Heated exchanges in Rajasthan Assembly after Cong MLA accuses police of extortion

Jaipur, Mar 9 (PTI) Rajasthan Assembly witnessed heated exchanges on Monday after a Congress MLA accused the Dungarpur police of extortion, filing false cases and harassing poor tribal residents.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Congress MLA Ganesh Ghoghra alleged that since the "double-engine government" came to power in the state, police personnel have been "looting the common people".

He claimed that innocent people were being implicated in false cases, including those related to assault on children in Dungarpur.

The Congress leader also alleged irregularities at Bichhiwara police station, claiming that residents were being framed in fabricated cases.

"People who come to me say that the police ask them why they went to the leaders when they approach them for justice. If the police do not listen, where should people go?" he asked.

The MLA further alleged that Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 was being demanded for registering FIRs at police stations.

Responding to the allegations, Minister of State for Home Jawahar Singh Bedham rejected the charges as "completely baseless", leading to a sharp exchange in the House between him and Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra.

Bedham claimed that the crime in Dungarpur has declined by 16 per cent due to strict policing.

"The MLA's allegation that police are looting people under the double-engine government is entirely incorrect. The figures speak for themselves," he said, adding that Dotasra did not want to hear the truth.

Countering Bedham, Dotasra said that the MLA's claims were cent per cent correct.

The House also witnessed a heated debate over vacant posts in English medium schools and Swami Vivekananda Model Schools, which were started during the previous Congress government.

Replying to a question by BJP MLA Mahant Balaknath in the House, Education Minister Madan Dilawar said the previous government had converted 3,737 schools into Mahatma Gandhi Government English Medium Schools without creating any teaching posts.

He alleged that in several cases, teachers appointed in such schools were not themselves educated in the English medium. PTI SDA SHS