Six amendment Bills introduced in Haryana assembly

The Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) coalition government in Haryana introduced six amendment Bills in the Vidhan Sabha on Friday during the first sitting of the monsoon session of the assembly which lasted nearly five hours

The Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) coalition government in Haryana introduced six amendment Bills in the Vidhan Sabha on Friday during the first sitting of the monsoon session of the assembly which lasted nearly five hours.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar speaking at the monsoon session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh on Friday. (HT Photo)

The ministers concerned tabled the Bills in the House and discussions on these bills will be held later.

The Haryana assembly has put in place a system under which most of the Bills are introduced in the House in advance so that the legislators can study them and hold gripping debates when the Bills are taken up for the discussion in the House.

The Bills introduced include the Haryana Management of Civic Amenities and Infrastructure Deficient Municipal Areas (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2021; the Maharishi Balmiki Sanskrit University, Kaithal (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Haryana Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill 2021; the Haryana Enterprises Promotion (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Pandit Lakhmi Chand State University of Performing and Visual Arts, Rohtak (Amendment) Bill, 2021; and the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Haryana Amendment) Bill 2021.

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said in the assembly that tubewell connections will be issued on priority to farmers adopting micro-irrigation.

He said the state government is providing 85% subsidy to set up this system.

The CM said even though Haryana is power surplus at present, the state will be judicious while sanctioning tubewell connections, keeping in view that the groundwater level is going down by 1-1.5m every year.

While intervening during the discussion on calling attention notice of MLA Varun Chaudhry, Khattar said the groundwater level is continuously going down due to overexploitation of water.

Khattar said after the December 27, 2018 announcement to release tubewell connections to those applying till December 31, 2018, thousands of people had applied for tubewell connections within four days.

When they were asked to deposit ₹30,000 consent money, of 84,000 people, only 56,000 deposited the said amount. He said priority is to provide tubewell connections to those who have deposited the money.

In his calling attention notice, Varun Chaudhry said: “...thousands of farmers...are endlessly waiting for their tube well connections...”

In a written reply, state power minister Ranjit Singh said Haryana DISCOMS have released 13,636 new tubewell connections from November 1, 2019 to August 18, 2021.

He said the condition of not releasing tubewell connections in notified areas/dark zone has been removed from July 23, 2021. Now, new connections, shifting and extension of load of the existing connections have been permitted in notified areas/dark zones provided that connections up to 35 BHP capacity will be released with mandatory installation of micro-irrigation system where water table is below 100-feet.

House pays tributes to soldiers, Milkha Singh, freedom fighters

The Haryana Vidhan Sabha paid tributes to eminent personalities including soldiers, ‘flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh, and freedom fighters, who died after the end of the previous session of the state assembly.

Led by the leader of the House and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, all members observed two-minute silence.

Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, and leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda read out the obituary resolutions and paid tributes to the departed souls.

Among those remembered included former Haryana governor Jagannath Pahadia; ex-Vidhan Sabha speaker Satbir Singh Kadian; ex-minister Dr Kamla Verma; ex-deputy minister Prof Maha Singh; former ministers of state Rao Dharam Pal and Bahadur Singh; members of Haryana Vidhan Sabha Kitab Singh, Dariyao Singh Rajora, Chaudhary Zile Singh and Puran Singh.

The House also paid tributes to corona warriors and others who lost their lives due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Rich tributes were also paid to ‘flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh; freedom fighters Amilal (of Kherki, Gurugram), Lalti Ram (of Dubaldhan, Jhajjar), and Prabhati Lal (of Karira, Mahendragarh); soldiers killed in action Lt Amtoj Singh Sidhu (Dabwali), subedar Ajit Singh (Rohtak), naib subedar Vijay Kumar Sharma (Mahendragarh), naib subedar Manoj Kumar (Rewari), SI Bhuru Singh (Panipat), SI Bajrang Kumar (Mahendragarh), havildar Balwan Singh (Bhiwani), havildar Vedprakash (Charkhi Dadri), naik Akash Khatana (Gurugram), naik Kapil Dev (Jind), sepoy Mahender Singh ( Bhiwani), sepoy Biprin Bichwalia (Mahendragarh), sepoy Premchand (Jind), sepoy Dalip Kumar (Rewari), sepoy Inderjeet Singh (Mahendragarh), sepoy Surender Singh (Hisar), sepoy Pawan Singh (Mahendragarh), sepoy Vinod Kumar (Rewari), sepoy Amit (Bhiwani), sepoy Rajnish (Jhajjar), sepoy Umed Singh (Jhajjar), sepoy Rakesh Kumar (Jind), sepoy Jagmahender Singh (Hisar), and commando Sonu Pilania (Charkhi Dadri).