Punjab seeks greater share in Chandigarh administration

Chandigarh, March 17 : Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Wednesday expressed concern over the decline in the number of state cadre officers in the administration of the union territory (UT) of Chandigarh and sought the intervention of Governor Shivraj Patil, who is also the UT administrator, to rectify this.

"We feel deeply concerned about the declining share of Punjab cadre officers in the affairs of Chandigarh administration. More than being a UT, Chandigarh is also the capital of Punjab and, therefore, we have appealed to the UT administrator to rectify the anomalies at the earliest," Badal said here.

He said: "At the time of reorganisation of states (on Nov 1, 1966), Chandigarh was made a UT but its administration was handed over to the joint control of Punjab and Haryana on 60:40 basis as per which 60 per cent of the departments were to go to Punjab while only 40 per cent to Haryana. But nobody is following this norm and Punjab's share in (the) Chandigarh (administration) has been gradually declining."

Badal also submitted a memorandum on this to Patil Tuesday evening.

He said that in 1966, out of 13 important positions in the Chandigarh administration, nine were held by Punjab cadre officers but now this had reduced to just three.

At the same time, the number of Haryana cadre officers had increased from four to six, he pointed out.

"The Punjab officers have even been divested of all those departments that were originally agreed for them in 1966. This is a very serious and sensitive matter and it calls for prompt action," stated Badal.

Punjab and Haryana have been sharing Chandigarh as their capital since November 1966.

Both states have a common Punjab and Haryana High Court. The secretariats and assemblies of both states and the headquarters of most departments are located in Chandigarh.