Shimla: Not satisfied with the governments admissions about having committed a grave mistake in letting out a wrong map of the country find space on its official diary, the Congress legislative party walked out of the assembly demanding an outright apology for lapse.
Immediately after question hour, opposition leader Vidya Stokes was on her feet pointing out that the government had committed a grave mistake by overlooking publication of a wrong map that did not show the official boundaries of the country.
She said that merely holding officials accountable by charge-sheeting them was not enough and the government needed to own responsibility too.
Speaker Tulsi Ram asked the opposition leader to follow procedure and serve a proper notice for the point being raised.
However, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal relented and let the opposition register its protest on the issue.
He said that it was nowhere the governments intention to undermine the nations integrity by having the offensive map placed in the diary.
Erring officials had downloaded the map from the internet and published it in the 2009 diary.
He said that he was thankful to the media for pointing out the error in time and the government did regret the mistake.
Action had been initiated against officials of the concerned department and an high level inquiry had been instituted, who are to submit their report within 15 days, said Dhumal.
Whatever needs to be done had been done and the sensitive issue should not be used for political ends, the chief minister said.
However the response did not satisfy the opposition who trooped out of the house demanding an outright apology from the government for the major lapse.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
