Badal seeks PM's intervention on Punjab civil posts merger

The government is proposing the merger of posts currently held by officers of Punjab and Haryana Civil Services into the cadre of UT Chandigarh with Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands Civil Services (DANICS).

"It could snowball into a major controversy and vitiate the atmosphere in this region," Badal said.

In separate letters to Singh and Shinde, Badal apprised them of the recent steps taken by the Home Ministry directing the UT Administration of Chandigarh to complete the procedural formalities for the merger and send the draft notification regarding on the lines of already approved merger of DSP cadre of UT Chandigarh with Delhi and Andaman & Nicobar Islands Police Service (DANIPS).

The implementation of this would mean that civil posts currently held by the officers of Punjab Civil Services as well as Haryana Civil Services would be manned by officers of DANICS cadre only, Badal said in his missives.

He impressed upon the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister to withdraw this proposal.

Terming this issue of "extreme public sensitivity" in Punjab, the Chief Minister asked Singh and Shinde to resolve it on the top priority as the "casual manner" in which the issue continues to be treated by the concerned policy makers at the Centre was "highly deplorable".

He said "the Centre's acknowledgement of Punjab's right over this new move would strike at the roots of Punjab's inalienable right over its capital city. All this will not only lead to widespread resentment among the officers and officials of the Punjab cadre but will also have the potential of blowing up into a major political controversy. MORE