Khattar govt’s white paper a lie, says Hooda

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, March 2

Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda today described the white paper on the state’s fiscal health released today by the Khattar government a “paper of white lies”.

The present government has falsified Hooda government’s claims of number one Haryana and had accused it of inequitable development by saying that revenue receipts decreased during his term.

Addressing media persons at Fatehabad where he had come today to offer condolences to former MP Atma Singh Gill on his wife’s death, Hooda today claimed that Haryana was still number one in per capita income as well as per capita investment.

He said it was true that ever since the NDA government had come to power and Khattar taken over in Haryana, a downslide had begun.

Reacting to the poor growth in the revenue collection during 2004-05 and 2013-14 when he was CM, Hooda said that the state’s annual budget swelled from Rs 2300 crore in 2005 to Rs 32000 crore in 2014 spoke volumes about the growth in revenue collection during this period.

The former CM said that when was in power in 2005, the state loan was 24 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSPD) but when he left last year, the total state loan stood at 18 per cent of the GSPD.

Answering a query on the Land Acquisition Act, Hooda said let the government make his letter in this context public.

He said though all sections of the society had been neglected by the BJP government, the plight of farmers had particularly gone from bad to worse during this period.

Now the FCI too has announced that it would not purchase wheat from Haryana. The Congress would not tolerate the neglect of farmers and would launch an agitation on issues concerning them.

Hooda also demanded Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per acre as compensation for farmers whose wheat crop has damaged by yesterday’s rains and strong winds.

Hisar: Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has described the white paper on the state’s fiscal heath as “jhooth patra”.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Hooda said the BJP government had proved a failure.

“The government has issued the ‘jhooth paper’ to divert the attention of the people from its failure. “The BJP government talks about the decline in the standard of education. But, in fact, a large number of higher institutes, including IIT, IIM, central and state universities, had opened in Haryana during my tenure,” he said.