Faridabad: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday reiterated state's claim over Chandigarh, Panjab University, and river waters before Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the 32nd meeting of the Northern Zonal Council here.
Mann also advocated genuine federal structure in the country at the meeting chaired by Shah.
Flagging the issues, the chief minister said the Constitution clearly demarcates areas in which the Union and the states have to function to exercise their respective authority. Unfortunately, there has been a trend towards centralisation of authority in the past 75 years, he said.
Pleading for handing over Chandigarh to the state of Punjab, Mann said that the Rajiv-Longowal Accord, signed on July 24, 1985, between then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, reaffirmed that Chandigarh will be transferred to Punjab.
However, Mann bemoaned that despite all promises, Chandigarh was not transferred to Punjab, which has "bruised the psyche of every Punjabi".
He said that the Centre's recent attempts to restructure the Panjab University's governance have been seen as interference in Punjab's rights and to its state identity and autonomy.
Raising the issue of maintaining the status quo of the 60:40 ratio in the intake of service personnel from Punjab and Haryana in the functioning of UT Chandigarh, the chief minister said that it is the need of the hour. He said that it is a matter of grave concern that officers of the IAS and the PCS have been excluded from key positions in the Chandigarh administration.
The chief minister said that another linked issue is the posting of Punjab cadre officers to the post of General Manager FCI (Punjab) and on the post of MD of CITCO, which has been held by an IAS officer of Punjab cadre in the past.
In the wake of the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, he said there is a great opportunity for the resolution of water-related issues concerning the states being represented here, according to an official statement.
Mann said there is a possibility of linking the Chenab river to the rivers Ravi and Beas, over which "we already have dams regulating the water flow downstream". He said this would help in inflow of surplus water gainfully to downstream states, including Punjab, for both power generation and irrigation.
Mann opposed the proposal to appoint a whole-time member in BBMB from Rajasthan as the board is a body constituted under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, which concerns only the successor states of Punjab and Haryana.