Chandigarh Tribune
New Delhi/Chandigarh, September 12: The game of “political football” over the ownership of Chandigarh by different political parties in the region seems to be heading for the final whistle with the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to revert back to the old pattern of having a Chief Commissioner to administer the UT. ...
... At the same time, Satya Pal Jain, a former Member of Parliament, said, “It does not make difference who headed the UT administration till the time the common man was heard. The current situation of public feeling ignored by the Administrator was only becasue of the ego clash between the top boss and the Congress leadership. First, the Congress failed during 1980s and got a Governor and now when it failed to ensure citizen welfare, it was once again shouting for a commissioner”.
M L Sareen, a former advocate-general of Haryana, said, “The development is a hope for a positive change. We are fed up with the decisions taken behind closed doors. There is no transparency and no public participation in the decisions concerning the public welfare, under the existing scenario, vis a vis the top post.”
H.S.Mamik, president of the Independent Schools Association, said, “The accountability factor had gone absolutely missing from the administration and the Administrator made himself unapproachable.”
As reported in The Tribune today, the Governor of Punjab will not hold dual charge as Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh from November. Since 1980s when the Governor of Punjab was appointed, he was given the additional charge of the Administrator of Chandigarh. The change in governance is expected to give the citizens a rightful say in the long-term development of India’s first planned city. ...
