Dehradun: Opposition members on Monday raised the issue of Lokayukta on the last day of the state assembly session, saying that the government is just doing ‘lip-service’ on its policy of zero tolerance against corruption.Raising the issue, leader of opposition in the assembly Indira Hridayesh asked the government to “inform the date when Lokayukta is going to be appointed in the state.” The opposition members also entered the well of the House when their demand for a detailed discussion on the issue was turned down by the speaker.Hridayesh said, “The BJP-led state government has failed to fulfill its promise of appointing Lokayukta within three months of forming the government. The government’s dual standards have been exposed. BJP talks of zero tolerance against corruption but is doing nothing on the issue of Lokayukta.”She added, “We supported the Lokayukta bill when it was brought in the House. The bill was then sent to the select committee, which has just met four times since its first meeting in April 2017. The state government is not serious on the issue.”State Congress president and MLA from Chakrata, Pritam Singh, alleged that the government is scared of appointing Lokayukta in the state. Mentioning the NH-74 scam, he said that the government has failed to give the investigation to CBI.“The chief minister told the House last year that CBI has agreed to probe the NH-74 scam. However, it later turned out that the central investigating agency is not ready to take up the investigation. We wonder who the government is trying to save by not handing over the probe to CBI.”Responding to the opposition’s allegations, parliamentary affairs minister Prakash Pant said that the present government tabled the new Lokayukta Bill, drafted on the lines of the strong Lokayukta bill introduced during former BJP CM BC Khanduri’s tenure, in 2017. However, it was repealed after the Congress government took over in 2012. “The opposition is not serious on the matter. It is just raising the issue to earn some brownie points,” Pant claimed.Meanwhile, after lunch break, Congress members boycotted the session over the Lokayukta issue. As a result, the speaker was forced to adjourn the assembly indefinitely.

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