Punjab’s ruling Congress and opposition Akali Dal have been protesting against centralisation of Chandigarh bureaucracy and dilution of state’s role.
Chandigarh: The Union Home Ministry Wednesday temporarily suspended its 25 September notification merging the posts of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Chandigarh police into the DANIPS (Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli) cadre.
The Central government’s move comes after the issue snowballed into a major controversy, with politicians from Punjab turning it into a debate over the claim of Punjab and Haryana on Chandigarh, even though the matter pertains to mid-level functionaries in the Chandigarh Police.
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The Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh has the unique status of being the capital of the two neighbouring states.
In its order, the Central government also advised the Chandigarh administration that “in filling up civil posts, the ratio of 60:40 may be used as between Punjab and Haryana, wherever it is being followed conventionally”.
Instructions issued by the Home Ministry, following the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, provides that Chandigarh would be administered by officers and employees (including teachers and doctors) drawn from Punjab and Haryana in the ratio of 60:40, respectively.
The uproar
Sensing a political opportunity ahead of the general elections next year, leaders in Punjab created an uproar over the issue in the state.
Even before the notification was issued, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in July said he won’t let the Centre dilute Punjab’s share in Chandigarh’s administration.
Congress leader and state minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said the move had “shaken the very foundation and purpose of the Punjab Reorganisation Act”.
Cornered after the backlash over the sacrilege issue, the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) too made an issue of the notification with former chief minister and party leader Parkash Singh Badal reacting strongly to it.
On Wednesday, SAD general secretary Daljit Singh Cheema said constant efforts have to be made to ensure that Punjab’s right over Chandigarh is maintained.
“It is because of our efforts that the notification regarding the DSPs has been kept in abeyance. But now the UT administration has done another thing to dilute Punjab’s claims,” said Cheema.
On Tuesday, the selection criteria for school teachers became the latest crisis in the city administration and a meeting with the Governor was convened.
BJP-ruled Haryana, however, has chosen to remain silent on the matter so far.
This fight for control over the administration of Chandigarh goes back over five decades.
Chandigarh & how it works
Chandigarh was conceived as the capital city of joint Punjab — including present day Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh — almost immediately after Independence.
In 1966, when joint Punjab was reorganised into Punjab and Haryana (some territory was transferred to Himachal Pradesh), both states claimed Chandigarh and pending a resolution of the issue, the Central government declared it a Union Territory.
The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, laid down that Chandigarh will be governed by the Centre but laws in force in undivided Punjab will be applicable to the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
After the law came into existence, the top officer of the city continued to be the chief commissioner who reported to the Union Home Ministry. These chief commissioners began to be drawn from the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) cadre.
In 1984, the Punjab governor was made the administrator of the city to coordinate the efforts for tackling terrorism in Punjab. Under him, the post of ‘advisor to the administrator’ was created, which was the re-designated post of the chief commissioner.
AGMUT cadre IAS officers have since held the post of the ‘advisor to the administrator’.
In Chandigarh’s administrative hierarchy, the next important post is that of the home secretary, which has always been with a Haryana IAS officer. The post of finance secretary has remained with an IAS officer from Punjab. After them is the post of the deputy commissioner, usually a Haryana officer. The commissioner of the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh, established by a parliamentary statute, is usually a Punjab officer.
Within the police service, the Inspector General (IG) is an IPS officer of the AGMUT cadre while the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) is an IPS officer from Punjab.
Similarly, all the other top administrative posts including heads of health, engineering and architecture wings are divided among Punjab and Haryana state civil service officers.
The new trend
Over the years, a tendency to bring in more AGMUT officers at the expense of Punjab and Haryana officers has surfaced.
In January 2012, the Government of India sanctioned four additional posts of secretaries for the city to be filled from officers of the Central cadres. The move was sought to be justified on the ground that the top rungs of the city administration were overburdened with too many departments and more officers were needed.
Similarly, the IG’s post was upgraded to that of Director General of Police (DGP). An additional post of DIG was created in 2015, which too is manned by an officer from the central cadre. Again, the SSP’s post was supplemented by that of SP (Operations) and SSP (Headquarters), both filled in by central officers.
By June this year, the strength of AGMUT officers touched a new high in Chandigarh.
Of the 11 IAS officers in the city, six are from AGMUT cadre, 3 from Punjab and 2 from Haryana. Some of the AGMUT officers were even brought in on non-sanctioned posts.
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This centralisation of the governance of Chandigarh created misgivings in the political leaderships of both the states.
Punjab and Haryana saw it as a calculated move to dilute their claim over the city. Even as they clashed with each other, chief ministers of both the states have vociferously protested against the “importation” of officers from Centre, and have written directly to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister in this regard.