Himachal Pradesh govt repeals Loktantra Prahari Yojana, opposition slams move

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], April 3 : Himachal Pradesh government repealed the provisions of the Loktantra Prahari Samman Act which provides an honorarium to Loktantra Prahari, started by the former Bharatiya Janata Party government by bringing a bill in the Assembly House following which the opposition created a ruckus in Assembly and staged a walkout.

The Loktantra Prahari Samman Act provides a monthly pension of Rs 20000 and Rs 12000 to the people who were lodged in jails during the Emergency from 1975 to 1977.

"The Himachal Pradesh Loktantra Prahri Samman Act, 2021 of the (Act No. 5 of 2021), is hereby repealed. The repeal of the Act under section 2, shall not affect the previous operations of the said Act or anything duly done or Provided that any right, privilege, title, facility, benefit or Samman Rashi being granted under the Act so repealed shall not continue after the commencement of this Act," reads the statement in the Act which was brought for repealing in the Assembly on Monday.

The opposition opposed the bill brought to close the scheme and alleged that during the Emergency, the country's Congress government had strangled democracy and those who raised their voice against this decision were put in jails.

Talking to the media HP former CM Jai Ram Thakur said that the opposition is against the action of the ruling party and will surely restart the scheme after coming to power.

"The Congress government has repealed the scheme of Loktantra Prahri Yojana. We started the scheme under which an amount of Rs 12000 and Rs 20000 rupees were given to those who struggled to end the Emergency in the country," said Thakur.

"They (Congress ) talk about democracy and here if we had given an honorarium to those who worked for the protection of democracy in the country these ruling party people have repealed the Act," he added.

Talking about the freedom of the press and restarting the scheme, Thakur said, "Freedom of the press was also snatched away during the emergency. Media was not allowed to speak against the ruling party. We oppose this undemocratic decision and upon coming to power, this pension will be restarted with more money."

Speaking on the irregularities and fake degree cases in the private universities, Thakur said that the previous BJP government had burst the fake degree case at Manav Bharti University.

Previously, the Enforcement Directorate has filed a complaint against Raj Kumar Rana, Manav Bharti University and others in a case related to the selling of fake degrees in the name of Manav Bharti University at Solan in Himachal Pradesh. The agency also said assets worth Rs 194 crore have already been attached provisionally in this case.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Harshvardhan Chauhan said that Loktantra Prahari Yojana was started when BJP realised Thakur's defeat before the elections.

Chauhan said, "There were BJP governments in Himachal Pradesh even before the Jairam government, and no government started this scheme. But now when Jairam Thakur's defeat was seen before the elections, they started the scheme for the purpose of giving benefits, which has put an economic burden on the state"

"No BJP or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader has played any role in the freedom struggle, so it is totally wrong to compare people who were in jails during emergencies," added Chauhan.

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