Graft has become order of the day in Uttarakhand: Khanduri

Former Chief Minister B C Khanduri today said corruption has become the order of the day in Uttarakhand and accused the Congress government in the state of either annulling decisions taken during his tenure to fight graft or putting them into cold storage.
"The state government is steeped in corruption. So much so that graft has become a norm in the state," he told reporters here.
Accusing the Vijay Bahuguna government of abrogating or putting into cold storage many of the decisions taken by his government to combat corruption, the BJP leader cited the instance of the Lokayukta bill passed by the state assembly during his regime which was still awaiting the Centre's nod.

He regretted the Lokayukta bill which could be such an effective tool to fight corruption was yet to get the Presidential assent and said Bahuguna despite being the Chief Minister was not doing anything about it.
Khanduri alleged the Transfer Act introduced during his tenure as CM to stop coruption and red tape in transfers and postings and Right to Public Services Act to ensure time-bound delivery of services to people met a similar fate at the hands of Bahuguna government.
He said the act passed by the state assembly to stop migration of people from the hills in the wake of withdrawal of the industrial package given to Uttarakhand by the Centre has also been put into the cold storage by the state government.

The BJP leader alleged the ruling Congress in the state had not yet fufilled the promises made in its election manifesto last year.