Hry Budget session: Cong plans protests on Feb 24, 25

Chandigarh: Congress on Thursday planned its strategy for the upcoming Budget session in a three-hour meeting chaired by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former chief minister and leader of the opposition.The session starts Friday. Congress MLAs will protest against the govt on various issues and march to the assembly on Feb 24 and surround the House to oppose the scrapping of the MGNREGA Act on Feb 25, said Hooda and Haryana Congress president Rao Narendra, who too attended the meeting. Hooda told the media that Congress will seek answers from the BJP govt on unemployment, law and order, extortion, drug abuse, migration, toll collection, sports and sportspersons, paddy scam, family identity cards, and rising fertiliser prices. The party also decided to raise issues such as the trade deal with the United States, cuts to senior citizens' pensions, ration cards for the poor, irregularities in Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) recruitment, giving Haryana jobs to outsiders, pending compensation for farmers, waterlogging, cases filed against opposition MLAs, illegal mining, corruption, the state's economic plight and rising inflation, and scams in various departments. Congress MLAs submitted adjournment and calling-attention motions. They will also be raising numerous questions related to their constituencies. In response to a question about giving jobs to outsiders, Hooda said the BJP is sabotaging the future of Haryana's youth. "There is no state that prefers outsiders over local youth for jobs. In Haryana, the situation is such that the BJP govt gives 78 out of 80 posts to people from other states," he said. "The arbitrariness of the HPSC is intolerable. The Congress will raise this issue in the assembly and demand answers from the govt. Memoranda submitted by numerous delegations from Haryana regarding their problems were also discussed," he added. MSID:: 128554853 413 |