Chandigarh, August 7
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today condemned the police brutalities on the state government employees who are demanding the payment of their pending Dearness Allowance (DA). Reacting to the brutal police action against the protesting employees, Warring said, the DA was their rightful due and they must get it and the AAP government is bound to pay it to them.
The PCC president criticized the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema for not only betraying the employees, but also using brute police force against them.
He asked if the AAP government can splurge and squander away precious money of Punjab for election campaigns in Gujarat and Goa, why can’t it spare some money for its own employees and pay their long pending DA instalments.
Questioning the intentions of the AAP government, he pointed out, how it was even resisting the High Court orders by appealing against the DA payment in the Supreme Court of India. This is unprecedented that not only is the government refusing to pay the employees their dues, but is also opposing them in the courts. “Which government opposes its own employees and that too when their demands are justified?” he asked.
Expressing his solidarity with the employees, Warring said, the Congress will use all its strength and resources to get the employees their rightful due.
He also questioned the AAP government’s backing out on restoring the Old Pension Scheme in the state. He said, the Congress governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan earlier and now in Himachal Pradesh have already restored the OPS for the government employees and will do the same in Punjab as well.