Sukhbir slams proposal to appoint admin for Chandigarh

Chandigarh, Aug 4 : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday described the proposal to appoint a full-fledged Administrator for the union territory by divesting the Punjab Governor of this charge as another attempt to dilute Punjab’s claim to its capital city.

“We will oppose this tooth and nail. Chandigarh is an inseparable part of Punjab and should be transferred to the parent State as soon as possible,” he said.

In a statement here, Mr Badal said there was no reason to appoint a full-fledged Administrator for the union territory from outside the State. “If at all an Administrator has to be appointed till such time the union territory is not transferred to Punjab, the officer should from the parent State. Earlier also the chief commissioner of Chandigarh used to be from Punjab”.

Asserting that all decisions taken at the time of reorganization of Punjab were being violated one after another, the SAD chief said the centre was not following the 60:40 ratio for posting of officers in the union territory with a majority of officers being from Punjab.

“Separate cadres have been created to reduce the strength of Punjab service officers in the union territory and now even AGMUT officers are being posted on key posts in utter violation of the 60:40 formula,” he said.

Stating that instead of correcting the wrongs being done to Punjab vis a vis Chandigarh, Mr Badal said it was condemnable that the union government was now planning to dilute Punjab’s role in Chandigarh even further. He said it was unfortunate that the NDA government was following the path of the Congress government by proposing to implement an anti-Punjab move which was also against the spirit of the constitution.

Mr Badal said the SAD had earlier also opposed a move to appoint a separate Administrator for Chandigarh in 2016 by divesting the Punjab Governor of this charge. “We will launch an agitation to ensure this move does not fructify again”.

He also requested Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to pursue the case vigorously with the union government and ensure no anti-Punjab decision was taken by the centre. “The SAD is ready to approach the Prime Minister as part of an all party delegation from Punjab to apprise the union government of the sentiments of Punjabis on this sensitive issue. If the chief minister does not take any initiative the SAD will approach the Prime Minister and demand the proposal is not implemented”.

Mr Badal said Punjab had the first right over Chandigarh as the union territory was established by uprooting people from villages belonging to Punjab. He said even though Chandigarh was still the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, efforts were on to dilute its stake in the union territory on one pretext or another.

“The union government has even replaced Punjabi with English as the official language of Chandigarh even though the area does not have any English speaking people. Similarly the parent State is being denied a share in the taxes collected from the union territory”, he said, adding the SAD would take up all these issues for resolution.

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