjab will fight for its “rightful” claim over Chandigarh.
“Central Govt has been stepwise imposing officers and personnel from other states and services in the Chandigarh administration. This goes against the letter and spirit of Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966. Punjab will fight strongly for its rightful claim over Chandigarh,” he said.
The state government said the AAP will oppose the Centre’s decision and fight from “streets to Parliament”.
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that the BJP-led Centre has been taking “anti-Punjab decisions”, as he also referred to the BBMB issue, and said it is now trying to usurp the state’s rights over Chandigarh.
“The central government is deliberately taking steps to take away Punjab’s claims over Chandigarh,” he told reporters here.
Ever since the Aam Aadmi Party has formed the government in Punjab, the BJP-led government at the Centre is feeling scared due to the several “pro-people” decisions being taken by the Mann dispensation and “has intensified its attacks on the rights of Punjab”, he claimed.
Cheema also alleged that the previous governments of Punjab didn’t protect the rights and share of the state. The Centre has now taken a “unilateral” decision regarding the union territory employees without consulting Punjab and “this goes against the letter and spirit of Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966”, he said.
“We oppose this decision, we will protect Punjab’s interests and we will force the Centre to roll it back,” he said.
The Chandigarh administration’s employees are not going to benefit with this decision, he said, adding “rather, there will be a cut in their salaries.” The union territory employees are currently working under the Punjab service rules.
According to Shah, the move will benefit them in a “big way” as their retirement age will increase from 58 to 60 years and women employees will get childcare leave of two years instead of the current one year.
The Shiromani Akali Dal urged the chief minister to call an all-party meeting with the objective of unitedly approaching the central government “to stop its efforts to make Chandigarh a permanent union territory in violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act”.
“It is incumbent on the AAP government to make the Centre 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,” the SAD said in a statement.
Opposing the Centre’s announcement, SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal said the government wants to “usurp the rights of Punjab over Chandigarh”.
Senior party leaders, including Prem Singh Chandumajra, said, “The Centre’s decision on extending central civil service rules to Chandigarh employees was not only a violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act but also of the Rajiv Gandhi-Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal Accord and several subsequent commissions, all of which have held that Punjab has a majority share in Chandigarh administration and that the status of the union territory was ad-hoc pending transfer to Punjab”.
Chandumajra also said that a party delegation would meet the President soon to apprise him of the development and demand the withdrawal of the Centre’s decision.
Senior Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa also slammed the Centre for its decisions on BBMB and Chandigarh UT employees, saying they are against the country’s federal structure and urged Mann to take an all-party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Multiple decisions taken by the Union government are against the federal structure of the Indian Constitution and require strong action by the Punjab government to defend the self-respect and interests of the state,” Bajwa said in a statement.
Furthermore, accepting these decisions by the Centre will end Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh, he claimed.
Amarinder Singh, whose Punjab Lok Congress is an ally of the BJP, defended the move, saying this was a long-pending demand of employees, many of whom are drawn from Punjab, and they should get all service benefits at a par with their central government counterparts.
“Now that the central government has agreed to their demand, what is wrong about it and where does Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh get diluted with this?” he asked.
He hit out at AAP leaders and Mann “for distorting and misinterpreting a routine administrative decision of the central government providing central benefits to the employees working with the Union Territory administration”.
Denying the AAP government’s allegations, senior BJP leader and former Chandigarh MP Satya Pal Jain said that thousands of UT employees will benefit from the Centre’s decision and most of them come from Punjab.
“Those who are opposing this decision are, in fact, hampering the interests of these employees from Punjab,” he said.
Earlier, the change in rules for appointment of top officers to the BBMB had raked up a storm with many political parties in Punjab and Haryana criticising the Centre. PTI SUN VSD DIV DIV
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
