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Haryana Speaker warns officials against tabling misleading info in assembly
Warns of invoking breach of privilege provision against erring officials after incorrect reply to question on industries was tabled in House in November last year
Haryana Speaker Gian Chand Gupta on Wednesday said that action will be taken if officials provide incorrect information to the state assembly.
“A motion of privilege will be brought against such officials,” he said in the House.
The Speaker recently called top officials of the industries department for explaining a faux pas made in a reply tabled by deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala to an unstarred question by Mullana Congress MLA Varun Chaudhary on action taken by the government on the 2015 Enterprise Promotion Policy.
The incorrect reply tabled during the assembly session on November 5, 2020, reads: “Two projects of tool room/technology centres have been set up at IMT Rohtak (19.8 acres), and Industrial Growth Centre, Saha (10 acres), with an approximate investment of ₹150 crore by the Government of India. The land for these projects has been provided by HSIIDC as the state’s contribution.”
The Congress MLA had subsequently complained to the Speaker about the incorrect and misleading bits of information tabled in the House. “The Speaker has asked senior industry department officers to fix responsibility of those who submitted incorrect information in the reply,” Chaudhary said.
Rectifying the mistake, Dushyant Chautala on Wednesday told the assembly that courses in the Rohtak tool room were started in 2018. “As far as the proposal of a tool room for Saha was concerned, there were problems regarding land. Also, the Centre decided to fund one tool room for each state. However, we have urged the central government to consider our proposal for a second tool room. The state government has identified 20 acres for the Saha tool room and conveyed the proposal to the Centre,” said Chautala, who holds the industries and commerce portfolios. The minister’s reply came on a starred question by Chaudhary, who also sought a deadline for the setting up the Saha tool room.
Chaudhary said there were multiple instances when the executive was found to be misleading the legislature.
The Speaker told the House that if any official provided wrong information, a motion of privilege will be brought against him/her in the assembly. He was responding to a statement by Congress MLA Kuldeep Vats, who wanted action against such officials. “If any official provides a wrong report, please let me know,” the Speaker told the MLA.
Assembly speaker, Gian Chand Gupta told HT that the industries department officials have tendered an unconditional apology in the matter. “However, I have asked the state government to fix responsibility of the officials responsible for the omission,” Gupta said.
