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Awaiting approvals from Union govt, Chandigarh admn adopts hands-on approach
The Chandigarh administration has prepared a list of all issues that are awaiting the Centre’s approval and UT adviser Dharam Pal will be personally taking up these issues with the ministries concerned
Several policy initiatives proposed by the UT administration have been stuck for years, pending requisite approval from the Union government.
The UT administration has now decided to adopt a more hands-on approach. On UT administrator Banwari Lal Purohit’s instructions, the administration has prepared a list of all issues that are awaiting the Centre’s approval and UT adviser Dharam Pal will be personally taking up the issues with senior officials and ministers of the ministries concerned.
This week’s agenda pertains to the ministry of home affairs and the ministry of health. Confirming the development, Pal, said, “On Thursday, I met several MHA officials at Delhi and took up issues such as creation of posts in the police departments and allowing conversion of lease hold to free hold for commercial and industrial properties.”
With officials of the health ministry, Pal will discuss upgrading the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, to a medical college, which has been pending for more than two years. Though the administration comes under the jurisdiction of the MHA, other ministries also play a key role on policy matters. “For Union ministries, issues related to Chandigarh are not the top priority. They have to deal with the entire country and more pressing issues. Sometimes there are differing views and a clarification is needed from the UT, which further delays the process,” said a UT official, requesting anonymity.
Priority issues to be taken up
“The recruitment rules have been awaiting the MHA’s nod for sometime now. The administration had taken up the issue with the MHA, earlier too,” said the official.
Similarly, proposals for creating around 5,000 new posts in the administration are pending with the Union government. In 2019, the UT even sent out a composite list of pending proposals to the Cabinet secretariat.
Most proposals are from the education, police and health departments. These also include proposals for the revival of posts that had been abolished earlier.
“The health department has sent proposals to the ministry of health and family welfare for creating 1,720 posts, most of which are for GMCH-32. The police department has also sent a proposal for creating 1,355 posts to the ministry of home affairs. The education department has been awaiting creation of around 2,000 posts,” said the official.
On allowing conversion of the commercial and industrial leasehold properties to freehold, the UT had decided to allow it earlier this year and had written to the Centre for approval, but there has been no response.
