Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi (file photo) The Centre on Wednesday extended the tenure of Member (Power) from Punjab in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), by six months. The conciliatory gesture comes following a political uproar over the change in rules regarding appointment members from Punjab and Haryana on the BBMB.
As per a notification of Ministry of Power dated March 9, accessed by The Indian Express, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the extension in tenure of Harminder Singh, Member (Power) for a period of six months. His tenure was to get over on March 27.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the issue. There had been widespread protests by farmers in the state over the issue and all political parties including Congress, AAP and SAD had condemned the change in rules.
The BBMB, which is a statutory body under the Punjab Reorganisation Act-1966 and manages the water resources of Sutlej and Beas, has a whole-time chairman and two members of irrigation and power.
According to convention, the member (power) is always from Punjab and the member (irrigation) is from Haryana. They are selected from a panel of senior engineers.
The Center on February 23 notified an amendment to Bhakra Beas Management Rules, 1974 removing the stipulation that these two appointments will be filled from the two states only. Following the amendment, the two appointments can now be filled by officers from any state.
The Punjab engineers had protested that the qualifications now asked for in amended rules are highly skewed in favour of hydro organisations like NHPC etc and that no opinion of partner state has been sought on these qualifications.
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