Ishfaq gulzar cni Chandigarh | CNI NEWS BJP National Headquarters In-Charge and Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Chugh strongly criticised the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab over its decision to increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) of employees and pensioners by 8 percentage points.Chugh said that Punjab’s employees and pensioners had demanded an 18 percentage

point increase in DA, but the government has announced only an 8 percentage point increase and is now projecting it as a major achievement. He said the government is patting itself on the back for increasing DA from 42% to 50%, while thousands of crores of rupees in arrears owed to employees and pensioners remain unpaid.“Paying employees and pensioners their legitimate dues is the responsibility of the government, not a favour,” Chugh said. He added that despite clear directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, several long-pending financial issues concerning employees and pensioners remain unresolved.Chugh said that instead of comprehensively addressing the genuine demands of employees and pensioners, the government has attempted to close the issue by announcing only an 8% increase.He further said that the AAP government’s approach towards employees and pensioners has been completely insensitive.

Instead of maintaining serious and institutional dialogue with established employee organisations that have been raising the concerns of their members for years, the government is entering into arrangements with newly formed groups and attempting to mislead employees.Chugh said that Punjab’s employees and pensioners are not asking for political announcements but are demanding their legitimate rights and dues. He demanded that pending DA, arrears and other financial liabilities be cleared in a time-bound manner.He said the government must move beyond publicity and political posturing and provide a concrete and comprehensive resolution to the legitimate demands of Punjab’s employees and pensioners. CNI NEWS