Unhappy with the city administration under the leadership of Punjab Governor General (retd) S F Rodrigues, some eminent citizens of Chandigarh have approached the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him to restore the post of Chief Commissioner in the city.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, the citizens maintained that the governor of Punjab was also made the in-charge of city administration during 1980s when terrorism was at its peak in the state. The move, which ensured better coordination between the police forces and the administrations, was, however, no longer justified, the letter said.

Citing the working style of the earlier city commissioners the residents claimed: “Most of us have been in Chandigarh since 1950s and have seen the functioning of first Chief Commissioner Dr M S Randhawa. He used to hear people’s grievances with utmost attention. Without prior appointment, people could meet him and their genuine complaints were expeditiously considered. He would, in certain cases, personally visit the disputed sites. Successive Chief Commissioner V P Bagchi, N P Mathur and T N Chaturvedi, functioned in the same pattern.”

The letter further said that under the present set up there is neither accountability of nor accessibility to the administrator. “One man is governing the city, which is against the democratic norms. The status of the UT, being almost permanent and altogether different from Punjab, there should be a separate administrator called the Chief Commissioner,” the letter stated.

The letter was signed by Justice (retd) Kuldeep Singh, former Judge Supreme Court of India; R S Mann, former Chief Secretary, Punjab; Lt. General (retd) R S Dayal; M N Sharma, former Chief Architect of Chandigarh; Justice (retd) S S Sodhi, former Chief Justice, Allahabad High Court; M L Sarin, senior advocate; H S Mamik, educationist and industrialist and Neelam Mann Singh Choudhry, theatre-director.

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