Chandigarh, June 4, 2023 (Yes Punjab News)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann not to hold unwanted meetings with his Haryana counterpart on the issue of affiliation of Haryana colleges with Panjab University, asserting this was being done to further dilute Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh.
In a statement here, SAD senior leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said “chief minister Bhagwant Mann should keep away from all meetings which seek to change the character of the Panjab University and should have registered a strong protest with the Punjab Governor on this issue”. He was reacting to Haryana’s demand that’s it’s colleges be affiliated with Panjab University during a meeting called by the Governor recently and another meeting scheduled to be held tomorrow to take this issue forward.
Explaining the issue, Dr Daljit Cheema said Haryana did not have any stake in PU after the voluntary disaffiliation of its colleges from the University in 1978. “It even stopped funding the University subsequently. Now it seems an effort is afoot to gain control over the democratically elected institutions which govern the University – the Senate and the Syndicate by affiliating colleges from Haryana to the varsity.
Besides this, it is aimed at diluting Punjab’s claim to the University which right now only has colleges from Punjab affiliated to it. This will also strengthen Haryana’s claim over Chandigarh”.
Dr Cheema said the recent demands of Haryana to secure land for the State in Chandigarh to build its separate Vidhan Sabha was also aimed at strengthening its hold over Chandigarh. He said in addition conspiracies to eliminate Punjabi as a compulsory language throughout graduation in Panjab University and shifting of the Punjabi bulletin of AIR from Chandigarh to Jalandhar were also part of the conspiracy to dilute Punjab’s claim to the union territory.
Dr Cheema said concerted efforts had been made in recent years to weaken Punjab’s hold in the UT administration. He said this included not maintaining the 60:40 ratio in posting of Punjab and Haryana officers in Chandigarh, creating a UT cadre and posting officers from this cadre on important civil and police posts, giving central pay scales to UT employees snd not designating Punjabi as the official language of communication.
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