Cong had to oppose anti-people decisions of Khattar govt: Hooda

Former chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday said the opposition extended complete support to the BJP-JJP government in Haryana in its fight against COVID-19 but had to oppose it for its "anti-people" decisions. "The opposition had extended complete support to the government for the fight against corona, but during this difficult period too it took some anti-people and anti-farmer decisions and we had to oppose these," the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly told a news conference here.

Hooda said the government took a series of anti-farmer decisions which began from introducing several new parameters in the wheat and mustard procurement during the lockdown period leading to mismanagement in procurement to imposing restrictions on sowing of paddy in certain blocks in the state. He also said the government hiked the VAT rate on diesel and petrol. Similarly, the government also took many other "anti-people" decisions, the Congress leader alleged.

"After the opposition mounted pressure and farmers protested, the government partially took back the restrictions it had imposed on paddy sowing. However, while the government has been forced to let go off the elephant, they are still holding on to its tail. "The government should also withdraw the restrictions on paddy cultivation on Panchayati land in times of pandemic. Instead of imposing restrictions on farmers and panchayats, the government should resume projects like Dadupur-Nalvi to conserve groundwater," he said. Senior party leader Ashok Arora was also present there.

Hooda said if the government was really concerned about the falling water table, it should not have scrapped the Dadupur-Nalvi project started during the previous Congress regime. "Rather than running schemes that would recharge groundwater in deficit areas, the government shut down projects like Dadupur-Nalvi and is cutting down grants for drip irrigation," he said.

plying to a question, the Congress leader said the government should clear the pending payment of wheat and sugarcane to farmers immediately and compensation should also be paid or losses suffered due to recent hailstorms and unseasonal rains in parts of the state. Hooda said while the country is fighting the coronavirus pandemic, "there have been reports of liquor scam and another scam of purchase of mustard and gram in Haryana".

"Far from an impartial probe in the liquor scam, the government has not yet been able to decide whether the investigation will be done by a SIT or a SET (Special Enquiry Team)," he said. "The situation is such that a new scam is unfolding even before investigations begin in the old scam," Hooda claimed.

He also alleged that contractors are selling liquor at an arbitrary rate. "The government has increased the rate by Rs 10 to Rs 50 per bottle but the contractors are overcharging Rs 200 to 400 per bottle. Liquor shops have not put up a rate list and no bills are given to customers," he said. Hooda also expressed concern over the rising number of coronavirus cases in the state.

"The government has relaxed the lockdown but this does not mean that corona threat has reduced. It is important that all of us continue to take precautions as before," he said.