CM Manohar Lal Khattar A former Haryana minister Tuesday suggested the state government to initiate efforts to set up its capital and urged the Centre to sanction funds for the same. Karnal Singh Dalal also said that meanwhile Haryana may continue to stake claim over Chandigarh, the capital it jointly shares with Punjab. A five-time MLA from Palwal constituency, Dalal is a Congress leader but insisted that he was expressing his views in personal capacity.
“There is no state in the country, which doesn’t have its own capital. Even the small states, which came into existence after Haryana have set up their capitals. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarak- hand each have set up two capitals while Andhra Pradesh is setting up three. I had raised the issue related to the need of Haryana’s own capital while speaking in the state Assembly earlier. Whenever a new capital would be set up in Haryana, a large number of people will get employment,” Dalal said.
The senior politician further said that people of Haryana have to incur huge cost in reaching Chandigarh for administrative and judicial works. “Further, the Chandigarh Police target the vehicles bearing Haryana numbers. There may be self-interest of bureaucrats and politicians in continuing with Chandigarh as capital of Haryana but it’s an injustice to Haryana’s 80 per cent population,” he added.
The former minister suggested that Haryana should acquire land to set up its own capital while seeking funds from the central government. “The total area of Union Territory of Chandigarh is 11,000 hectares and Haryana’s share would be 4,400 hectares keeping in view the 60:40 ratio of Punjab and Haryana over the capital. The Centre should provide enough money as per the collector rates of this much land to Haryana,” said Dalal.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
