Govt buildings in Haryana start to don saffron look

Common service centers in saffron party-ruled Haryana are being painted in saffron colour, in what the Congress sees as a plot by the ruling dispensation towards aggrandizing its agenda of saffronisation.

These centres across the state, mostly in villages, have been set up to provide a one-stop-shop solution to citizens on a host of public services, including Aadhar cards, permanent account number, revenue and other welfare services.

At least four such centers in Haryana’s Jind have already been painted in all saffron. If sources are to be believed, hundreds of other such centers will also be pained in saffron colour in due course.

Not far away from Jind in Kaithal, multiple pillars in the corridors of a senior secondary government school in the district have been painted with the green-red colour, symbolic of the BJP flag. The school management, while denying any wrongdoing, says the choice of colour just happens to coincide with the BJP flag.

Congress leaders, including former MP Deepinder Singh Hooda, have raised eyebrows on the motive behind the exercise to paint these government buildings a saffron colour. The junior Hooda has criticized the move, alleging that it is the BJP’s attempt to politicize institutions.

There is no official note to paint buildings with saffron colour. Work is being undertaken only on verbal directions. Sources said that several hundreds of such centers in Haryana are likely to don the saffron look.

Every village has one common service center. These places provide public services related to over three dozen government departments. In Jind district alone, where the exercise has begun, there are several hundreds of such centres located mostly in rural areas.

The recently sworn-in Manohar Lal Khattar government is in its second term in Haryana. This time, the BJP is in alliance with the Chautala clan led Janata Jananayak Party (JJP). During its first term in office from 2014 to 2019, the Khattar government set rolling various measures that were construed as BJP’s attempt to enlarge its ‘Hindutva’ domain and amplify its agenda towards saffronisation.