Shimla, Aug 18 Himachal Pradesh Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said the attitude adopted by the Congress government amidst the natural calamity in the state was unfortunate.
“There is a loss of thousands of crores, and the Chief Minister announced an assistance of just Rs two crore in several instalments. Even after this, the government wants us to praise them,” Thakur told the assembly on the first day of its monsoon session that began here.
Raising the issue under Rule 67 (adjournment motion), he said the government should once evaluate whether what they have done is correct.
“Is the relief provided by the government sufficient? If the roads are not open even after more than one and a half months, then whose work was this? We opened the roads by using more than 20 JCB machines. And the government installs a few machines and tells the number that we have installed so many machines,” BJP leader Thakur said.
“The question is not how many machines have been installed? The question is how many machines are required so that the road opens on time? What the government should have done should be discussed. How to compensate for the loss suffered by the people should be discussed,” he said.
“The leaders protected by the government made the disaster an opportunity and crossed all limits of corruption,” Thakur alleged.
“The roads which we have opened by asking for machines from people, today Congress leaders say take out the work of those roads and make a tender in our name and give us the money for it. This level of corruption and low-level work is happening in the disaster-affected areas,” he said.
“Instead of providing relief in the disaster-affected areas, the government is focusing on how to snatch whatever is there.”
He said it took weeks for the government to give Rs 2500 as immediate relief.
“The government should build temporary shelters for the disaster-hit hit where the affected can be settled temporarily. The institutions and structures built by the previous government are a thorn in the eyes of the government. That is why it repeatedly refers to them in the wrong way. If the government is so upset about these things, then it should take a bulldozer and demolish them.”
He said many officials have done a good job during this disaster. “For that, I congratulate them and express my gratitude to them. A lot of improvement is needed; the government should pay attention to that, too.”
Earlier, the Assembly unanimously decided to accept the notices given by members of the treasury benches and the Opposition demanding an adjournment motion under Rule 67 and calling attention motion under Rule 130 to discuss the devastation caused by heavy monsoon rains across the state.
BJP members demanded that the discussion be held immediately, citing extensive damage to life and property.
An official said that with heavy rains continuing across the state on Monday, triggering landslides, more than 400 roads, including three national highways, have been hampered.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor