India News | BJP Stages Walkout in Himachal Assembly over Closure of Stone Crushers
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Dissatisfied with the reply of the state government on the closure of stone crushers, the opposition on Wednesday staged a walkout in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly.
Dharamshala, Dec 20 (PTI) Dissatisfied with the reply of the state government on the closure of stone crushers, the opposition on Wednesday staged a walkout in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly.
Frayed tempers were seen as heated exchanges ensued between the treasury and opposition benches. Intervening in the matter, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu explained the reasons for closing the stone crushers.
As soon as Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania called for the next question, the BJP members accused the government of giving incomplete information, started raising slogans and staged a walkout.
Sukhu said that the government was planning to mop up revenue of Rs 5 crore from mining and proposed to amend the existing mining policy as it was allegedly causing a loss of revenue.
During the monsoon, a decision was taken to close 128 stone crushers in Beas basin but there was no revenue loss as closure of stone crushers during the rainy season till September 15 was a normal practice, he claimed.
Referring to the increase in the rate of grit and sand, Sukhu said that the government was considering adding the cost of sand and stones in the cost of construction.
Bikram Singh Thakur and Bipin Singh Parmar (both BJP), dubbed the decision of the government as "anti-people". They alleged that it not only compelled the people to pay higher prices, but also rendered 1,600 people jobless.
Replying to the main question of Bipin Singh Parmar and Hoshiyar Singh, the industries minister said that mining is not permitted in the basins of rivers and their tributaries during the rainy season till September 15, and mining activities are allowed thereafter, and only the operation of stone crusher was stopped.
He said that most of the labourers working in stone crushers are from other states and only a few are from Himachal Pradesh, and they would go back to work after the operations are resumed.
Talking to media persons after the walkout, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said that the reply of the industries minister was ridiculous and the chief minister deviated from the main issue. The government closed over 100 stone crushers in Beas and Sutlej basin and later said that 90 crushers were in order and our question as to why these 90 crushers were closed, remained unanswered.
During the monsoon, 12,000 houses were damaged and the affected people are unable to construct the houses as the rates of sand and stone have gone up, Thakur said.
He further alleged the ministers are expressing different views on the issue of mining. While one minister has said that mining was responsible for the damage, another maintained that mining alone was not the cause of damage, and he advised the government to speak in one tone on the issue.
He also contested the claim of the government that most of the workers engaged in stone crushers were from other states and asserted that a "huge majority" of workers were Himachalis. We staged the walkout as the reply of the government was not satisfactory and an opportunity to ask more questions was not given, he added.
Before the start of the session, BJP leaders carrying small baskets of cow dung on their heads, led by the Jai Ram Thakur lodged protest against alleged non-fulfillment of poll guarantees by the Congress government in the Assembly campus at Tapovan in Dharamshala.
The BJP legislators raised slogans "Sukhu bhai Sukhu Bhai, dus guarantee kithe pai" (Sukhu brother, where are the ten guarantees?) and said that cheating with farmers would not be tolerated and the state government has to buy cow dung for Rs 2 per kg as promised. --
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)