Reliance issue rocks Haryana assembly

Chandigarh, Sep 19: The Haryana government's agreement with the Reliance for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) rocked the state assembly today with the opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) staging a walkout on the issue and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda strongly defending the deal.

The INLD members questioned the government's integrity for handing over land to the Reliance India Limited (RIL) at cheap rates at the cost of farmers and accused Mr Hooda of misleading the House by making false statements with regard to the SEZ agreement.

Mr Hooda had stated during the Question Hour that the state would benefit to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore by the multi-product SEZ to be developed in Gurgaon and Jhajjar districts over an area of 25,000 acres.

The Chief Minister was seeking to allay the apprehensions of the concerned members over the SEZ deal when the INLD members, led by Dr Sushil Kumar Indora, rose up and started shouting slogans against the chief minister and his government for the controversial deal.

Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadian and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala tried to pacify the agitated INLD members but they continued the slogan shouting and staged a walkout from the house at a time when the question hour was about to be concluded.

During his intervention, Mr Hooda also told the assembly that SEZ would generate as many as five lakh jobs besides benefitting the state to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore. The people of Haryana would get 25 per cent of the jobs in SEZ. Besides, he said, the Haryana Industrial and Infrastructral Development (HSIIDC) would get a sweat equity of ten per cent as per the SEZ agreement with the RIL.

He alleged that some people were trying to take political mileage out of the SEZ issue and mislead the public by spreading misinformation about it.

Earlier, Industries Minister Lachhman Dass Arora said in a written reply that the RIL would make an investment of Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore in providing infrastructure facilities in the SEZ.

The total investment in the ambitious SEZ, including that to be made by the various units, would go up to about Rs 100,000 crore.

Giving the other details related to the families whose land would be acquired, he stated that at least one member of the family whose land had been acquired would be given employment, training centres would be set up for them and rehabilitation of the relocated populace would be ensured by the developer. However, the INLD members were not satisfied by the reply and asked the government to clarify why only the RIL was picked up for the deal. ''Did no other company come forward or the government did not give it a try,'' asked Dr Sushil Kumar Indora.

After the brief walkoout over the Reliance issue, the INLD members came back in the house as soon as the zero hour began and indulged in shouting slogans again--this time over the Agrofed job scam. They brandished some photographs and newspaper clippings, linking the Chief Minister, Union Minister and Ambala MP Kumari Selja and local MLA D K Bansal with Agrofed Chairman Paramjit Singh Sandhu, accused of duping over 4,000 youths of an estimated Rs 200 crore.

The INLD members trooped into the well of the house even as a calling attention motion by Congress MLA K L Sharma on jaundice outbreak in his Shahbad constituency was being taken up.

When the INLD members continued shouting anti-government slogans and refused to go back to their seats, the Speaker adjourned the house for half an hour.

When the house reassembled, the INLD members raised the Reliance issue again and alleged that they were not given proper time to speak on the issue. The Speaker then allowed a discussion on the matter.

UNI