Members of Haryana Legislative Assembly try their hands on newly installed tablets in Chandigarh on Monday. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)A consolidated amount to pay annual electricity bills will now be granted to the respective government departments at the beginning of the financial year and for this a provision will be made in the state budget, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar informed the Haryana Assembly Monday.
“Many times complaints regarding the pendency of electricity bills of some departments are received. To resolve this, a a provision will be made in the budget and the consolidated amount for annual power bills will be sent to the departments,” Khattar said.
He was replying to a question by Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra during the Question Hour in the first day of the three-day monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha.
Replying to another question pertaining to the MLA LAD, Khattar said, “Some MLAs have been raising questions in the House that they have not received an annual amount of Rs 5 crore. I would like to clarify that an amount of Rs 5 crore would be given to an MLA once in a tenure of 5 years and not every year”.
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The issue was raised by Sonipat MLA Surender Panwa.
Khattar said, “In Sonipat constituency, 23 development works are approved at an estimated cost of Rs. 4.72 crore out of which Rs 4.25 crore has been already utilized. As per the decision of the state government, one per cent stamp duty each is to be released to headquarters and to the concerned municipalities”.
As the Opposition members tried to raise the issue that they were not receiving adequate funds, Khattar said that “four to five MLAs, instead of sharing the list of the development works that is also being done in their areas, make noise in the House” for not getting the said amount.
“The list of development works done at the behest of the MLAs will be made available to them within seven days. It will have the complete details of the amount along with the works. If any MLAs work is pending due to balance payments, then the same will be released immediately”.
Replying to another question by Congress MLA Chinrajeev Rao regarding the problem of waterlogging in Rewari and Dharuhera, Khattar informed the House that soon STPs will be set up at the two locations to resolve the problem of dirty water coming from Bhiwadi, the industrial area of Rajasthan. “NGT has issued orders that the Rajasthan government will provide money for this”.
As several other MLAs raised the issue of waterlogging in their respective constituencies, Khattar said the state government has made adequate arrangements for drainage.
“Reach of water to the tail end is being assured through the lift irrigation systems and pumps. For the last 3 years, about 8-10 feet of water is there in the Masani dam in Rewari. This has happened for the first time. There are some districts where irrigation area is less and a proposal is being made to reallocate water share of these areas to others. State government is also promoting micro-irrigation through MICADA in the areas having water scarcity”.
Tablets for students
Education minister Kanwar Pal apprised the House that state government has procured 5 lakh tablets — Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (Android based) — at a cost of Rs 620 crore for government school students of class X to XII. Replying to a question, Kanwar Pal said, “Children will get 2GB free data per day. Personalized & Adaptive Learning (PAL) software has been provided along with the tablets for English, Hindi and Social Science subjects. M/S WE Excel Software Pvt. Ltd, IT Park, Chandigarh has provided the PAL software”.
Medical, Paramedical colleges
Replying to a question, Health Minister Anil Vij said, “A few land proposals have been received from HSVP and Panchayats for setting up a Government Medical College in Palwal district, which are under consideration”.
Regarding opening of paramedical college on the premises of Government Medical College at Jind, Vij said, “CM has given approval on June 16. Due to paucity of land, a letter has been written to the Deputy Commissioner asking him to identify the land for further necessary action”.
On another paramedical college at Safidon, Vij said, “Matter was investigated by the department, which found that as per the existing policy, it is not possible to open a Government Paramedical College at Safidon as there should be a minimum 300 bed hospital within 10-15 kilometer radius of the institute”.
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First published on: 09-08-2022 at 08:17:03 am