First day of Winter Session: Himachal CM hails investors’ summit, Opposition walks out calling it a ‘scam’

Before discussion of any agenda item could begin, Agnihotri raised the issue of the Global Investors’ Meet which was held in the winter capital here last month.

“We welcome investment, but this event was the biggest scam in the state and a conspiracy against the people,” he said. The remark led to an uproar in the Assembly with BJP and Congress MLAs raising slogans against each other. After a few minutes of noisy sloganeering, the MLAs from the Congress walked out.

After the walk out, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur objected to the language used by the opposition and said that he is ready to clear all doubts regarding the event. “Such an event took place for the first time in the history of our state. We planned it for a year after careful study regarding ease of doing business and learning from investment models adopted by other states and countries. After the summit’s success, Punjab Chief Minister sought information about it and similar events have been held in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as well,” he said.

Thakur added that investments have been proposed in various sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, wellness and education in order to follow a holistic model of development. “The people of Himachal are known for their honesty, simplicity and hospitality and that’s why so many investors from across the globe are eager to set up base here. Never before had such a grand event been organised at such a low cost. The previous government went to Delhi, Bangalore and other places to attract investments but failed miserably. Now they are raising doubts due to a guilty conscience,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi acted as a host during the event to welcome investors.

Later, the Assembly unanimously passed a proposal to remove subsidy on food served in the Vidhan Sabha canteens. Welcoming the move, CPM MLA Rakesh Singha said that the travel and other allowances of MLAs should be cut down, too. Recently, a raise in the allowance of MLAs had invited protests in Shimla.

The Assembly also passed a bill to relax pension rules for widows and people with disabilities. The pension application of widows can now be approved by the gram panchayat instead of the gram sabha. Also, widows below 45 years of age will not have to fulfill the income requirements for obtaining pension.

“The meetings of gram sabha are sometimes not held for as long as six months or even a year. Everyday, I hear cases of widows running from pillar to post to get their pension started. The other day, some elderly people I met started sobbing due to the pitiable condition of a widow in their family. Widows are often abandoned by their in-laws as well as parents. The government must ensure their care and welfare,” said MLA Kamlesh Kumari. Several other MLAs lauded the move.

‘Just one complaint received on school uniform’

The state government has received only one complaint against sub-standard school uniform through the CM helpline number and a probe was underway in this matter, Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj informed the Assembly.

Attracting attention of the House towards reports in a section of media, the education minister said no compromise on standard and quality of the uniform had been made while providing those to school students.

Earlier this month, the state Congress unit had alleged that the BJP government distributed sub-standard uniforms under the Atal Vardi Yojana among the students of government schools. State Congress president Kuldeep Singh Rathore had demanded that Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur order an inquiry into the “uniform scam”.

With PTI inputs

Also in the House

Reply to a question by MLA Asha Kumari revealed that 1564 posts of arts and crafts teachers and 1763 posts of physical education teachers were lying vacant in the state, with Kangra district having the highest number of vacancies

Another reply stated that black bears had killed nine cows and two calves in Kotgarh area this year, and a total compensation of Rs 1.38 lakh was awarded to the owners

Members of the Assembly paid tributes to four former MLAs who passed away recently – Jai Kishan Sharma, Vikram Singh Katoch, Ram Ratan Pataku and Gandharv Singh