Uproar in Himachal assembly over closure of ‘Jan Manch’
The Himachal Pradesh assembly on Wednesday witnessed uproarious scenes as the opposition BJP created a ruckus against the government’s move to discontinue ‘Jan Manch’, the flagship public grievances redressal programme of the previous government.
The Himachal Pradesh assembly on Wednesday witnessed uproarious scenes as the opposition BJP created a ruckus against the government’s move to discontinue ‘Jan Manch’, the flagship public grievances redressal programme of the previous government.
The members of the treasury and opposition benches had a heated exchange after chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu during the question hour announced the discontinuation of the programme and replace it with a new grievance redressal programme.
Earlier, the chief minister said that the new government has come to power and a new programme will be started. He said the government intends to reach out to the last man in the row. He also accused Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur of playing politics over the ‘Jan Manch’ programme and trying to gain political mileage.
Sukhu said that the government under the new programme will solve problems being faced by the people while according due respect to officers and employees.
He said an amount of ₹2.70 crore was spent only on providing food in ‘Jan Manch’ programmes, while an amount of ₹2 crore was spent on setting up tents.
On this, the enraged opposition members moved to the well of the House raising slogans prompting speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.
When the House resumed against, Jai Ram Thakur said their intention was not to disrupt the House. He said that the government should reconsider its decision and should not shut down everything.
Earlier, replying to a question asked by Jawalamukhi MLA Sanjay Rattan, the rural development and panchayati raj minister, Anirudh Singh said that during the previous BJP government, a total of 258 ‘Jan Manch’ programmes were organised in the state from June 3, 2018, to May 1, 2022.
An amount of ₹5.34 crore was spent on these programmes, including ₹2.70 crore on food and ₹2.63 on other arrangements like tents.
A total of 45,726 complaints were received in these ‘Jan Manchs’, out of which 43,821 complaints were resolved and 1,905 were pending resolution. A maximum of 25 ‘Jan Manchs’ were held in Kangra district followed by 24 each in Shimla and Solan. Twenty-three Jan Manch programmes each were held in Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kullu, Sirmaur and Una. Twelve programmes were held in Kinnaur and 10 in Lahul-Spiti.
Later, after the question hour ended, Jai Ram Thakur again raised the matter of ‘Jan Manch’ in the House and said that it was a scheme through which people from remote areas of the state were getting solutions to their problems at their door-steps and the BJP strongly objects to its discontinuation.
He said that the government should run this programme as it is. Shutting down is not the solution.
Meanwhile, horticulture minister Jagat Singh Negi termed the ‘Jan Manch’ as ‘lunch munch’ and said that to continue or discontinue the programme is the discretion of the state government.
Negi also claimed that when he raised the voice of the public in the ‘Jan Manch’, a case was registered against him by the police.
