Bowing to political pressure, the Union home ministry has put its decision of merger of the subordinate services of Chandigarh police force with DANIPS (Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service) cadre, which administers Delhi and the Union Territories, in abeyance.
The issue of merger of the post of deputy superintendent of police with the UT cadre has been plaguing the state for the last fortnight as political parties from Punjab unanimously opposed the decision, saying the Union government is taking away posts meant for Punjab.
The Centre versus state government issue soon stirred a political controversy with the intervention of Union minister and Shiromani Akali dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter. While the Badals met the prime minister, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh petitioned Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Earlier, the Union home ministry officials had claimed that there was a report from the Intelligence Bureau about Chandigarh police officers, who have been posted at one place for a long period of time, behaving like “rogue'' elements, making out a case for cadre merger and posting outside Chandigarh. Chandigarh is the common capital of Punjab and Haryana. The existing pattern of all posts in the Union Territory of Chandigarh being shared between Punjab and Haryana is 60:40. The chief minister said the existing pattern must continue as any merger with other UTs would disturb the fine balance.
The larger concern was also that Punjab's stake in Chandigarh must not be diluted as it would hurt its interests.
However, when the Union home ministry announced the merger of subordinate police services between all the UTs last week, sources in the ministry said it would ensure better career prospects for all. The decision got hastened up in the wake of an IB report that said certain elements in Chandigarh UT police were acting rogue with vested interests due to long, unbroken services in a sensitive place like Chandigarh.
On Thursday, the MHA appeared to have succumbed to political pressure as it rescinded its move to merger cadres. It said. ''The MHA notification dated September 25 merging the posts of DSPs of Chandigarh police with DANIPS has been kept in abeyance till further orders''. It further said the UT of Chandigarh has been advised that in filing up civil posts, the ratio of 60:40 may be used as between Punjab and Haryana, wherever it is being followed conventionally.
