Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Archives - Lokmarg

Haryana Will Soon Get Benefits Of AAP Freebies: Kejriwal Tells Khattar

By LokMarg 3rd September 2023

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday responded to the remarks of his Haryana counterpart, Manohar Lal Khattar on ‘freebies’.

Speaking about the upcoming Haryana assembly polls in 2024, CM Kejriwal claimed that the Haryana people will soon get the benefit of freebies.

Taking to ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter), the Delhi CM said, “Khattar Sahab! We provide free and world-class education and health services in Delhi. We provide free electricity and water around the clock. We have started these facilities in Punjab, too and the public is happy with us. Soon, the people of Haryana will also get the benefit of freebies”.

Earlier on Saturday, Haryana CM Khattar interacted with the beneficiaries of CM’s Pariwar Antyodaya scheme and targetted the Aam Aadmi Party alleging that there are parties that raise slogans like, ‘Get this for free, Get that for free’.

“There are many parties that raise slogans like ‘get this for free, get that for free’… Instead of inculcating the habit of freebies, our government’s priority is to fulfill the needs of a working person, enhance his skills and develop him”, CM Khattar said.

It is worth mentioning that during the Gujarat assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party accused the AAP of resorting to ‘freebies’ and alleged that the latter indulges in ‘Revdi politics’, (freebies politics).

A war of words between the AAP and the BJP emerged during the Gujarat polls when the former, sticking to its pattern of promises, promised government schools, free electricity, access to water, and free healthcare in Gujarat, if voted to power. (ANI)

Punjab Refusing To Accept SC’s Decision: Khattar

By LokMarg 4th January 2023

In order to amicably resolve the issue of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, a meeting of both Haryana and Punjab Chief Ministers was held under the chairmanship of Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday at Shram Shakti Bhawan in the national capital.

Speaking to the media persons after the meeting, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar accused the Punjab government of not bringing up the issue of the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal on the agenda for discussion.
Khattar said that the Punjab government is only talking about the availability of water.

“We had a third meeting with the Punjab government on the SYL issue and are yet to find an amicable solution. They aren’t ready to bring the issue of SYL on agenda and are only talking about the availability of water. We’ll apprise the SC about it,” said Haryana CM Khattar.

However, Mann said that they want to save the Sutlej river and they will fight in Supreme Court.

“We want to save the Sutlej river. We have clearly stated that we don’t have water. Hence, we can’t give water to any state. We will fight in Supreme Court,” said the Punjab CM.

Notably, the SYL agreement was signed between Punjab and Haryana 42 years ago in the year 1981, but due to non-compliance, the dispute between the two states increased. For effective allocation of water, the SYL canal was to be constructed and the two states were required to construct their portions within their territories.

While Haryana constructed its portion of the canal, after the initial phase, Punjab stopped the work, leading to multiple cases against it.

In 2004, the Punjab government had passed a law that unilaterally cancelled the SYL agreement and other such pacts; however, in 2016, the apex court struck down this law. Later, Punjab went ahead and returned the acquired land–on which the canal was to be constructed–to the landowners.

On the issue of SYL, both states have to file a reply in court on January 19, which is why this mediation meeting was called on Wednesday, which remained inconclusive.

During its September 6, 2022, hearing, the Supreme Court bench observed that natural resources have to be shared, particularly in view of the security scenario in Punjab.

“Water is a natural resource and living beings must learn to share it, whether it is individual or state. The matter cannot be looked at from the point of view of only one city or state. It’s the natural wealth to be shared and how it is to be shared is a mechanism to be worked out,” Justice Kaul said.

Attorney General for India KK Venugopal appearing for the Ministry, said that the Centre is trying to bring together the states of Punjab and Haryana.

Venugopal further said that Punjab is not cooperating in the matter. “The Centre had written a letter to the new Chief Minister of Punjab in April but there was no response,” he said.

To this, the bench directed all the parties to cooperate. “Either they sit and talk or the Court will order the execution of the decree. These issues should not be allowed to fester… It will allow forces that may not be amicable to the country to act and interfere,” observed the top court.

On July 28, 2020, the top court had asked the Chief Ministers of both states to make an attempt to resolve the issue amicably.

The Ministry had earlier held several meetings which were attended by Chief Secretaries of the two states but remained inconclusive.

