PROSPERITY FOR ALL
We have traversed a lot of distance, but there are still miles to go,” says Haryana’s first- time BJP Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He believes that his first three years in office “are only the beginning of seeing people much happier and prosperous”.
On the 51st anniversary of its formation, Khattar believes Haryana is finally on the path towards making ‘ Haryana ek, Haryanvi ek’
( united Haryana, united people of Haryana)— his government’s inclusive development slogan— a reality.
Despite intermittent glitches, such as the violent Jat quota stir in 2016 and the arson and mob rampage in the wake of the sentencing of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Singh this August, the state government has done exceedingly well in including every section of the Haryanvi society in the development process.
State finance minister Captain Abhimanyu says the decision to proactively compensate farmers for crop losses helped achieve this goal, by averting prospects of a debt trap amid Haryana’s predominant farming community. Till date, the state has disbursed compensation worth a whopping Rs 3,000 crore, at enhanced rates of Rs 12,000 per acre, including payments pending from the previous Congress regime. “This helped keep the state’s economy churning,” says Captain Abhimanyu. It helped the state step in to procure most of the produce, including millets, sunflower and pulses.
The Khattar government launched and overhauled several schemes, benefitting Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes— to name a few, the Mukhya Mantri Vivah Shagun Yojana and Mukhya Mantri Samajik Samrasta Antarjatiya Vivah Shagun Yojana to encourage inter- caste marriages; and special provisions for scholarships for SC and OBC students. Efforts are being made to bring peripheral castes, such as Vimukt, Ghumantu, Ardh- Ghumantu and Tapriwas, into the mainstream; 9,920 families from these communities have
been provided permanent housing, ration cards, voter and Aadhaar cards.
The state’s government employees have been extended full benefits of the Seventh Pay Commission, cashless medical cover and ‘ equal pay for equal work’. Industrial and other categories of workers have been given higher wages and compensation in case of death, accident or disability.
A small but significant part of the Khattar government’s success story comes from the push to the tourism sector. Already leading highway tourism, with its network of 43 tourist complexes christened after local bird species, Haryana is now making forays into concepts such as golf tourism and farm tourism and promoting its pilgrimage and heritage centres. New tourism initiatives include the Krishna circuit, covering the Brahma Sarovar, Jyotisar, Narkatri, Sanhit Sarovar and Kurukshetra, and a new Rs 100 crore heritage circuit covering Rewari, Mahendergarh and Madhogarh.
Both the chief minister and the finance minister say Haryana’s success with inclusive development and tourism have been hugely supported by the introduction of transparent e- services— monitoring via the ‘ CM Window’, digitisation of land records ( e- bhoomi), online tendering, online payments and refunds. An Aadhaar- based direct benefit transfer is also in place for the public distribution system, health services and social sector pensions.