News Analysis India

Tag: Haryana

  • Haryana passes Bill to recover damages after violent protests

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Assembly on Thursday passed a Bill that will allow authorities to recover compensation  from violent protesters for causing damage to public property. The Haryana Recovery of Damages to Property during Disturbance to Public Order Bill, 2021 was tabled in the House three days back and was passed after an hour-long discussion.

    The Bill provides for recovery of damages to property caused during disturbances to public order by an assembly, lawful or unlawful, including riots and violent disorder. A ‘claims tribunal’ can be set up to assess damage to public property and fix liability. The collector can order the attachment of property or bank accounts of anyone asked by the tribunal to pay compensation.

    Home Minister Anil Vij countering the Opposition said, “We are not bringing this Bill against people’s democratic right to hold a protest. They said we are bringing this for farmers’ agitation, but there is no connection.” Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda also sought its withdrawal. He  said, “Peaceful protest is every citizen’s right. There are already legal provisions pertaining to damage caused to property. What about the responsibility of the police in not being able to control law and order?’’

    Slamming the government, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “The bill itself is law imposing and  puts a permanent ban on every person or group who speaks, thinks, protests and states the flaws and mistakes of state government. Not only does this violate the fundamental rights enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution, but it also reflects the mentality and frustration of the BJP-JJP government that it is scared of the people of Haryana.’’

  • 17 farmers booked after protest outside BJP MLA’s residence

    By PTI
    AMBALA: Police on Friday registered a case against 17 farmers after they allegedly held a demonstration against Ambala City BJP MLA Aseem Goel.

    Three of the accused have been identified as Malkeet Singh, Jai Singh and Gulab Singh, police said.

    BKU activists and farmers had demonstrated outside the residence of Aseem Goel and also burnt his effigy against his alleged “anti-famer” remarks during his speech in the Assembly on Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, the MLA issued a clarification that he had not said made any objectionable statement against farmers in the Assembly.

    If still they feel that I have hurt their sentiments, I have no objection to beg pardon for it, Goel said.

  • BJP doing ‘dirty politics’ over Hooda tractor issue, says Congress MLA Khatak

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Amid a political slugfest over Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda riding a tractor being pulled the party’s women legislators to protest the rise in fuel prices, one of the MLAs, Shakuntala Khatak, on Thursday asserted that she never considered herself less equal than men and accused the BJP of “playing dirty politics” on the matter.

    “BJP is playing dirty politics. This is our internal matter. When I am not complaining, why do they have a problem? He (Hooda) is my leader, he is like my father. If I have to push a truck, I will do that too,” Khatak told reporters here.

    “I want to tell Smriti Irani and all other BJP leaders who are making statements. Shakuntala Khatak is that woman who rides a motorcycle for 500 kilometres. I have never considered myself less equal than men,” said Khatak, a nurse-turned-politician.

    The BJP on Thursday attacked the Congress over the incident and asked if women in a political organisation be treated as “bonded labourers”.

    Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani said it was “absolutely shocking” to see the former Haryana chief minister sitting calmly on a tractor while having woman members of his party pull it physically.

    Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had expressed his anguish and said in the Assembly, “This treatment to women MLAs was worse than bonded labour.”

    Targeting Khattar, Congress MLA Khatak said, “He should show concerns for women who are sitting with farmers protesting near Delhi’s borders against farm laws for more than 100 days.”

  • Farmers in Haryana block roads, protest outside BJP MLA’s residence

    By PTI
    AMBALA: Haryana farmers on Thursday blocked traffic in Jind and Hisar while some of them protested outside a ruling party MLA’s residence, a day after a no-confidence motion focussed on the farmers’ issue was defeated in the state Assembly.

    A group of farmers held a protest in Sirsa and Jind to protest against those Haryana legislators who had not backed the no-confidence motion.

    The protesting farmers also blocked Hisar-Jind road for some time and raised slogans against the state government.

    A large number of farmers held a protest outside the Prem Nagar residence of ruling BJP’s Ambala City MLA Aseem Goel objecting to a remark made by him in the state Assembly.

    The protesters claimed Goel had made some indirect remark in the context of farmers.

    On Wednesday, Congress members had rushed to the Well of the House taking objection to the remark made by Goel while he was speaking on the no-confidence motion moved against the BJP-JJP government by the main opposition party.

