Restoring Punjab's share in Chandigarh

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said today that he would take up with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister the issue of restoring 60 per cent share of state employees in the administration of Chandigarh.

Replying to a question, Badal said he had written recently to the UT administration against the repatriation of doctors, who were on deputation there, to Punjab. In due course the UT had set up its own cadre of employees, denying 60 per cent share to Punjab employees in various UT departments. At the time of declaration of Chandigarh as UT, Punjab was assured that 60 per cent employees in the UT administration would be from Punjab and 40 per cent from Haryana and there would be no UT cadre.

However, in the past 40 years the scenario in UT has changed drastically. Punjab’s share in the UT administration has become less significant. Recently, secretary-general of the SAD Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa had written a detailed letter to Badal for getting Punjab’s share restored in UT administration.

Asked about the fall in Punjab’s share in the UT police, Badal said this matter would be taken with the Union Home Minister. Recently, it had come to light that only one ASI from Punjab was selected in the UT police whereas most were either from Haryana or from certain other states. Likewise, the number of those selected from Punjab at the constable level were far less as compared to Haryana. It was argued that physical standards of Punjab youth were not up to the mark for recruitment in the UT police.

However, no one in the Punjab government is agreeing with this plea of the UT administration. A senior officer of the state government said in the past years several hundred youths had been recruited in various commando battalions in Punjab. “If Punjab youth can be fit to be recruited in commando battalions, how can they be unfit to be recruited in UT police,” asked the senior officer.

Badal said he would urge the Union government to include Punjab’s representatives on the board set up to recruit constables and other ranks in the UT police. He said he would also take up the issue with the authorities concerned regarding giving the charge back to Punjab officers, on deputation in the UT, of departments which were allotted to them in 1960s when Chandigarh was declared a UT.