CM makes Kalanwali a subdivision

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 25

Kalanwali in Sirsa is finally a subdivision now. Though it was elevated more than two years ago, the Cabinet decision was not implemented by the BJP government which came to power in 2014.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today announced the elevation of Kalanwali to a subdivision at a rally in Kalanwali.

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had announced the subdivision status for Kalanwali at a rally in Dabwali on February 16, 2014. Later, at a Cabinet meeting headed by Hooda on May 28, 2014, both Kalanwali and Kalayat in Kaithal were accorded the subdivision status.

The BJP government that came to power in October 2014, however, did not implement the previous government’s Cabinet decision.

Addressing a ‘Vikas Rally’ at Kalanwali today, Khattar announced that the subdivisional offices shall start functioning within a month. He also announced a number of development projects costing Rs 150 crore, inaugurated projects worth Rs 24 crore and laid the foundation stones of projects costing Rs 16 crore.

Claiming that his government believed in the equitable development of the state, Khattar said though the BJP did not have a single MLA or MP in Sirsa, his government had never discriminated against the district.

Hitting out at the Opposition, Khattar alleged that his detractors criticised his government only for the sake of criticism, but had nothing against him. He challenged those criticising Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and asked them to compare the present rate of premium with that being charged when they were in power.

Terming Hooda’s 10-year regime as a ‘dark period for education’, Khattar alleged that the Congress government had abolished exams for Class VIII and IX students, leading to deterioration in standards. Comparing his government with his predecessors, Khattar said 12 national highways had been approved in his two-year tenure against the four in the past 48 years. Khattar’s political aide Jagdish Chopra presided over the rally.

Meanwhile, state Congress president Ashok Tanwar, who represented the Sirsa parliamentary seat from 2009 to 2014, lashed out at Khattar and alleged that all projects announced by him today had already been approved by the Congress government.