Chandigarh: The central government’s decision to merge Chandigarh Police DSPs with DANIPS cadre has ruffled feathers of the Punjab government as the officers would no longer be under the ambit of Punjab Police Rules, thereby diluting the stake of Punjab in the union territory.
Conveying his “deep sense of anguish and concern”, Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday wrote to home minister Rajnath Singh, stating that the “notification shakes the very foundation and purpose of the Punjab Reorganization Act and the Rajiv Longowal Accord”.
The Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, which bifurcated erstwhile State of Punjab, paved the way for the formation of Haryana and Chandigarh. According to the Act, all assets and liabilities were to be bifurcated between the states of Punjab and Haryana in the ratio of 60:40.
Sidhu said that “this ratio has been consistently followed from the appointed date for over a period of 50 years, even for the purpose of allocating officers for the Union Territory of Chandigarh from the States of Punjab and Haryana”.
Asking the Home Ministry to reconsider its move, Sidhu said, “By way of said notification, the legitimate and existing binding convention of 60:40 has been unjustifiably taken away from the people of Punjab”.
“There is genuine apprehension amongst the Punjabis that by enacting more notifications like the one, all the cadres would be taken away from the Punjabi Officers and as such, their legitimate expectations would be frustrated”, he added.
The government notification means (Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Island, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli) cadre DSPs can be posted to Chandigarh and the Punjab police rules would no longer be applicable on them. Similarly, DSPs of Chandigarh police will go on deputation postings to other UTs.
Presently, there are 23 sanctioned posts of DSPs in Chandigarh police out of which 11 are held by officials of the Chandigarh cadre and 10 by DANIPS. On the other hand the new notification has allocated 17 posts of DSPs to Chandigarh police.
Officials said that the move was in consideration for months.
Sidhu also raked up the issue of transfer of the UT to Punjab citing the Longowal Accord. “It would not be out of place to mention that it was in principal decided that the Union Territory of Chandigarh would form and be the Capital of the State of Punjab and it was only given the status of Union Territory till such time, the newly constituted State of Haryana form its own Capital,” he wrote in his letter to Singh.
He said that according to the accord, Chandigarh was to be transferred to Punjab on January 26, 1986. “However, to the utmost dismay and disappointment of the Punjabis, it could not be done and the Union Territory continues to be the joint Capital of the States of Punjab and Haryana,” he said.
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