Chandigarh to remain joint capital of Punjab-Haryana, says Khattar

On a day the Punjab assembly passed a resolution seeking immediate transfer of Chandigarh to the state, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the city will remain the joint capital of both states.

He also hailed the Union government's move to make central service rules applicable on employees of the Union territory and accused the Punjab government of misleading people over the issue.

The Punjab assembly passed the resolution on Friday, days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said central service rules will now apply to employees of the Union territory, a move described as an encroachment on the state's rights by several parties.

"Chandigarh will remain the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana. Both states have several issues to discuss other than Chandigarh," Khattar told reporters in Gurugram.

Khattar, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, said the decision was taken by the Centre after considering demands and interests of UT employees. 

The Punjab government is misleading the public on this issue, said the CM as he claimed that the move will benefit the employees "greatly".

Earlier, the employees of Chandigarh had to depend on the Punjab government for every single central government order, he added.

Previously, orders regarding allowances or other benefits issued by the Union government were implemented in Chandigarh only after Punjab issued a notification but now all these orders will be directly applicable to the UT employees, the CM said.

He said Punjab has not yet given the benefit of the 7th Pay Commission to its employees whereas Haryana had implemented the recommendations in 2016.

Employees of Chandigarh were also deprived of these benefits till now but now after the implementation of the new rules, they will get all these benefits, he said. 

Khattar also told reporters that Gurugram will be developed into a "global city" and a meeting in this regard with leading real estate developers from across the country was held there.

Based on the suggestions given in the meeting, the government will plan to develop Gurugram into a "global city", he said.