Rule Change In BBMB : A Flashpoint Between Centre And Punjab : Daily Current Affairs

Relevance: GS-2: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.

Key phrases: Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). Indus water treaty, dissensions, World Bank,Million Acre Feet, Govind Sagar dam.

Context

Political parties in Punjab, are up in arms over the Centre’s decision to amend the rules regarding appointments to two key positions of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).

Background

The genesis of BBMB lies in the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 whereby waters of three eastern rivers Ravi, Beas and Sutlej were allotted to India for exclusive use while Indus, Chenab and Jhelum rivers were allocated to Pakistan.
In India, a master plan was drawn to harness the potential of these rivers for providing assured irrigation, power generation and flood control. Bhakra and Beas projects form a major part of this plan and were established as a joint venture of the then undivided Punjab and Rajasthan.
Following the reorganization of Punjab on November 1, 1966, and the creation of the state of Haryana, the Bhakra Beas Management Board was constituted under Section 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.
The administration, maintenance and operation of Bhakra Nangal project was handed over to Bhakra Management on October 1, 1967. On May 15, 1976, when the Beas Projects Works were completed and handed over, the Bhakra Management Board was renamed as Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). Since then, BBMB regulates supply of water and power to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh.

Indus Waters Treaty,1960

The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank, to use the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries. It was signed in Karachi on 19 September 1960 by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan.
The Treaty gives control over the waters of the three "eastern rivers" — the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej with a mean annual flow of 33 million acre-feet (MAF) — to India, while control over the waters of the three "western rivers" — the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum with a mean annual flow of 80 MAF to Pakistan.
India has about 20% of the total water carried by the Indus system while Pakistan has 80%.
The treaty allows India to use the western river waters for limited irrigation use and unlimited non-consumptive use for such applications as power generation, navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc.
It lays down detailed regulations for India in building projects over the western rivers. The preamble of the treaty recognizes the rights and obligations of each country in the optimum use of water from the Indus system in a spirit of goodwill, friendship and cooperation.

What is the constitution of the BBMB management?

The BBMB management includes a chairperson and two whole time members who are from the partner states of Punjab and Haryana.
They are designated as Member (Power) and Member (Irrigation) from Punjab and Haryana, respectively.
There is representation from each member state including Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh as nominated by the respective state governments.
The total strength of BBMB is about 12,000 employees and out of these 696 are Group A officers and are posted from the partner states.

What changes have been made to the BBMB rules?

The Government of India issued a notification on February 23, 2022 to amend the BBMB Rules 1974, thereby changing the criteria for the selection of whole-time members of the Board. New rules specify technical qualifications for the appointments and pave the way for appointment of the members from across India and not only Punjab and Haryana.

Objections to the new rules

The opposition to the new rules has come from within the engineers’ fraternity, farmers as well as the political parties of Punjab.
While the opposition parties have labelled this as an attack on the federal structure of the country, the farmer unions have promised a protest if the changes are not rolled back.
The engineers have pointed out that hardly any engineer would qualify for appointment as per the new specifications, which appear to tailor-made for some personnel to be appointed from outside Punjab and Haryana.

Do you know?

Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Bhakra Village near Bilaspur in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India.
The dam forms the Govind Sagar reservoir.
The length of the dam (measured from the road above it) is 518.25 m , the width is 9.1 m and height 226 m.
The dam is operational since 1963.

Official response to these protests

BBMB officials have clarified that the representation of Punjab and Haryana as well as other members states will continue as before. They have stated that the new rules only spell out the technical qualifications required for the Member (Power) and Member (Irrigation) and that the power and irrigation benefits to member states remains the same.
It has also been argued that the changes have been made in pursuance to a judgement of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of Jagmohan Singh Vs Union of India,2016.
The Government has chided the other parties for raising “frivolous objections” and said that there is no material change in the rules and in the share of member states in power and irrigation projects.

Way Forward

The parties continue to maintain that the rules have been changed to drastically reduce chances of the officials from Punjab and Haryana who could be appointed to the two posts.
The time is right to engage in a deeper debate about Centre-State relations and the operation of federalism.
The counterpart to this platform of cooperation should be a deeper discussion about Centre-State relations and a focus on enhancing the incentives for States to cooperate with the Centre while preserving their autonomy.
India’s hard-won independence and unity needs to be preserved. Today there are threats from China. There may be threats from Afghanistan after the U.S. having withdrawn its troops. A transition to a more federal structure will allow the Centre to focus on external threats instead of internal dissensions. Our internal divisions helped invaders from West Asia and the British. Hopefully, we will learn from our history.

Sources: Indian Express

Main Question:

Q. Discuss Indus water treaty in brief. Does recent amendment in Bhakara Beas Management bill( BBMB) by the government show centralizing tendency ? (words 250).