Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday informed the state Assembly that the previous Congress government transferred 1,23,652 employees in five years of its rule.

Replying to a question by Congress members Harshwardhan Chauhan (Shillai) and Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), the CM said the present Bharatiya Janata Party government had transferred 2,177 employees after taking over (till 15 February 2018), which were very less compared to the previous Congress government in this period.

Thakur said 29,642 employees were transferred by the previous government in 2013; 16,775 in 2014; 19,457 in 2015; 25,889 in 2016; and 31,879 in 2017.

Tempers ran high in the Assembly, however, as the Opposition Congress alleged the figure of 2,177 employees, who were transferred till 15 February 2018 by this government, was wrong.

“The government has transferred thousands of employees in this period. More than 2,000 transfers were done in the Police department alone, that we can prove. The figure of 2,177 shared by the government does not include many other departments, where transfers were done despite ban,” said Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri.

He said there was an environment of terror in the constituencies as the government had started ordering transfers immediately after taking over.

Congress member, Harshwardhan Chauhan contended that the government was trying to satisfy the revengeful tendencies of people who have lost the election by transferring the government employees. He asked whether the government intends to bring an Act to control the transfers.

The CM, however, said the Congress members were unnecessarily shouting over the issue. “There is some shake-up normally after the change in government. It should be taken normally,” he said, questioning the Congress members as to what moral right they had to oppose the government on this issue when the previous Congress government indulged in large-scale transfers.

Thakur, however, expressed concern over the longstanding phenomenon in Himachal, wherein an MLA is considered powerful if he is capable of getting the transfers done. He exhorted the members to check the tendency of getting over-involved in transfers for the overall good of the state.

He said the government had given factual figures in the House on the transfers done in this regime so far.

In reply to another question by BJP member, Balbir Chaudhary from Chintpurni, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister Virender Kanwar, who also holds the Animal Husbandry portfolio, said the government proposed to make cow sanctuaries in the state to take care of the problem of stray cattle. He said more than the cows, the problem of people abandoning oxen is more serious, so the government will work on the strategy of linking the stray cattle with farmer’s fields.

Replying to another question by BJP member from Jhanduta, JR Katwal, the Chief Minister said the absence of a bridge connecting Kotdhar with Jhanduta, which is included under the MLA’s priority 2018-19, had been causing inconvenience to locals, who have to take a very long route to reach Bilaspur from the area.

He said the Public Works Department will make the Detailed Project Report of the bridge. “Since the bridge would require Rs 30 to 40 crore budget, the government would try to mobilise funds from the Centre,” he said.