Haryana deserves at least co-host status for 2030 Commonwealth Games: Deepender Hooda

Chandigarh: Congress MP Deepender Hooda on Tuesday said Haryana, the sporting powerhouse of the nation, should at least be made the co-host for the 2030 Commonwealth Games. Gujarat's Ahmedabad was officially awarded the hosting rights for the 2030 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in November.

The Rohtak MP said the state that brings 50 per cent of medals to India from the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and Olympics, has been ignored. "In the last four Olympics, Haryana athletes won more than half of the country's total medals. In the last Olympics, approximately 25 per cent of the athletes were from Haryana. We are proud that since 2006, Haryana has contributed 50 per cent of the medals and 25 per cent of the athletes in all the Games, including the Olympics," he said, speaking to reporters here.

He rued the fact that, regardless, the state was overlooked for hosting the 2030 CWG. "If Haryana cannot host it, at least some of its cities should be included as co-hosts for the games," he said, adding that the state's athletes have left no stone unturned in bringing glory to the country. The erstwhile Congress government constructed 481 sports stadiums in rural and urban areas in the state, Hooda said.

"Instead of allocating adequate funds for their maintenance, the Centre allocated only Rs 80 crore from its Rs 3,500 crore sports budget to Haryana." After 2019, these stadiums have been left without repairs or upgrades, he pointed out, adding that sports equipment remain scarce. "Not to mention the lack of proper infrastructure," he said.

He further alleged that the Centre is undermining Haryana's interests, while the state government is sitting "mute". "Haryana has the highest GST collection in the country, and also the highest toll collection. However, Haryana receives the lowest budget allocation. The central government collects a total of 7.1 per cent of GST from Haryana, but in return, Haryana receives only 1.009 per cent, which is the lowest in the entire country," the Congress leader said.

According to Hooda, the Centre's response to his query revealed that the rules stipulate a toll every 60 kilometres. "However, in Haryana, the average distance between two tolls is the shortest at 45 kilometres, compared to 200 kilometres in Gujarat, 223 kilometres in Kerala, and 100 kilometres in Rajasthan.

"The per-kilometre annual collection in Haryana is Rs 70 lakh, while it is Rs 30 lakh in Gujarat, Rs 35 lakh in Karnataka, Rs 19 lakh in Jharkhand, and Rs 21 lakh in Maharashtra. The total toll collection in Haryana is even more than in Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, but when it comes to providing relief through the central government's policies, Haryana is deprived," he alleged.

Referring to a question asked by Ambala MP Varun Chaudhry in Parliament about the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) work, Hooda claimed, "The answer revealed shocking information: more than 8 lakh MGNREGA workers are registered and active in Haryana, but in 2024-25, only 2,191 families received 100 days of work."

The new Act has endangered MGNREGA's very existence, the Congress MP said. "To protect the rights of MGNREGA workers, we will now take this fight to the streets, reaching out to every worker,” he said.

Hooda questioned the chief minister's "silence" on several issues and said, "He sometimes says he has a deep connection with Bihar; he becomes active in Punjab politics other times, but when it comes to the interests of Haryana, he remains silent."

He further alleged that ‘Group A' and ‘Group B' jobs are being filled through the Haryana Public Service Commission, but most of the candidates selected are from outside the state. On the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, he said, "The BJP government has made no efforts to ensure that the state gets its due rights."

"As far as the capital Chandigarh is concerned, the proposal for land to build the (additional) building of the state assembly has not yet been approved by the central government. We cannot even build our own assembly building in Chandigarh, but the Haryana government is sitting silent even on this issue," he claimed.