Congress announces protest over pension issues in Sonepat on Feb 15

Accusing the BJP government of stopping and cutting Old-age pension of people on various pretexts, Congress MP Deepender Hooda has announced that a massive protest will be held in Sonepat on February 15 against the cuts to old-age pensions.

The MP shared this while interacting with mediapersons here on Sunday. “The BJP government, which came to power through manipulation and conspiracy, was now attacking the rights and dignity of the elderly, which will not be tolerated at any cost,” alleged Deepender.

He alleged after the elections, the BJP first cut the ration cards of the poor, and now they are cutting the pensions of the elderly people. “Old-age pension is not charity; it is the respect and dignity of the elderly. We will not let the dignity of the elderly be compromised. We will fight against this from the streets to Parliament and the Assembly,” he added.

Deepender said Chief Minister Nayab Saini had announced an increase of Rs 200 in old-age pension about four months ago, but it had not been implemented yet. “Was it just an empty promise? Does the Haryana Government want to fill its coffers by snatching away the rights of the elderly,” he questioned.

He demanded the government release district-wise data showing how many elderly people’s pensions had been stopped or cut. “The government is preparing to cut the old-age pensions of lakhs of elderly people by imposing an income limit of Rs. 3 lakh. According to an estimate, this will result in the pension of around 72,000 elderly people being cut,” the MP alleged.

Earlier, Deepender attended a sports competition organised by the Baba Girnari Sports Committee at Sudana village of the Kalanaur Assembly constituency. During the event, he encouraged the players and said that sporting talent was present in every village of Haryana. During the previous Congress government, even players at the circle committee level were given appointments under the ‘Padak Lao, Pad Pao’ policy. But sadly, the BJP government had ended this policy.

He said a player belonged to the country and brought glory to the nation by winning medals. Therefore, sports and players should be kept above politics.

“Haryana, which fills India’s coffers with 50 per cent of the medals won in the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and Olympics, have been completely ignored by the BJP government.”

Deepender demanded that the Centre should declare Haryana a co-host state along with Gujarat for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and the 2036 Olympics and also allocate sufficient budget for investment in the state’s sports infrastructure.