Unemployment sparks heated debate in H.P assembly, opp stages walkout
Dharamshala (Tapowan), Dec 22
The Himachal Pradesh Assembly witnessed heated exchanges between members of the opposition and the treasury benches on Friday, focusing on the issue of unemployment. The ruling benches, however, shifted the blame onto the former Jai Ram Thakur Government, accusing it of failing to fulfill its employment guarantee.
During the question hour in the assembly on Friday, BJP members were eager to adjourn the proceedings to discuss the unemployment issue. A dispute erupted in the house between BJP members and Independent member Hoshiyar Singh when Mr. Singh expressed his preference for addressing the question hours first. He argued that the BJP members accused him of not intervening, while members of the treasury benches supported him in prioritizing the question hours.
Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania expressed readiness to suspend the entire business to discuss the adjournment motion brought by the BJP under rule 67. However, he specified that the discussion listed under rule 130 on law and order, scheduled for the day, would be suspended. Leader of the Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, pressed for the adjournment, alleging that Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had promised employment guarantees to one lakh people, but the state government had failed to provide jobs to 20,000 youths. Thakur accused the government of evading its promise, leaving the youth in limbo with undeclared results.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan argued that the BJP couldn’t insist on adjourning question hours, as independent members and treasury bench members wished to address their listed issues. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu defended, alleging that the opposition had no right to raise the unemployment issue, as they had deceived the youth by selling jobs for Rs 50,000 to 1 lakh. He further claimed that police and JOA papers were leaked during the opposition’s rule. Sukhu highlighted that the Congress government had advertised and provided employment to 22,000 people in the first year, with ongoing processes to fill other vacant posts. He mentioned the state government’s efforts to fight recruitment scams in the courts.
In response, opposition members protested against the CM’s rebuttal and walked out of the house as the speaker allowed Sukhu to continue speaking on the employment issue. Subsequently, members of the treasury benches condemned the opposition’s walkout, criticizing their participation in the assembly proceedings while boycotting the question hour.
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