Union Home Minister Amit Shah who led the 30th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council at Jaipur on Saturday, announced that land would be given to Haryana for its additional legislative assembly in Chandigarh.
Presently, Punjab and Haryana share a common building – which has the status of a heritage building - housing their respective state assemblies in Chandigarh being the joint capital of both the states as well as a Union Territory in itself.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who was present at the meeting, said that presently, there are 90 MLAs in the Haryana assembly and that there is not enough space in the existing building to even accommodate them.
"Not only this, but it is also not possible to expand this building as it carries a heritage status," he added.
Stating that the 24,630 square feet area in the Vidhan Sabha building was given to the Haryana assembly, the Haryana CM said that the 20 rooms given to Haryana are still in the possession of the Punjab legislative assembly. Hence, there is a lack of adequate space for the meeting of MLAs, ministers and committees along with other government employees.
Besides the issues pertaining to the land for the Haryana assembly, Khattar also raised several other important issues of the state, including the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, the appointment of members in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and the restoration of Haryana's share in Punjab University.
The chief minister said that the completion of the construction work of the SYL canal is a long pending and it is a serious issue between both the state (Haryana and Punjab). "Due to the non-completion of the SYL canal, surplus, un-channelled water of Ravi, Sutlej and Beas goes to Pakistan," he held.
Khattar pointed out that while Haryana on one hand, is not getting enough water for its people, Delhi, on the other, is demanding more water from the state.
On the issue of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) members, Khattar said that the previous tradition of nominating member (irrigation) from Haryana should be continued on similar lines to the nomination of member (power) in BBMB from Punjab.
Likewise, the share of Haryana in Punjab University should be restored, and the colleges of Haryana adjoining Chandigarh should also be affiliated with the University.
The Saturday's meeting in Jaipur was attended by Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur, Lieutenant Governor Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha, Chandigarh UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit, Lieutenant Governor Ladakh R K Mathur, Lieutenant Governor Delhi Vinay Kumar Saxena and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.
