Chandigarh:
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said that under the BJP dispensation, jobs are being given on merit basis and to assert his point, he cited the example of the recruitment of senior Congress leader Geeta Bhukkal's daughter for the post of an assistant professor.
Addressing the state assembly on the concluding day of the budget session, he said that his government has adopted a transparent recruitment process.
An advertisement was issued on February 16, 2016 for the post of Assistant Professor (English) and after completing due process, the result was declared, the chief minister said.
Mr Khattar informed the House that Sukriti Bhukkal, daughter of former education minister and sitting Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal, was also among the selected candidates and she joined as Assistant Professor (English) in Government College for Girls, Panchkula on January 4.
As soon as the chief minister took the name of Ms Bhukkal's daughter, it triggered an angry reaction from the Congress legislator, who asked, "Has the government done a favour?"
"My daughter is a meritorious girl, who graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi. Why only my daughter's name is being taken. When you are saying jobs are being given on merit in entire state, why is my daughter's name being singled out?" Ms Geeta Bhukkal retorted as she engaged in a war of words with Finance Minister Abhimanyu.
Speaker Kanwar Pal tried to pacify her, saying, "What is wrong in what the CM has said?"
Taking a dig at previous Congress government, Abhimanyu said, "Everyone knows how merit was ignored during their rule and favouritism was adopted in giving jobs. I can understand your pain (pointing towards Bhukkal)".
"During their ten years of rule, merit was ignored. They should apologise in the House," the finance minister said.
Mr Khattar tried to calm things down, saying Sukriti Bhukkal was meritorious and he too was saying so.
Earlier, the chief minister announced in the House that 10 per cent horizontal reservation in recruitment to Group D posts would be provided for sportspersons from the state with outstanding performance.
He said the state government has made a provision under which preference for the place of posting would be sought from candidates prior to declaration of final result so that those selected can join within one to two days.
Mr Khattar said the Staff Selection Commission had on Wednesday declared the result of the exam to recruit 6,134 clerks and the successful candidates are being informed about their place of posting through e-mail and SMS.
The commission has also declared the result for 380 posts of Multi Purpose Health Workers on March 8, he said.
"There is an atmosphere of joy in the state after the declaration of results as the selection of candidates has been made purely on the basis of merit without any recommendations," Mr Khattar said.
While taking a dig at the previous government in the state, he said that no recruitment in Group D posts was made during the Congress' 10-year rule.