    ALSO READ: BJP-JJP government defeats ‘no-confidence’ motion in Haryana Assembly

    The protesting farmers also said they will not allow BJP and JJP MLAs to enter their villages to address any public meeting because they were not putting pressure on the Centre to repeal the three farm laws.

    Goel was not at his residence when the farmers were demonstrating outside.

    In Sirsa, a group of farmers burnt an effigy of Haryana Lokhit Party chief and local MLA Gopal Kanda.

    They said Kanda had not stood with the farmers and voted against the no-confidence motion.

    The BJP-JJP government in Haryana had survived the floor test on Wednesday, comfortably defeating the no-confidence motion moved against it by the main opposition Congress.

    The motion was defeated following the division of votes.

    Fifty-five members had voted against the motion while 32 legislators had backed it.

    Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Chandigarh on Thursday, senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala said had former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda resigned along with all his party MLAs instead of bringing a no-confidence motion, then, by evening the government would have collapsed.

    He claimed that a huge rebellion would have taken place against the BJP all over the country, which would have given great power to the farmers forcing the Centre to repeal the three “black agricultural laws”.

    Notably, Chautala had recently resigned as MLA over the farmers issue.

  • Safe houses be made available in Punjab, Haryana for couples marrying against family’s wishes, suggests HC

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has suggested that safe houses should be made available in the two states as well as in Chandigarh, their common capital, to protect life and liberty of couples who married against the wishes of their families.

    “Number of such petitions are being filed by the couples who performed marriage against the wishes of their parents and relatives.

    This court is also being approached by the couples stating to be in a live-in relationship,” Justice Avneesh Jhingan pointed out in an interim order on Wednesday.

    The court was hearing a writ petition that had sought issuance of directions to the Punjab government to protect life and liberty of the petitioners, who married on March 4 against the wishes of their parents.

    Non-acceptability of inter-caste marriage is a social problem which needs to be dealt at multifarious levels, the judge said, adding that inter-caste is not the only reason for non-acceptability of marriage, there are numerous other socio-economic reasons acting as hurdles for the young couples for selecting life partner of their choice.

    “Over the period it is experienced that number of such petitions are filed as a matter of routine.

    It is evident from most of these petitions that the day the marriage is performed, a representation is made and in some cases even the writ petition is drafted/filed on the same very day.

    In most of the cases, there is even no proof of submission of the representation,” he said.

    “The petitions of such nature are either disposed of, without commenting on the validity of the marriage and directing the official respondents to consider the representation or notice of motion is issued to the official respondents.

    In latter case by the next date, the police officials record the statements of the petitioners.

    By and large, the statement is that there is no threat perception existing,” Jhingan said.

    The judge said the net result is that the petitions involving serious and eminent threat get mixed up in number of petitions filed in routine and another aspect of the matter is, the couples who are apprehending threat perception have to travel all the way to this court for completing the formalities for filing the writ petition and this further exposes them to threat.

    Taking into consideration the fact that in these cases time is the essence, the court said one of the way to tackle the problem is that safe houses should be made available in each district of both the states, as well as in Chandigarh.

    A website or an on-line module should be provided for such couples to raise their grievances without being physically present, it said, adding that providing a 24×7 help desk at tehsil level for filing of such representations by aggrieved persons or through someone can be of great help.

    “An existing cell in the Police department can be deputed or a new cell can be created which can deal with the representation in a time-bound manner, in any case not beyond 48 hours.

    It can also be ensured by authorities that in case a request is made by the couples during the period of consideration of the representation, they be provided shelter in safe house,” the high court said.

    It also said that Legal Services Authorities with the passage of time have been able to reach at the grassroots level and they can set up a 24×7 help desk for such couples with telephone service and internet connectivity at the local level.

    “The entire endeavour of the exercise is that some sort of workable mechanism is put in motion to ensure the protection of life and personal liberty as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

    Further that only in exceptional cases, the couples have to take trouble to approach this Court alleging infringement of the rights,” the court said.

  • RSS not in agreement with Haryana government decision of 75 per cent quota in private sector jobs

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The RSS is not in agreement with the decision of the BJP-JJP government in Haryana to reserve 75 per cent of private-sector jobs with a salary cap of Rs 50,000 monthly for locals, as it is against the Sangh’s view of ‘one nation, one people’, a senior functionary said on Tuesday.

    The RSS, the ideological mentor of the BJP, feels that the law has been brought to ease the pressure felt by the state government in wake of the farmers’ protest against the three contentious agri laws, the functionary said.

