Previous Cong govt 'politicised the issue of quota': Khattar

The previous Congress government in Haryana had "politicised the issue of reservation" for five castes including the Jats, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today claimed.
"Most of the decisions taken by them during the last one or two years of their rule were either politically motivated or had vested interests. On the other hand, our government took the decision of giving reservation in its first year and got the bill passed in the beginning of the second year," he said.
Khattar said this while addressing leaders and representatives of Jat and five other communities who met him to thank him for passing of 'The Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill, 2016'.

The BJP government has taken decisions for the benefit of people belonging to all sections of the society "without any political consideration", the Chief Minister said.
Referring to violence during Jat quota stir, Khattar said relief is being given to those whose property was damaged and the family of the dead.
"In most cases, compensation has already been distributed. A number of steps have been taken by the state government in the last one month to promote communal harmony. Sadbhawna Week has been celebrated to infuse a sense of unity and brotherhood among the people," he said.

"Yesterday, Samrasta Diwas was organised at Rohtak but much more needs to be done," Khattar was quoted as saying by an official release.

He also urged people to strongly counter those who try to divide the society on caste lines and work with the spirit of 'Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek.'
The Chief Minister said relief amounting to about Rs 1,100 crore was distributed to farmers on account of crop damage due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm last year, while Rs 967 crore was distributed as compensation to cotton growers for white fly attack recently.
Comparing with previous governments in the state, he said during the last one year, the present government has distributed compensation amounting to Rs 2,200 crore on account of loss due to natural calamities whereas in 16 years, from 1999 to 2014, only Rs 1,600 crore was disbursed.

"Haryana is moving ahead and we do not claim that all of
this has happened because of us. The base for this was built before," Khattar said.
Our role was to frame "appropriate policies" to take the state further forward and it was the responsibility of the administration to implement these policies, he said.
"Sometimes to implement certain things we take administrative powers into our hands by saying it cannot be done without the nod of a Minister or the Chief Minister," Khattar said referring to "snatching of powers from the TCP Director".
In 1975, this Assembly passed the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act and under it the powers for granting license and CLU permissions were rested with the Director, he said.

"16 years later in 1991, these powers that vested with the Director were given to the Chief Minister. It was stated licenses and CLUs can only be given with the CM's nod," Khattar told the House.
"But in 1996, officials sent the file to the then CM apprising him that the Chief Minister should not keep these powers and actually it should be with the Director. However, the then CM returned the file saying that these powers will remain with him. The same was repeated in 2005-06," he added.
He claimed, "There was criticism (of this practice) and adverse results were seen in the Dhingra report."

"We felt this power had been snatched from the TCP Director and we scrapped the decades old policy which allowed CMs absolute discretion and final say in the issue," he said.
Despite the Act, files to grant license were being presented before the CM for clearance. But the Khattar government set up the Justice S N Dhingra Commission to probe commercial licences granted to colonisers including businessman Robert Vadra's firm.
Talking about recruitment in government jobs, Khattar said, "The state government has also worked to bring about transparency in the recruitment process."
Marks for interview have been limited to only 12 per cent. It has left "little room for favoritism", he said, adding everybody is aware "recruitments were done and jobs were given through the back door."

"We have ensured only eligible people get government jobs and efficiently discharge their duties as the selection is done through a transparent process. We have no right to choose an undeserving person. If we indulge in favoritism, we are doing a dis-service to the entire society and the state," he said, lamenting transfers had become "a business".
"To ensure transparency in transfer of teachers, we have a unique transfer policy where teachers need not come to Chandigarh with their requests," he said.
On sex ratio, Khattar said it has improved due to the
Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign and has crossed the 900-mark.

As many as 200 people were arrested and booked under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act.
While sex ratio was about 800 girls per 1,000 boys in 2015, it increased to 900 in 2016. The target of 950 girls per 1,000 boys as considered satisfactory by international public health experts would soon be achieved, Khattar said.
On crop insurance, the chief minister said starting a crop insurance scheme was a historic decision by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it has the lowest ever premium.
However, Congress MLA Karan Dalal described crop insurance scheme as "burden on farmers" and said it should be rolled back.

Khattar said his government gave a record compensation of Rs 2,400 crore to farmers for crop loss.
The Prime Minister has set a target to double the income of farmers by 2022 and therefore, the state government has taken a number of steps to achieve this goal.
He said that Haryana is the first state to implement the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission with effect from January 1, 2016.
The state exchequer would bear an additional burden of about Rs 4,000 crore to give these benefits to the employees of boards, corporations and undertakings.
The honorarium of home guards has been increased from Rs 300 per day to Rs 572 per day which is the minimum salary of the police personnel. Also, the wages of extension lecturers have been increased from Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000 per month.

Khattar said his government has constructed and carried out repair of 8,600-km road length, including the pending projects of the previous governments.
He said there is proposal to implement Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) project which would pass from Gurugram to Manesar and Manesar to Bawal.