No vote in Amritsar civic body polls till parity in DA, pensioners tell govt

Ahead of the civic body polls, pensioners and senior citizens released the agenda for the municipal corporation (MC) elections, declaring “No vote for the ruling party candidates till no parity in DA”.

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Pensioners Madan Gopal and Madan Lal Manan, while expressing their resentment over non-fulfilment of their demands, recalled that Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema was following in the footprints of his predecessor which was the main reason for the fall of the previous Congress government.

The Punjab State Pensioners and Senior Citizens Welfare Association was determined to implement the agenda of “No vote to the ruling party candidates till no parity in DA” during the MC polls, they said. The agenda was passed at the state-level convention held a few days back.

Gursharanjit Singh, Satnam Singh Pakharpura, Kartar Singh and other leaders of the association said pensioners and employees of the Punjab Government were perturbed over the inequality as compared to their counterparts in the neighbouring states.

Lakhbir Singh Dhot along with Harbhajan Singh Khela said pensioners and employees of the neighbouring states were getting 53 per cent dearness allowance (DA). In Punjab, they were getting only 42 per cent DA, they said.

Yashdev Dogra, Ramesh Bhanot and Sukhdev Raj Kalia regretted that the state government neither implemented the cashless medical facility nor the Old Pension Scheme. Similarly, arrears of the Pay Commission were not released, they alleged.

Leaders of the association urged pensioners not to vote for the AAP government in the MC elections. They reminded AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal of his statement that pensioners and employees need not resort to agitations to get their demands accepted. They asked Kejriwal to instruct Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema to release the pending 11 per cent DA and arrears of the Pay Commission. The Old Pension Scheme and cashless medical facility must also be resumed, they demanded.