Khattar govt doing no work except squabbling over who controls which department: Hooda

With Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij stripped of the charge of CID, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday hit out at the Khattar-led BJP-JJP government, saying it was doing no work except "squabbling over" who controls which department.

"Three months have passed, but this government has failed to come out with a Common Minimum Programme...there are burning issues facing farmers, economy, law and order, unemployment rate at 28 per cent is the highest in the country, but this government is paying no attention towards these and is squabbling over who controls which department and is busy in ordering transfers of officials," the Leader of the Opposition told a news conference here.

He was asked to comment on Vij being stripped of the charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which will now be handled by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Replying to another question, he said it was up to Vij, who had once said that "CID is like the Home Department's eyes and ears", to decide if he would now give up the Home portfolio.

In addition to Home, Vij, a six-term MLA, also handles the Health and Urban Local Bodies Departments.

Replying to a question, the Congress leader said there has been past precedence when CID was handled by the chief minister while the Home Department was given to some minister.

Touching on other issues, Hooda demanded that farmers whose crops were damaged due to recent hailstorm in some parts of the state must be suitably compensated.

He said that the government must also pay heed towards sugarcane farmers and increase the cane price.

He alleged that the government was preparing to sell land attached to Palwal Sugar Mill.

On law and order front, he alleged that the situation in the state has worsened during the past five years and Haryana figures at the third spot in the country in crime against women.

"On an average, 3-4 rapes take place every day while incidents of loot, murder, dacoity have become common," he further alleged.

The Congress leader reiterated that "paddy scam" must be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Hooda hit out at the government, saying drug menace was spreading its tentacles, but no effective steps have been taken to ensure the situation does not go out of control.

"During our tenure, we had built sports stadium across the state so that youth engage themselves in sports activities which would keep them away from ills like taking to drugs. But today there is no maintenance of the stadiums which we built," he said.

Hooda claimed that the poor have been the worst hit due to the alleged lopsided policies of the government.

Development charges in authorised colonies have been increased three-fold, which hits the poor.

"Poor, farmers, labourers have to bear the brunt of this government's policies," he said.

On the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), he said, "No one knows when they will come out with one…We also formed government in Maharashtra, but our CMP was ready before the chief minister took oath there."

On the chief minister batting for increasing sittings of the Vidhan Sabha, he said that alone was not enough and "real need is that every member should get enough time to speak”.

"Every member of the Vidhan Sabha on an average got only 39 minutes to speak during the entire five-year duration," he said.

On the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Hooda restricted his comment to saying that the matter was sub-judice and "we must wait for the court to decide".