As though these problems were not enough, two more have now been added to the list. One is the open opposition from within the ruling party against the state government’s land acquisition policy. The other is Government of India’s condemnation of harassment of Indian Forest Officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi who exposed scams in the Haryana Forest Department and direction to the state government to immediately quash the chargesheet against him.

The April 21, 2010 Mirchpur incident in which Jats set afire nearly a dozen Dalit house and burnt a 70-year old Dalit and his 17years old polio-stricken daughter had evoked nation-wide condemnation prompting even Rahul Gandhi to visit Mirchpur without informing the state government.

In Haryana’s caste-ridden politics, the Mirchpur incident, ironically, has been used by both the Congress and its main opponent Om Parkash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal to wean away Jats from each other’s fold. Obviously, it was with this objective that, on the one hand, the state’s ruling Congress leadership adopted a soft attitude towards the Jat agitators and, on the other, Chautala has neither condemned the agitators nor criticized the Congress government’s inaction to firmly deal with the agitators. The agitators demand that the 98 accused arrested by the state police after the Supreme Court’s direction and their trial which, under the Court’s directive, were shifted from Haryana to Delhi should be shifted back Haryana. The agitation which began with rail tracks blockade in Jind has now spread to the adjoining districts and also extended to highways causing inconvenience to the people.

Like the Mirchpur Jats, the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda also resorted to blocking of the Sirsa-Mansa road protesting against the orders of the high court directing the Dera chief to appear in the CBI court at Sirsa everyday to speed up the trial of the double murder case.

Rail tracks and highways blockades which have become a favourite mode of agitation in Haryana have lent worrying dimension to the two agitations. Such protests, irrespective of the merits and demerits of their objectives, are attempts to pressurise the Supreme Court and the High Court to reverse their earlier directives which has far-reaching implications for the delivery of justice by the courts. It is also a matter of concern that the state government is allowing it to happen and the opposition party is playing a collusive role by adopting an indifferent attitude.

Another matter of serious concern is the controversy raging in Haryana on the land acquisition issue. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, has in a number of cases, passed strictures against the state’s former INLD and the present Congress governments rapping them for acquiring farmers land for public purposes but later releasing them to developers and builders.

Such land acquisitions have now evoked dissenting voices even in the ruling party. After the Union Minister and Hooda’s detractor Kumari Selja, it is the Haryana Finance minister Capt. Ajay Singh Yadav who has now publicly opposed acquisition of farmers fertile land. The Hooda-led government had in November last announced a steep hike for lands acquisitioned by the state government. Even Sonia Gandhi eulogized the decision which she wanted other Congress-ruled states to follow. The critics of the Hooda Government, however, demand that farmers should be compensated at the prevailing market rates for lands acquisitioned for industrial and commercial projects.

It is not only on the land acquisition issue that the Haryana government has earned the superior Courts wrath, the Supreme Court has also rapped the state government for the non-appearance of government counsels in various court cases despite having an army of law officers.

It is because of these and similar actions of the ruling classes that the people have been losing faith in the legislatures and the executive as the first are increasingly becoming abode of criminals and the second as breeding ground of corruption. It is the proactive judiciary and the Press which, despite the presence of some black sheep in their ranks, still enjoy people’s faith for acting as the watchdogs of public interests.

In these times of scams the Government of India’s coming to the rescue of a Haryana cadre Indian Forest Service Officer whistle-blower is like a whiff of fresh air. The case concerns harassment of Sanjiv Chaturvedi by the state authorities for exposing the multi-crore scams in the state’s Forest Department. He was transferred for a dozen times in five years. The Centre has said that the officer has been chargesheeted for implementing the orders of the Supreme Court. “The chargesheet had been kept pending for more than three years thereby blocking his prospects for promotion, deputation, study leave etc”. The Centre has ordered immediately quashing of the chargesheet against Chaturvedi.

The situation created by the above issues is a wake-up call for the Hooda government. No doubt, the Chief Minister’s amiable nature, easy accessibility and taking Haryana to developmental heights have won him many admirers. But it is his lax governance which is largely responsible for creating such problems. It is not necessary to become a terror to become a strong administrator. What is required is firmness in handling the bureaucracy and strengthening the delivery mechanism so that the government decisions are diligently and expeditiously executed to provide relief to the people. The earlier it is done the better. (IPA Service)