Cong attacks BJP-JJP govt over HKRN issue, stages walkout from Haryana Assembly

Congress members staged a walkout from the Haryana Assembly on Tuesday after targeting the BJP-JJP government in the state over the issue of recruitments being made through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN).

However, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar noted that the HKRN was set up to save employees from exploitation at the hands of contractors, while Skill Development and Industrial Training Minister Mool Chand Sharma said it was formed to eliminate several irregularities and anomalies in recruitments.

Meanwhile, Khattar also said a rationalisation commission will be set up in the state to rationalise the number of posts in government departments in accordance with the requirement.

On the second day of the three-day winter session of the Assembly, the Congress MLAs slammed the Khattar government for making recruitments through the HKRN, accusing it of promoting a contractual system of recruitment.

The HKRN was set up with an objective of providing contractual manpower to all government departments in the state.

In a calling attention motion on the recruitments through the HKRN, Congress MLA from Tosham Kiran Chaudhary launched a blistering attack on the state government, alleging that there is no transparency in the recruitment system and asking the government whether it will regularise the employees recruited through the system.

Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda accused the BJP-JJP government of playing with the future of youngsters, alleging that they are being exploited and made to do petty jobs at low wages.

''The government is promoting a contractual system of recruitment,'' the senior Congress leader alleged while asking the government why is it not making regular appointments.

Hooda said the purpose of the HKRN ''seems to be to eliminate permanent jobs, merit, reservation and the role of recruitment bodies''.

''The job of the government is to end the contract system and provide permanent jobs. But on the contrary, it is promoting a contract system...,'' he said.

Hooda demanded that the state government roll back this system of recruitment.

Responding to the charge, Khattar said complaints of exploitation of employees were received in cases of outsourced employment done through contractors.

Thus, putting an end to it, the HKRN was set up to save all such employees from exploitation, he added.

The chief minister claimed that through the HKRN, manpower is being made available to government departments and corporations in a transparent manner.

If any private company or agency needs to strengthen its manpower, it too can put forward its demand to the HKRN, he said, adding that the government has come up with such a system where it is also being ensured that youngsters get the EPF and ESI benefits.

Khattar said initially, temporary employment is offered for a period of one year on a contract basis through the HKRN.

About the rationalisation commission, he said it will rationalise the number of posts in every department.

The chief minister said of the state's population, nine per cent falls in the 0-10 years age group, 12 per cent in the 10-20 age group, 18 per cent in the 20-30 age group and 57 per cent in the 20-60 age group.

These figures indicate that the number of schoolgoing children will be less in the coming years and hence, the system needs to be changed, he said.

Khattar said whenever his government brings any radical change in the system, it greatly troubles the Opposition.

Challenging Hooda and all other MLAs, he said no relative of any legislator was recruited through the HKRN, adding that nepotism has no place in the recruitments through this process.

''We have done the work of providing jobs to the poor and needy families in a transparent manner, so that they can earn their living,'' Khattar said.

He said the Opposition repeatedly comes up with baseless statements, such as they will end the PPP system, the merit-based recruitment system and withdraw all the IT reforms implemented by the government when they come to power.

''I want to clarify that the more you curse our IT reforms, the more we will bring them to give transparent governance,'' Khattar said.

He alleged that launching a portal for every public-centric scheme or service is troubling the Opposition because it has ended their age-old middleman-and-broker system.

At this, Hooda and the other Congress members rose from their seats and staged a walkout from the House.