    The Haryana State Employment Of Local Candidates Bill, 2020, which was passed by the state assembly last year, will provide a quota for local people in private sector jobs that offer a monthly salary of less than Rs 50,000.

    “RSS believes in one nation one people, and this law is fundamentally against it. And governments should not regulate the flow of migrant labour in the country as we all believe in unity diversity,” said the functionary, who has spend sizeable time in Haryana and the northern region looking after Sangh work.

    It seems that the BJP was also not totally for this law but came on board with its ally JJP as the state government was feeling the heat of the ongoing farmers’ protest and also of khap panchayats organised across the state in support of the farmers, the Sangh leader said.

    The RSS feels that this law may have some temporary benefits for a section of the people but in the long run, it will not be in the interest of Haryana’s economy, he said.

    JJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana Dushyant Chautala, who was piloting this bill, said the state government is open to including suggestions from industry bodies while framing rules for the law.

    Responding to criticism from various quarters, including some members of the industry, Dushyant claimed that many people have “misconception” about the law and pointed out that Haryana was not the only state where such a provision had been made.

  • No confidence motion against BJP-JJP govt in Haryana Assembly tomorrow

    By ANI
    CHANDIGARH: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayank Janta Party (JJP) have asked their MLAs to be present in the House tomorrow and “support the stand of the government against the no-confidence motion”.

    Kanwar Pal, Chief whip of BJP Legislature Party asks party MLAs to be present in the House on 10th March.

    Bharat Bhushan Batra, chief whip of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Tuesday issued a whip to party MLAs to be present in the House on Wednesday (March 10) to support No-Confidence Motion against the Manohar Lal Khattar government.

    ALSO READ: No changes to be made in rules and norms of reservation for SC, BC in govt jobs, says Haryana CM Khattar

    “Hon’ble Members of CLP, Haryana are informed that No-Confidence Motion against the Government shall be listed on 10th March, 2021 in the business of the House. I issue whip, that you must ensure your presence in the House on 10th March, 2021 at 10.00 am positively and support the vote of No Confidence,” read a note from Bharat Bhushan Batra.

    Members are advised not to leave the House without the prior permission of CLP Leader, it said.

    Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda had said that his party also plans to bring many “Adjournment” and “Calling Attention” motions to draw the attention of the government to the multitude of problems faced by the people of the state.

    “The Congress is going to bring no-confidence motion, Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee bill, many adjournments and calling attention motion against the government. We will seek answers on issues such as farmers’ neglect, rising unemployment, changes in domicile regulations, rising crime, paper leaks, liquor and registry scams,” he said.

  • No changes to be made in rules and norms of reservation for SC, BC in govt jobs: Haryana CM Khattar

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar on Tuesday announced in the Assembly that there will be no change in the rules and norms of reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Backward Classes (BC) in government jobs.

    The existing rules will remain, Khattar said, responding to the points raised by the opposition regarding changes brought by the state government to allow any person living in Haryana for five years to get a domicile certificate as against the earlier requirement of 15 years.

    Khattar was responding to the discussion of the motion of thanks to the governor’s address in the Assembly.

    On some issues flagged by opposition members regarding the government’s policy to reserve 75 per cent private sector jobs for local youths, Khattar said Haryana was not the only state to have such a provision.

    “Whatever is in the interest of our state, we will do that,” he said, adding if any changes are to be made, the government will do so.

    “We don’t have any pressure,” he said.

    Giving 75 per cent reservation in private sector jobs was a key poll promise of the BJP’s ally Jannayak Janta Party (JJP).

    On the issue of farmers, he said their interests are paramount for the state government which had taken a number of steps for their welfare.

    The chief minister said that state government is committed to economic development and prosperity of farmers of the state.

    Khattar said the state government has also taken steps to increase crushing capacity of sugar mills.

    The chief minister said that to reduce water consumption, the state government had urged farmers to adopt crop diversification and this decision too drew a lot of criticism initially.

    Under the Distress Ration Scheme, 4.86 lakh families were provided free ration for three months, he said.

    He accused the opposition Congress of misleading people about the rate of unemployment in the state, and said its members were quoting figures from a private agency which were not correct.

  • 33 per cent of all ration depots to be allotted to women, says Haryana deputy CM Dushyant Chautala

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government has decided to allot 33 percent of all ration depots in the state to women, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said on Monday on International Women’s Day.

