CHANDIGARH: Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Saturday said that the BJP’s misguided policies have pushed Haryana into the category of the most indebted states. Haryana, which was the most prosperous state in the country before 2014, has been reduced to a state with a dilapidated economy under the BJP’s rule, he said. Hooda, who was in Faridabad to attend several social events, responded to questions from journalists and said Haryana’s economic situation is deteriorating day by day. “Haryana has now become one of the top 5 most indebted states in the country, and this has been revealed in the latest report of the Reserve Bank of India. This is because the state’s debt has crossed Rs 5.25 lakh crore. Whereas, from the formation of Haryana until 2014, this amount was only Rs 60,000 crore,” he said. “Today, the state is so heavily indebted that the BJP does not have enough revenue to implement any schemes or fulfil its election promises. That is why all its election promises are proving to be false. The government had promised to give Rs 2,100 per month to all women during the elections, but now only a few women are receiving this amount,” he pointed out.
“In 2024-25, 2.13 crore people in Haryana were in the BPL (Below Poverty Line) category, meaning that approximately 85 lakh women should have benefited from this scheme. But currently, the government is only talking about giving the amount to 8 lakh women,” he said. Even then, it is now being said that women will only receive Rs 1,100, and Rs 1,000 will be deposited. Conditions such as income limits, children’s education, and malnutrition have also been imposed. The government is deliberately imposing such conditions so that most women are automatically excluded from the beneficiary list,” he said. Hooda also reacted against the changes made to the MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme. He said the BJP govt has attacked the rights of Dalits, backward classes, the poor, villagers, and panchayats. “More than 8 lakh MNREGA workers are registered in Haryana. However, in 2024-25, the government provided 100 days of work to only 2,100 families. The government neither provided work to the laborers nor gave them compensation as per the provisions of the scheme,” he said.