Earlier, a meeting was held between CM Punjab Bhagwant Mann and CM Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar at Haryana CM’s residence in October, but Mann refused to construct the canal saying that there was no water surplus in Punjab. (ANI)

Sandeep Case: Haryana Woman Coach Claims Offered Rs 1Cr To Leave Country

By LokMarg 3rd January 2023

The woman coach, who alleged sexual harassment by Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh, on Tuesday claimed that she is receiving phone calls asking her to leave the country for which she has been offered Rs 1 crore.

She claimed that Haryana Police is putting pressure on her.
Her remarks came while speaking to the media after she appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Chandigarh Police.

“I have told everything in detail to the Chandigarh Police SIT. I also told the pending issues to the SIT. I heard the Chief Minister’s statement this morning, in which the Chief Minister himself is taking the side of Sandeep Singh. Chandigarh Police did not put any pressure on me. Haryana Police is trying to put pressure on me,” she claimed.

“I’m receiving phone calls that I can leave and go to any country I want and I would get Rs 1 crore for a month,” she added.

The coach’s advocate Dipanshu Bansal alleged that the Chandigarh Police has not arrested the former minister, nor have the police interrogated him.

“This whole matter was of Chandigarh. Chandigarh Police had given notice under Section 160 after which we reached the police station to record the statement. There was interrogation for 8 hours. Whatever records were with my client were presented before the police. We have submitted the phone to the police. The police have neither interrogated Sandeep Singh nor arrested him. We have talked to the SIT in charge regarding the interrogation of Sandeep Singh. We have given the police two three days’ time to arrest the minister,” he said.

“Non-bailable sections have been imposed on Sandeep Singh, still why are the police not arresting him? The victim’s phone has also been seized by the police,” the advocate said.

Representatives from Dhankhar Khap along with the father of the woman coach, who accused sports minister Sandeep Singh of sexual harassment, met Haryana Home minister Anil Vij in Ambala today.

Earlier, the woman, who is a junior athlete coach, held a press conference at the office of the opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), wherein she alleged that the minister harassed her from February to November last year, by repeated messages in social media and had touched her inappropriately and also threatened her in messages.

During the press briefing, the woman demanded that the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana immediately sack Sandeep Singh and set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.

Notably, on Sunday, the woman told ANI that she opened up about the incident to the public after her she lost patience.

“I am also a player, think how much patience I would have to tolerate such ill behaviour of this person from February till now,” the woman said, adding that she didn’t open up about the incident earlier as she was afraid of negative impact on the sports industry.

“I tried as much as I could. He created such an atmosphere officially that a girl comes to him automatically,” she added.

The woman reiterated that she opened up to the public only after her patience broke.

Hours after sexual harassment allegations were leveled against him, Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh on Sunday said that he has handed over the responsibility of the Sports department to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar until the report of the investigation is out. (ANI)

Punjab Farmers Hit Out At Govt Over Stubble Management

By LokMarg 3rd November 2022

Local farmers in Punjab’s Bathinda district expressed their dissatisfaction over Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led state government’s failure to find an alternative to the stubble burning problem.

Local Villagers of Punjab’s Bhatinda district said, “If any officials come to stop us from burning the residue on the farm, they will be held hostage, the government can impose as many fines on them but we will not pay the fine.”
Lashing out at the government’s poor uptake to obviate the problem of stubble burning, the local farmers said, “They are compelled to set the stubble on fire every year. It is not their hobby to do all this. Farmers and their families get affected due to the stubble smoke first of all.”

They further said that the government sees only the smoke of stubble.

They also said that the government has not provided machines to farmers yet for which they had deposited money.

“Lakhs of rupees have been deposited for the machines for the last 1 year but the government is not giving the machines. Then, where should the farmer go and if the farmers do not set the stubble on fire, what will they do, how will the next crop be sown,” farmers said.

Earlier, Gaurav Bhatia also attacked AAP over 30 per cent increase in the cases of stubble burning in Punjab. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is providing funds to the states without any discrimination and rising above party politics. The reports also prove that Punjab was given the maximum amount of Rs 1,300 crore and Haryana Rs 693 crore for stubble disposal,” Bhatia said.

“Still, on the other hand, 7,648 cases of stubble burning were reported in Punjab during the year 2021-22, which increased to 10,214 in the year 2022-23. Thus, there was an increase of 33 per cent in the incidence of stubble burning in Punjab,” Gaurav Bhatia said further.

