The Congress has decided to launch protests against the Centre’s decision to freeze the increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for about one and a half years. The Opposition party asked the Centre to drop projects such as the Central Vista project and bullet trains rather than “punishing” the government officials and service personnel at the time of a pandemic.

In a meeting held by the Congress on the issue, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that it is not necessary at this stage to impose hardships on government servants and the armed forces. “We should be on the side of people whose Dearness Allowances are being cut,” Singh added.

Cut other expenditures

Former party president Rahul Gandhi said that the Centre is building a central vista at the same time. “So either you are not doing these extravagant expenditures...But you are taking money from the middle class, not giving it to the poor, and you are spending it on your central vista," he said.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who also attended the video conference, said: “We can make the point that when you have not cut back expenditure on bullet train, on the central vista development...those are the programmes which should first be put on halt, before you halt people’s DA."

Later, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi in a tweet asked the Centre to explain the basis for the decision. “Pressure on them is very high at this moment. Is it fair to freeze the DA of healthcare workers and police personnel who work day and night? The conditions of Class III and Class IV employees are worse,” she said.

Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that a package worth ₹1 lakh crore must be announced for MSME sector to protect the salaries of workers.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW