Former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar yesterday reiterated that it was the responsibility of the Central Government to ensure that the Punjab Government returned the Shanan Power Project located at Jogindernagar in Mandi district to Himachal Pradesh after its lease agreement expired in March this year.
He added that Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s recent statement in Shimla that the Central Government would be neutral on the issue was uncalled for. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene to safeguard the interests of Himachal Pradesh.
Shanta Kumar said that as per the provisions of the States’ Reorganisation Act, 1966, after the expiry of the lease agreement in March, the Himachal Pradesh Government became the rightful owner of the Shanan Power Project.
He highlighted the historical oversight during the 1966 reorganisation of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
Though the Reorganisation Act stipulated an equitable distribution of resources, Himachal Pradesh was yet to receive its fair share of assets from Chandigarh and various power projects.
He said that the Act clearly intended that Punjab’s properties should be redistributed to the newly formed state, yet the Shanan Power Project remained an exception.
Though it is located in Himachal, Punjab had its overall control, illustrating injustice done to the state. He added that after the lease agreement expired, the Punjab Government moved the Supreme Court.
“Earlier, the Himachal Government had fought a long legal battle in the Supreme Court to get its due share from BBMB projects located in Himachal Pradesh, which was getting an ad-hoc share,” he added.
Shanta Kumar said that when he was the Chief Minister of the state, he had raised these issue with the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai in 1977. Though the matter was raised continuously with prominent national leaders during protests in Delhi, the injustice persisted for over five decades.
He appreciated the efforts of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court by engaging top lawyers.
He said that since Himachal Pradesh was a small state with only four MPs in the Lok Sabha, “its voice goes unheard and powerful states continue to dominate”.