Haryana U-turn on BBMB member’s appointment after board cites rules
A day after the Haryana Government placed the services of one of its Engineer-in-Chiefs as Member (Irrigation) in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), the Punjab Government followed suit by issuing posting orders of a Chief Engineer as Secretary, BBMB.
This prompted the board to object to the appointment orders issued by Haryana and stall its move. The Haryana Government later withdrew the order.
Members in the BBMB are appointed by the Union Ministry of Power. It is only as a matter of convention that the position of Member (Power) has been filled by an officer from Punjab and that of Member (Irrigation) from Haryana. However, there is no defined share quota for it. In a notification on February 23, 2022, the Union Ministry of Power had terminated the conditional representation of Punjab and Haryana in the BBMB through the Bhakra Beas Management Board (Amendment) Rules, 2022. This had led to a political uproar in Punjab. Over the past few years, the two neighbouring states have often been at loggerheads over appointments on crucial positions in the BBMB.
Haryana’s Additional Chief Secretary, Irrigation, Anurag Agarwal had issued the order dated January 23, appointing Chief Engineer Rakesh Chauhan as Member (Irrigation) in the BBMB. This reportedly did not prompt any reaction from the BBMB. As the “politically sensitive” issue reached the corridors of power in Punjab, the state government went into a huddle and Principal Secretary, Irrigation, Krishan Kumar issued orders for transfer and posting of Harinder Pal Singh Bedi, Chief Engineer, Drainage and Mining, as Secretary in the BBMB.
Following Punjab’s move, the Secretary, BBMB, wrote to the Additional Chief Secretary, Irrigation, Haryana, saying that “… the posts of whole-time members in the BBMB do not fall under the quota of any of the partner states of the board and as per Section 79 (2) of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the whole-time members can only be appointed by the Central Government. The orders in respect of Rakesh Chauhan are not as per the provisions of the Punjab Reorganisation Act. Hence, further necessary action may be taken accordingly.”
Later tonight, Haryana withdrew the transfer order.
Another Haryana officer, Satish Singla, has remained posted as Secretary in the BBMB. Just before his superannuation in February last year, Haryana had given him an extension in service for a year. It was against this post that Punjab today made a bid to appoint Harinder Pal Singh Bedi.
