Chandigarh, Feb 20 (IANS): Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya on Wednesday lavished fulsome praise on the Manohar Lal Khattar government in his budget address to the state Assembly, and said it had ushered in bold reforms and provided transparent governance during its four-and-a-half year tenure.

Addressing the Assembly on the opening day of the fifth budget session here, Arya said that ML Khattar had given the state a "ubiquitous graft-free, transparent and responsive citizen interface government which has been universally appreciated".

Referring to the transparent manner in which recruitments have been made for state departments, Arya said: "People are agog at the 'parchi-free (slips free) and sifarish-free (recommendation free)' manner in which more than 56,000 young men and women have been selected for government jobs. The recruitment process for close to 17,000 posts is in the final phase."

"Doing away with interviews, providing 10 per cent weightage to members of families without a government job, widows, orphans and the denotified tribes neither covered under Scheduled Castes nor under Scheduled Tribes have enlivened the hopes of the meritorious and the deprived alike after decades of frustration," he said.

He added that the initiatives taken by the Khattar government, the first BJP government in Haryana, had even been praised by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Stating that the state government was trying to answer the growing aspirations of the young and the aged, the kisans and the jawans as well as many others, Arya added, "A solid vindication of these by the common man is evident in the results of the recently concluded elections for mayors and members of the five municipal corporations, as well as for member of the Legislative Assembly from Jind constituency."

The Governor said sportspersons from Haryana, including several women, had won laurels for the country at international competitions.

However, the opposition said the Governor's address lacked "substance". "He spoke more like a BJP spokesman, not like a governor," said Congress leader Kiran Chaudhary.