Earlier, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar claimed that the cases of stubble burning in Haryana are not even 10 per cent of that in Punjab.

Notably, stubble burning had turned worse across Punjab, giving no hope of improvement in Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) as the capital gasps for clean air.

Increasing incidents of stubble burning in Punjab this year have become a matter of concern with the Union Environment Ministry pointing out that the AQI is likely to deteriorate sharply as only about 45-50 per cent of sown area in the state had been harvested till October 24.

Sources in the Environment Ministry had told ANI that the contribution of stubble burning to the adverse air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region has been increasing sharply and is about 18-20 per cent currently with the trend only likely to increase further.

As per the Standard Protocol developed by ISRO for Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), for the period September 15, 2022, to October 26, 2022, total paddy residue burning events reported in Punjab were 7,036 compared to 6,463 for the same period during the last year.

CAQM further stated that about 70 per cent of farm fires during the current paddy harvesting season were reported only from six districts namely Amritsar, Firozpur, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Patiala, and Tarn Taran.

These districts account for 4,899 cases against a total of 7,036 incidents in Punjab. These traditional six hotspot districts also accounted for about 65 per cent of the total burning incidents during the last year for the same period. Out of a total of 7,036 reported cases, 4,315 stubble-burning incidences were reported during the last six days alone i.e., about 61 per cent.

As per the Standard ISRO Protocol, for the period of September 15 – October 28 this year, a total of 10,214 paddy residue burning events have been reported in Punjab compared to 7,648 for the same period during the last year, which is a significant increase of about 33.5 per cent.

Out of the total 10,214 reported cases, 7,100 stubble-burning incidents were reported in the last 7 days alone which is about 69 per cent, added the official. (ANI)

Stubble Burning In Haryana Not Even 10% Of Punjab’s: Khattar

By LokMarg 1st November 2022

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has claimed that the cases of stubble burning in Haryana are not even 10 percent of that in Punjab.

“There are not even 10 percent cases of stubble burning in Haryana as compared to Punjab. Last year there were 2,561 incidents of stubble burning, whereas it has decreased to 1,925 this year while 13,873 incidents have taken place in Punjab this year,” Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said while addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on Monday.
He further added that they have also appealed to Punjab regarding stubble burning and the pollution it causes.

“NGT has given directions to Punjab. We have also appealed (to them) that the pollution will not remain in one state but will spread to many states,” he said.

“We created awareness among the farmers and also took legal action besides imposing penalties and registering FIRs. Incidents of stubble burning have reduced significantly in Haryana as compared to Punjab,” Haryana CM said.

Notably, Stubble burning had turned worse across Punjab, giving no hope of improvement in Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) as the capital gasps for clean air.

Increasing incidents of stubble burning in Punjab this year have become a matter of serious concern with the Union Environment Ministry pointing out that the AQI is likely to sharply deteriorate as only about 45-50 percent of sown area in the state had been harvested till October 24.

Sources in the Environment Ministry had told ANI that the contribution of stubble burning to the adverse air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region has been increasing sharply and is about 18-20 percent currently with the trend only likely to increase further.

CAQM further stated that about 70 percent of farm fires during the current paddy harvesting season were reported only from six districts namely Amritsar, Firozpur, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Patiala, and Tarn Taran.

These districts account for 4,899 cases against a total of 7,036 incidents in Punjab. These traditional six hotspot districts also accounted for about 65 percent of the total burning incidents during the last year for the same period. Out of a total of 7,036 reported cases, 4,315 stubble-burning incidences were reported during the last six days alone i.e., about 61 percent.

Out of the total 10,214 reported cases, 7,100 stubble-burning incidents were reported in the last 7 days alone which is about 69 percent, added the official. (ANI)

Watch – ‘Local Quota Law A Black Day For Haryana Inc’

By LokMarg 21st July 2020

After Haryana government brought in an ordinance that mandates 75% reservation for locals in private sector jobs, most industrial unit owners call it a double whammy in Covid-19 times.

They unanimously point out that such “regressive” laws will only dent the state’s business-friendly image and will have a negative impact that may shoo away new units from setting shop in Haryana.

What if other states too brought similar laws, they ask. Job creation is the need of the hour, not reservation for political dividend, they told Team LokMarg.