Haryana Assembly on Wednesday continued to witness a heated debate between the treasury and Opposition benches on the issue of alleged irregularities in the inspector recruitment, which was reported during Congress regime under the then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the second consecutive day.
Citing an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the matter, the BJP MLAs have accused former Chief Minister Hooda of overlooking meritorious candidates and getting his own as well as several other Congress leaders’ kin in government jobs. The issue was first raised by BJP MLA Om Prakash Yadav during Tuesday’s proceedings on the Budget discussion. On Wednesday, Yadav even threatened to walkout demanding a clear reply from the government over the action it was taking in the issue of the alleged irregularities in the inspector recruitment.
Senior Congress leader Hooda said that such accusations cannot be discussed on the floor of the House. At that time, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini read out a portion of the judgement and said, “There were candidates who submitted blank answer sheets, yet they were selected”.
Agitated over Saini’s statement, Hooda said: “If this is the case, as the Chief Minister is saying, I resign from membership of this House”.
Hooda also read out the portions from the same judgement and asserted that “at no point, the High Court’s judgement had said anything that raises questions on his government”. But Saini said that he “can get this inquired into too”.
Speaker Harvinder Kalyan said that the Government had already given its reply on the matter. At this point, Hooda stood up and started reading out certain portions of the High Court’s judgement. He claimed that the government was wrongly interpreting the portions of the judgement.
“Yesterday too, there were arguments on the issue of inspectors’ recruitment. The Court had passed some remarks. The petitioner had alleged that two persons – Arjun Rathi and Deepak – did not even take a written examination. They submitted blank answer sheets. Yet, they were selected,” Saini said.
To which Hooda said: “You cannot discuss the court’s judgement in the House. There are several Court decisions involving you too. Also, the Supreme Court is above the High Court. If this is the case, then I shall resign from this House”.
Saini said that the State Government will seek Advocate-General’s opinion regarding the High Court's decision concerning the recruitment of 20 Inspector posts in the Haryana Police during the Congress tenure. He said that if the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) can initiate an investigation into the matter through a specialized agency, in compliance with the Court's decision, the government is ready to provide the necessary services immediately.
He informed the House that in 2011, a petition was filed in the High Court by an individual, alleging irregularities in the recruitment process for 20 posts of Inspectors in Haryana Police conducted by the HSSC in 2008. The petitioner claimed that despite securing the highest marks in the written examination, insufficient marks were awarded in interview. In addition, the petitioner alleged that two of the selected candidates had not even appeared for the written examination. The court ruled that if the petitioner is not satisfied with this decision, then it is his legal right to appeal.
Saini informed that the Court had formed a three-member committee to investigate the petitioner’s allegations. In its report, on this allegation of impersonation, the HSSC stated that the attendance sheet of the written examination is no longer available. Therefore, to investigate this, a forensic match of handwriting recorded in the answer sheet should be done by a specialized agency by taking a sample of the handwriting of both the selected candidates. On this, the court in its order said that it could not perform the role of an investigative agency, but the HSSC has the freedom to get the facts investigated.
The Chief Minister also highlighted that during the Congress tenure, the recruitment process for government jobs was flawed. At that time, qualified youth were exploited, and many deserving candidates, especially from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, could not think to get a government job.
Vidhan Sabha expresses happiness at safe return of NASA astronauts
Haryana Vidhan Sabha, on the eighth day of the Budget session, expressed happiness at the safe return of NASA astronauts — including Indian-origin Sunita Williams and her fellow Crew-9 members — to Earth after a prolonged mission to the International Space Station.
BJP leader and Transport Minister Anil Vij moved a resolution saying that Williams and her fellow Crew-9 members had returned to Earth after a prolonged mission and the Assembly should express its happiness over their safe return.
Speaker Harvinder Kalyan, expressing his support for the resolution, assured that best wishes and congratulations from the Haryana Assembly would be conveyed to Sunita Williams and her entire team.
NASA astronauts Williams, Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth early Wednesday onboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which splashed down in the sea off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.
Rs 60,060 cr agri loan lying outstanding towards 27L farmers
Haryana Assembly was informed that the amount of agriculture loan lying outstanding towards more than 27 lakh farmers in the state stood at Rs 60,060 crore. Raising the matter during Question Hour, Indian National Lok Dal MLA Aditya Devi Lal said: “Is there any agriculture loan lying outstanding towards the farmers of the state at present? If so, please provide the extent of the total outstanding amount together with the number of farmers and district-wise details.” In response, Cooperation Minister Arvind Sharma informed the House that the “amount of agriculture loan outstanding as of December 31, 2024, was Rs 60,060 crore against 27,71,676 farmers”. Among the districts, outstanding loan in Sirsa was Rs 6,102 crore against 2,07,517 farmers, while in Hisar it was Rs 5,873 against 2,68,227 farmers, Sharma said. However, in the urbanized districts such as Gurugram and Faridabad, the outstanding amount stood at Rs 842 crore and Rs 533 crore, respectively, he added.
Rs 8k/acre incentive for adopting alternative crops in place of paddy
Chief Minister Saini, replying to a query regarding crop loans for farmers, said that under the ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme, farmers will now receive an incentive of Rs 8,000 per acre for switching from paddy to alternative crops — an increase from the previous Rs 7,000 per acre. In addition, crop loans are being provided to farmers through cooperative banks at a zero percent interest rate. Saini informed the House that crop loans are given to farmers through Harco Bank and other cooperative banks at an interest rate of seven percent. However, Haryana Government bears four percent of the interest, while the Centre covers three percent.
State’s all roads to be renovated in 6 months
In response to a question regarding the repair of roads, Saini announced that all the roads in the state will be renovated in the coming six months. He assured that no damaged road will remain in the state in the next six months, and the State Government will renovate all the roads to provide quality infrastructure to the citizens and further accelerate the pace of development.
Bill to curb illegal activities of travel agents
Haryana Government has introduced ‘The Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents Bill, 2025’ in the state assembly aimed at curbing activities of unscrupulous travel agents and safeguard the interests of residents. The development comes amid the US deportation of illegal Indian immigrants, many of them from Punjab and Haryana, who entered America through “donkey route” — an illegal and risky pathway used by travel agents to send people abroad.
The Government also tabled ‘The Haryana Prevention of Public Gambling Bill, 2025’ that proposes a jail term of up to five years for those indulging in match fixing or spot fixing in sports. Saini, who also holds the Home portfolio, tabled the Bill that provides for the prevention and punishment for those indulging in public gambling, keeping of common gambling house, betting in sports or elections, match fixing or spot fixing in sports.
Both the Bills, moved by Chief Minister Saini, will likely be taken up for discussion in the ongoing budget session.
