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Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 21
Legislators of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party today played the role of the Opposition as they slammed the government over poor investment in the state and failure to meet sanitation targets.
Taking on the government, BJP legislators questioned the lack of investment contrary to the tall claims made after the “Happening Haryana” summit and sought action against a private company which had failed to deliver on sanitation. One MLA even asked a minister to verify the facts before tabling them in the House.
During the second day of the budget session of the Manohar Lal Khattar government in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, BJP MLA Abhey Singh Yadav set the mood for the question hour when, in response to the Minister of State for Public Health Engineering Banwari Lal’s reply, the former asked him to verify the facts presented in the House.
Yadav had sought details of the number of tube well operators working in his constituency, Nangal Chaudhary, their salary per month and action taken by the government to ensure minimum wages. Finding the minister’s reply unsatisfactory, Yadav urged him to cross-check his facts, adding that he did not want to contradict the reply in the House as that would reflect poorly on the department.
Party MLA Mool Chand Sharma raised the issue of improper sanitation in Ballabhgarh despite Eco Green Energy Waste, a private company, being given responsibility for the upkeep. He claimed that while the slum ward was in dire need of a clean-up drive, the company had not bothered to clear debris from vacant plots. Badkhal legislator Seema Trikha took the argument further and sought action against the company which was being paid heavily for maintenance of sanitation. Joining in the debate, BJP MLA Umesh Aggarwal said Gurugram, under the same company, was facing a similar situation and there was hardly any work in the name of sanitation.
Under fire from her party MLAs, Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain admitted that the sanitation in Gurugram and Faridabad was far from satisfactory. She directed her officers to summon a meeting with the company representatives and serve a notice on them. She said that the aggrieved MLAs would be called for the meeting and that a fine would be imposed if the company is found at fault.
Clearly displeased with the reply of Industries Minister Vipul Goel to the number of industries set up in the state in the last four years and employment generated as compared to the units set up during the 10-year Congress rule, Umesh Aggarwal took a dig at the government over the industrial units set up.
“If your claims are true then only six or seven people got employment per unit. If only these many people got employment per unit, these establishments can only be shops,” he said even as Goel tried to explain the position on the various MoUs and the investment in the pipeline.
CM rules out early Assembly elections
Assembly elections will not be held along with the General Election. Reiterating his stand on the issue on Thursday, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, “Assembly elections will be held separately and not with parliamentary elections.” A BJP MLA said that simultaneous elections would have given them the advantage in Assembly elections, but the focus of the party was on winning Lok Sabha elections. The manner in which the government had reduced the Budget session fuelled speculation about early Assembly elections. Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May and the Election Commission of India is expected to announce the dates in the first week of March.