Govt making false claims of having fulfilled six poll guarantees: Jai Ram

Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, while initiating the debate on the Governor’s Address today, launched a scathing attack on the state government for allegedly making false claims of having fulfilled six of 10 election guarantees. “The reality about six guarantees having been fulfilled is very different on the ground, as there is total disappointment and discontent among every section of society in the state,” he alleged.

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Thakur said that dissatisfaction over the government’s performance was evident even among the Congress members, as they know the truth was far from the hollow claims. “The adverse impact of the restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS) will be felt in the coming years, as it was stopped in 2003 after an assessment of the situation. About providing a Rs 1,500 monthly assistance to women, the fact is that of total 23 lakh eligible women, only 30,000 are being given the amount,” he claimed.

Thakur said that the Congress, which had promised to create five lakh jobs in five years, was not even filling vacancies and 10,000 youths engaged on the outsourced basis had been removed from service. He added, “Whatever development is taking place in the state is due to central funding as the government has no scheme of its own. Schemes and projects started by the previous BP regime are being inaugurated in the name of development.”

He also accused the Congress government of not preparing detailed project reports of the priority schemes given by the BJP legislators. “The government should not take the Opposition so lightly, as what I am saying is based on the written record. As such, what is the point in attending a meeting with MLAs to discuss the priority schemes,” he added.

The former Chief Minister said that the financial health of the state government was so grim that the money offered in temples by the pilgrims was being diverted to schemes. “The situation is so bad that people are suffering, as they are not getting free treatment in government hospitals under the Himcare scheme,” he added.

Thakur expressed concern over rising drug addiction and the death of youths due to drug overdose and said that strict steps should be taken to curb this menace. Bhawani Singh Pathania (Fatehpur), Vinod Sultanpuri (Kasauli), Hans Raj (Churah), Ashish Butail (Palampur) and Kishori Lal (Baijnath) were among those who took part in the debate.