Latest news with #ex-Haryana
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Punjab-Haryana water dispute: Centre decides to post CISF at Bhakra dam
CHANDIGARH: Amid the ongoing water-sharing dispute between Punjab and Haryana, Centre has approved deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the Bhakra dam project. The move follows a recent move by Punjab police to take control of certain critical points of the dam. Sources said MHA sanctioned the creation of 296 posts in CISF's security wing for induction at the Bhakra project in Nangal, Punjab and a letter to this effect was sent to the central paramilitary force on May 19. Subsequently, CISF issued directions to facilitate accommodation, transport, communication equipment, security gadgets and other basic amenities for deploying its personnel at Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), Nangal. A few weeks ago, Punjab govt had deployed massive police force at the dam following BBMB's decision to release additional 4,500 cusecs of water for Haryana. As per a reply filed by BBMB chairman in a related matter before Punjab and Haryana HC, the Board's officials have been restrained from operating at the dam by Punjab govt functionaries. In court, BBMB had demanded that CISF personnel be deployed at the dam. While hearing the matter on May 6, the Chief Justice-headed bench refused to pass orders for CISF deployment, but observed that most central installations in states are manned by central paramilitary force. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 7 Mahalaxmi by Runwal Enterprises starting from 4.07 Cr* 7 Mahalaxmi Book Now Undo Meanwhile, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, who reached Nangal dam on Wednesday, said his govt would raise a demand for reconstitution of BBMB in the May 24 meeting of Niti Aayog, which is to be chaired by PM Narendra Modi. Addressing a rally, he added that since the water level changed frequently, all water agreements should be reviewed every 25 years. "From 1pm today, water will be released to Haryana as per the state's allocation and in keeping with the capacity of the infrastructure. But the state should make judicious use of the water and not hope for extra during the current cycle. We have no animosity with the people of Haryana. They picked a political fight. (Union minister and ex-Haryana CM) Manohar Lal Khattar made it a prestige issue," he said. Describing BBMB as a 'white elephant', Mann said it was useless in the present form. He said Haryana exhausted its share of water in March, "but the Board acted as a puppet in the hands of the Centre and Haryana govt to take away Punjab's share".
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Khemka ends career marked by 57 transfers & 'inconsequential' roles
CHANDIGARH: Haryana bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, whose 2012 decision to cancel a controversial Gurgaon land deal involving Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's husband Robert Vadra and realty firm DLF cemented his reputation as a stickler for rules, retired from service on Wednesday after a career marked by an astonishing 57 transfers . The 1991 batch IAS officer retired as additional chief secretary of transport department. BJP had flagged the Vadra-DLF deal as a symbol of corruption during its 2014 Lok Sabha campaign against the then UPA govt. But Khemka didn't quite become anyone's blue-eyed boy. While BJP came to govt at the Centre and the state, the bureaucrat remained a rolling stone, with no consequential assignment coming his way until the fag end of his career. He was appointed additional chief secretary last Dec in a department headed by minister Anil Vij, who is known to trust him. For some time, Khemka was posted in the science and technology department, which Vij previously headed. Most of his tenure, first under Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress govt and then BJP ministry, was spent in the archaeology and museums department. BJP had once cited Khemka's alleged persecution as a manifestation of Congress getting even with "a whistleblower". But even before the party had completed a year at the Centre since winning the 2024 polls, he was back in a purportedly inconsequential role. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Intel Laptops + 1:1 Support for Your Team Lenovo Pro Benefits Learn More Undo Khemka had vented on social media and written to the govt about "mistreatment" on several occasions. In a letter ex-Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar in 2019, he said some of his transfers at the time were "not in public interest, but based on extraneous and personal considerations". Referring to the DLF-Vadra land deal, which he cancelled after noticing alleged irregularities, Khemka had said: "The promise made to the nation at the time of the 2014 elections is now forgotten." "Governance is no longer a service; it is a business. Only a few fools like me will think and act like trustees of the public faith. Hoping against hope you will not throw this letter into the dustbin, I also request you to please accord me permission to write and seek an audience from the PM on the issue highlighted in this letter in public interest," he wrote. He was given a farewell by the IAS Officers Association in the presence of chief secretary Anurag Rastogi. Khemkatold TOI he planned to start a new innings as a lawyer. "I will apply to the bar council for a licence to practice as an advocate," he said.