    He also said that ration cardholders will be provided ration at their doorstep through mobile depots and the process has begun in Faridabad.

    The deputy chief minister, who also holds the portfolio of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department, was responding to a question asked by an MLA during the budget session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha here.

    Chautala said the state government has decided that women will have 33 percent participation in all the ration depots allotted in future.

    Touching upon the measures being taken to ensure transparency in ration distribution through ration depots, he said e-vending machines have been installed for weighing ration in seven districts and the process of setting up e-vending machines in Faridabad and Gurgaon districts is underway.

    Chautala said Aadhaar numbers of 1.

    22 crore beneficiaries who are being provided ration have been linked under the ‘One-Nation, One-Ration’ scheme of the Union government.

    If a person goes to the ration depot, his/her Aadhaar number is fed into the machine, after which the ration to be allocated to him/her is displayed on the screen.

    The person is then given his share after biometric authenticity check, Chautala informed the House.

    Meanwhile, Haryana Agriculture Minister Jai Parkash Dalal informed the House that a committee would be constituted for shifting foodgrain warehouses in populated urban areas of the state.

    A survey in such areas would be conducted by the committee and as per the survey findings, a decision to shift such warehouses would be taken by making a policy, he said in the assembly while replying to a question asked by a member regarding relocating of the warehouses.

    He also informed that 111 warehouses are being run by the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation in various cities of the state and their storage capacity is 2,205 lakh tonne.

    These include 21 lakh metric ton capacity covered warehouses.

    The minister said the process of construction of warehouses having a capacity of 5.

    80 lakh metric tonne on the land of warehousing corporation, agriculture department, Haryana Sugarfed and local bodies is going on.

    Apart from this, it is proposed to manufacture 11.

    25 lakh metric tonne of steel silos on PPP mode.

    With the construction of new warehouses and steel silos in the next two years, the problem of storing notified commodities in the open will be overcome to a great extent.

  • Open to suggestions from industry in framing rules for law on job quota: Haryana Dy CM Dushyant Chautala

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government is open to including suggestions from industry bodies while framing rules for the law that provides 75 per cent reservation in the private sector to job seekers from the state, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said on Sunday.

    The first meeting for framing the rules will be held here on Monday, he said.

    Last week, Governor Satydeo Narain Arya gave his assent to the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020, providing 75 per cent reservation for those who have a domicile certificate and are seeking private-sector jobs that a monthly salary of less than Rs 50,000.

    “It will be our endeavour to frame the rules by the end of this month. Next month, we will run employment drives in all 22 districts and 67 employment exchanges in the state,” Chautala, who holds the industries portfolio, said at a news conference here.

    Responding to criticism from various quarters, including some members of the industry, he alleged that many people have “misconception” about the law and pointed out that Haryana was not the only state where such a provision had been made.

    Chautala said the state government held eight rounds of meeting with industry associations before this law was made “and even now we will hold consultations with them”.

    “After consultations, if we have to incorporate some technical things in the rules, will do that so that industry comes to our state in an even bigger way,” the deputy chief minister said.

    “Earlier too we had sought suggestions from them. We will now seek suggestions from industry associations of our state and chambers of industry bodies. We will write to them with copies of the bill and seek suggestions for framing the rules,” he said.

    In reply to a question, Chautala said Haryana remains a favourite destination for the industry and added that a leading lithium battery manufacturing company was setting up a plant at an investment of Rs 7,500 crore.

    “Top companies, including Amazon, are ready to invest in Haryana,” he said.

    Hitting out at the opposition, he said not even one factory has moved out of the state even during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Asked why a section of the industry was opposing the state government’s reservation move, the deputy chief minister said, “If there are objections, observations of industry, we will hold consultations and resolve it. That is the job of the state government.”

    On the issue of crop procurement, he said Haryana will start procurement of six crops, including wheat, at minimum support price next month.

    “Wheat procurement will begin from April 1 in nearly 400 mandis,” Chautala said, adding the farmers will have the option to get the payment for their crops procured directly into their accounts within 48 hours or through ‘Arhitiyas’ (commission agents).

    Chautala said a majority of the 67.48 per cent farmers from the state have expressed their wish to take payment directly into their bank accounts.

    On the farmers’ protest at Delhi’s borders against the three Central farm laws, he said the leaders should hold dialogue with the Union government to resolve the issue.