Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], September 4 (ANI): The 10-day Monsoon Session of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly concluded on Thursday, with Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur accusing the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government of "misleading" the House and the people of the state and failing to provide satisfactory answers on unemployment, healthcare, financial management and other public issues.
Speaking to reporters and later to ANI after the conclusion of the session, Thakur said the Opposition had used every opportunity available to raise issues concerning the people but alleged that the government's responses were often inadequate and not based on facts.
The Monsoon Session of the 14th Legislative Assembly began on August 21 and concluded on September 3. It had 10 sittings and, according to Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, the House functioned for around 45 hours and 30 minutes with 91 per cent productivity.
Thakur said the session began amid an "unnecessary controversy" over Vande Mataram and alleged that the controversy arose from Chief Minister Sukhu's statement before the session that the Congress would follow a decision taken at a party meeting to sing only the version of Vande Mataram adopted in 1937.
He claimed that this was despite Parliament having passed legislation providing for the singing of the complete Vande Mataram.
"Vande Mataram is being sung in its entirety across the country, and several state Assemblies have also begun their sessions with Vande Mataram. The controversy started because of the Chief Minister's statement before the session," Thakur said while speaking to ANI.
He alleged that the controversy led to disruption of Assembly proceedings for two days and accused the government of subsequently levelling "false" allegations against BJP legislators of disrespecting the National Anthem.
Thakur said the Opposition sought the complete video footage of the proceedings and, after examining it, found no incident in which BJP MLAs had disrespected "Jana Gana Mana".
"The allegations against the Opposition members were proved false after the video footage of the House was examined," he said.
He said he was particularly concerned because the Chief Minister holds a constitutional office.
"When the Chief Minister, who occupies the highest constitutional office in the state, misleads the House and the people and makes statements that are untrue, it lowers the dignity of the office," Thakur alleged.
Moving to the issues raised by the Opposition, Thakur said the BJP had attempted to ensure meaningful discussions on matters of public interest, particularly healthcare and employment.
On healthcare, he said the Opposition had brought a discussion on improving health services in the state.
Thakur alleged that the government's claims regarding healthcare did not match the situation on the ground.
"When we heard what the government was saying about healthcare, the reality is different. People are dying without treatment and health services have reached a very poor level," he alleged.
He said the government was purchasing expensive machines and promoting high-tech medical facilities but lacked the trained doctors, technical staff and manpower required to operate them effectively.
"Large and high-tech machines are being purchased, but the trained doctors and staff required to operate them are not available," he said.
On unemployment, Thakur said the Congress had promised before coming to power that it would provide one lakh jobs in the first Cabinet meeting and five lakh jobs during its five-year tenure.
He said the Opposition had specifically sought a discussion on the government's performance against this employment guarantee.
"The discussion on employment concluded today. The Minister's response was not based on facts or logic," Thakur said.
He alleged that the government was counting outsourced workers and other forms of employment while answering questions about government jobs.
"Outsourced workers can certainly be counted as employment, but they cannot be described as government jobs," he said.
Thakur also questioned the government's ability to make large-scale government appointments when the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission at Hamirpur had remained non-functional for around three years.
"The Staff Selection Commission remained closed for three years and became functional only three or four months ago. If the mechanism for making appointments was closed, where were the government jobs going to be given from?" he asked.
He alleged that the government had completed around four-and-a-half years of its tenure without providing the number of government jobs promised and had instead presented figures that, he claimed, were misleading.
Thakur said the Opposition challenged the government's response on the floor of the House and would continue to question it on matters of public interest.
He also criticised several Bills passed during the session, saying the Opposition had raised serious objections to their provisions.
"Although these Bills have been passed on the basis of the government's majority, there are serious anomalies and issues in them. When these laws are scrutinised through the legal process, I believe some of them may not stand and could face challenges in the High Court or other courts," he said.
Thakur said the Opposition had made full use of the opportunities available to it during the session.
"We raised employment-related issues, and our legislators raised questions during Question Hour concerning their constituencies as well as the state. We tried to obtain answers from the government," he said.
He alleged that while answers were provided to several questions, they were not always satisfactory or directly addressed the issues raised.
"One major shortcoming was that the government did not respond to public-interest issues with the responsibility and seriousness that was required," Thakur said.
He said meaningful solutions could not be found unless the government seriously addressed the issues raised by the Opposition.
Thakur also reiterated his criticism of the government's handling of the state's finances, alleging that Himachal Pradesh's debt had increased substantially under the present government.
He claimed that the debt stood at around Rs 69,600 crore when the BJP government left office and had now crossed Rs 1.18 lakh crore.
He alleged that despite increased borrowing, development works had slowed and employees, pensioners and unemployed youth were protesting over various issues.
The BJP leader also raised alleged irregularities in the extraction and sale of material deposited in the Beas river following disasters. He questioned the roles of the Mining and Forest departments and alleged that the state had suffered losses running into crores of rupees.
He said differing responses from the Chief Minister and Industries Minister on the issue reflected a lack of coordination between departments.
Thakur also criticised the government's conduct outside the Assembly, particularly protests by ruling-party legislators, saying such demonstrations reflected "frustration" and a departure from established parliamentary conventions.
He further criticised amendments concerning stamp duty and Panchayati Raj.
On stamp duty, he alleged that the government had substantially increased stamp duty, registration fees and other charges through amendments.
On the Panchayati Raj amendments, Thakur questioned provisions relating to disqualification from contesting elections on the basis of encroachment by a relative, particularly where the encroachment was attributed to a father-in-law.
He argued that a person should not be deprived of the democratic right to contest elections because of an encroachment allegedly committed by a relative over whom the person had no control or knowledge.
He also questioned the retrospective application of the provision and said he believed the provision could face legal scrutiny.
Thakur further alleged that the state government's Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau was pursuing some investigations with political motives. He said that if the BJP returned to power, it would examine such investigations and take action according to law against anyone found to have misused the process.
The Opposition leader also criticised the absence of senior government officials from the Assembly's official gallery on the final day of the session, saying it reflected a lack of seriousness towards the functioning of the House.
According to Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, 786 questions - 514 starred and 272 unstarred - were answered during the session. Discussions were held under Rules 62, 101, 130 and 324, while 34 issues were raised during Zero Hour. Seven government Bills were introduced and passed, and 44 committee reports were presented.
Around 1,908 students from government and private educational institutions witnessed the Assembly proceedings during the session.
Thakur said the BJP had raised as many issues as possible within the scope available to the Opposition and would continue to press the government for answers on matters concerning the people.
"We tried to raise the maximum number of issues available to us and sought answers from the government. But when the government does not respond seriously to public issues or work towards resolving them, avenues for finding solutions begin to close," he said. (ANI)
Himachal: LoP Jairam Thakur accuses Sukhu govt of misleading House, "failing" on jobs and healthcare
