Chandigarh Mar 28 PTI A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the central service rules will apply to the employees of the Union Territory of Chandigarh Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday slammed the Centres decision claiming that it went against the Punjab Reorganisation Act Shahs announcement has evoked sharp reactions from AAP Congress and SAD leaders with many of them saying this was another big blow to the rights of Punjab after changes in the Bhakra Beas Management Board BBMB rules Central Govt has been stepwise imposing officers and personnel from other states and services in the Chandigarh administration This goes against the letter and spirit of Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966 Punjab will fight strongly for its rightful claim over Chandigarh Mann said in a tweet The Aam Aadmi Party-led government in Punjab said that the party will oppose the Centres decision and fight the issue from streets to Parliament Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Monday alleged that the BJP-led Centre has been taking anti-Punjab decisions as he also referred to the BBMB issue and said it was now trying to usurp Punjabs rights over Chandigarh The central government is deliberately taking steps to take away Punjabs claims over Chandigarh he told reporters here Meanwhile the Shiromani Akali Dal urged the chief minister to call an all-party meeting with the objective of unitedly approaching the central government to stop its efforts to make Chandigarh a permanent Union territory in violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act It is incumbent on the AAP government to make the Centre understand that Chandigarh is a Union territory as per an ad-hoc arrangement only We have nothing against the employees of Chandigarh whose interests can be protected by the Punjab government also But we strongly protest against this latest move to pitch the employees against civil society and use them to snatch Punjabs rights over Chandigarh the SAD said in a statement on Monday State finance minister Cheema said ever since the AAP formed the government in Punjab the BJP-led government at the Centre is feeling scared due to several pro-people decisions being taken by the Mann government and has intensified its attacks on the rights of Punjab Cheema also alleged that previous governments of Punjab didnt protect the rights and share of the state The finance minister said that the Centre now took a unilateral decision regarding the Union Territory employees and did not consult the stakeholder PunjabThis goes against the letter and spirit of Punjab Reorganisation Act 1966 We oppose this decision we will protect Punjabs interests and we will force Centre to roll it back he said With this decision the Chandigarh administrations employees are not going to benefit he further said and claimed Rather there will be a cut in their salaries The Union Territory employees are currently working under the Punjab service rules According to Shah the move will benefit them in a big way as their retirement age will increase from 58 to 60 years and women employees will get childcare leave of two years instead of the current one year Meanwhile SAD patriarch and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal also opposed the Centres announcement The Centre wants to usurp the rights of Punjab over Chandigarh Badal said Senior SAD leaders including Prem Singh Chandumajra noted that the chief minister did not take up the issue of dilution of Punjabs stakes in the Bhakra Beas Management Board during his recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi The Centres decision on extending central civil service rules to Chandigarh employees was not only a violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act but also that of the Rajiv Gandhi-Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal accord and several subsequent commissions all of which have held that Punjab has a majority share in Chandigarh administration and that the status of the Union territory was ad-hoc pending transfer to Punjab Chandumajra said He also said that a party delegation would meet the President soon to apprise him of the development and demand the rollback of the Centres decision Congress leaders including Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring too condemned the decision Denying the AAP governments allegations senior BJP leader and former Chandigarh MP Satya Pal Jain claimed that the Punjab government is not able to accept the recommendations of various pay commissions for its employees whereas the central government in one go has accepted the long-pending demand of the UT employees Jain said that thousands of UT employees will benefit from the Centres decision and most of them come from Punjab Those who are opposing this decision are in fact hampering the interests of these employees from Punjab Earlier the change in rules to appointment of top officers to the BBMB had raked up a storm with many political parties in Punjab and Haryana criticising the Centre PTI SUN VSD KVK SMN