Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh urging him to resolve the pending territorial dispute between the states of Punjab and Haryana.
The Chief Minister urged Rajnath Singh to restore Chandigarh to Punjab, being its "legitimate original capital," read a statement.
He also sought cadre protection for Punjab in Chandigarh and the Home Ministry's intervention to ensure that the fine balance in sharing of resources and officials in the Union Territory (UT) between Punjab and Haryana is not allowed to be disturbed.
Amarinder Singh also asked Rajnath Singh not to curtail the role and responsibilities of the officers of Haryana and Punjab, as assigned to them in a pre-determined ratio of share. He further sought restoration of the role of Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh, as Head of the District Police as earlier.
In his letter, it was also requested not to induct Deputy Superintendent of Polices and other officials from UT cadre into Chandigarh, thus maintaining the share of Haryana as also of Punjab, till such time the pending territorial dispute between these two states is finally settled.
Asserting that Chandigarh was an integral part of Punjab, the Chief Minister said that being Punjab's capital, no other can have any claim on it, denying parent state its territorial jurisdiction thereon.
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"During this period a fine balance in sharing officers/officials and other resources of Union Territory, Chandigarh between Haryana and Punjab has been achieved with an advantage of hard earned peace in Punjab," Amarinder Singh wrote.
The letter further stated: "Unfortunately, during the past few years, it has been observed that there is a constant effort to disturb this fine balance achieved after a great deal of effort. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, has been inducting more officers of UT cadre and other Union Territories into administration of Chandigarh without realising implications of such avoidable decisions. There has been reduction in departments allocated to officers of Punjab and Haryana as also increase in number of UT cadre officers in Chandigarh."
Amarinder Singh asked the Home Minister to consider the matter and issue appropriate instructions accordingly.