Rewari, Jul 27 (PTI) Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said on Saturday that the Congress will keep raising at every platform the demand for the creation of an Ahir regiment in the Indian Army.
He said if the Congress forms the government in Haryana after the upcoming assembly elections, a proposal will also be sent to the Centre in this regard.
"The Ahir regiment is not just the demand of south Haryana but the entire country," the Congress leader said.
The Ahirwal belt (Rewari-Gurugram-Mahendragarh) is known for its contribution to the defence forces.
Hooda was here to address the Congress workers' conference to thank them for their efforts during the Lok Sabha elections.
He was accompanied by Haryana Congress president Chaudhary Udaibhan, former MLA Ajay Singh Yadav, Congress leader Raj Babbar, MLA Chiranjiv Rao and many senior party leaders, according to a party statement.
In his address, Hooda said south Haryana received many gifts like Rewari-Rohtak railway line and NH-71 during the previous Congress government.
"The Congress had taken steps to make south Haryana a hub of education by establishing institutions like Central University Mahendragarh, Indira Gandhi University Mirpur and Sainik School," said the leader of opposition in the Haryana assembly.
"During our government, the defence university was also approved here, but as soon as the BJP came to power, it shelved the project.
Along with this, this government also destroyed the expansion of the education sector and infrastructure. The BJP has cheated the entire Haryana, including Ahirwal by taking votes," he alleged.
"This is the reason why Haryana, which was the number one state in the country in per capita income, per capita investment, employment, sportspersons and welfare schemes till 2014, has been made number one by BJP in unemployment, crime, drug addiction and misery," he said.
He accused the BJP government of abolishing permanent jobs and implementing exploitative policies like Kaushal Nigam, in which there is no permanent job for the youth, no post, no promotion, no merit, transparency and reservation.
"Through such policies, the BJP is ending the reservation of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs)," he said.
Hooda said once the Congress forms the government in Haryana, every elderly person will be given Rs 6,000 pension and the employees will be given the old pension scheme.
"To give relief to people from inflation, 300 units of free electricity and gas cylinders will be given for Rs 500. To curb unemployment, transparent recruitment will be done on the basis of merit according to qualification for two lakh vacant posts," he said.
"The scheme of giving free plots of 100 square yards to the poor, the SCs and the OBC families and building a two-room house on it will be started again. Also, to give full benefit of reservation to the backward class, the limit of creamy layer will be increased from eight to 10 lakh," he added. PTI CHS KSS KSS