Warring asks Mann to restore OPS, clear ₹14,191 crore DA dues of Punjab employees

Warring asks Mann to restore OPS, clear ₹14,191 crore DA dues of Punjab employees

Guarantees, Congress government will do both things immediately 

Chandigarh 2 September ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : Punjab Congress president and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Wednesday urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to immediately restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees and clear the pending Dearness Allowance (DA) dues, accusing the Aam Aadmi Party government of deliberately delaying employees’ legitimate payments and prolonging its legal battle with them. In a letter addressed to Mann, Warring said the demand of government employees for payment of pending DA was “legitimate and genuine” and claimed that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had already directed the state government to make the payment within a stipulated timeframe.

He questioned the decision of the Mann government to challenge the High Court’s directions before the Supreme Court, saying the state government was effectively “going to the Hon Supreme Court against its own employees”.“Your government has actually gone to the Hon Supreme Court against your own employees who are running your government on a day-to-day basis,” Warring said, stressing that government employees had ensured the smooth functioning of the administration over the years. The Punjab Congress chief alleged that the state government was unnecessarily prolonging the issue despite knowing that the employees were ultimately entitled to receive their dues.

Warring said that approximately ₹14,191 crore in DA dues were pending for Punjab government employees. He argued that the amount was not beyond the state’s financial capacity and accused the AAP government of spending public money on what he described as “wasteful things”, including advertisements and election campaigns outside Punjab. “We all know and you also know that the employees will have to be paid their rightful due,” Warring said, adding that the government should stop delaying the payment. He alleged that the Mann government was “biding time” because its tenure was nearing its end and was attempting to leave the issue for the next government to resolve.  Warring said the Congress was prepared to take responsibility for clearing the pending dues if voted to power in Punjab.

“We will pay our employees their pending DA immediately after forming the government,” he said, while asserting that the Congress would form the next government in the state. Warring also targeted the Mann government over the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme. He said the AAP government had issued a notification for restoration of the OPS for government employees in November during the first year of its tenure, but alleged that nearly four years later, the scheme had still not been implemented. Warring said the government’s handling of the DA issue had further raised doubts over its intention to implement the OPS. “Given your stand on DA, it is certain that you are not going to implement the OPS,” he alleged, accusing the government of having issued the notification without a genuine intention to implement it.

He said employees had now realised what he described as the government’s “deceitful” approach, alleging that even when the government issued notifications, it did not necessarily follow through with implementation. Warring made a fresh commitment that a Congress government in Punjab would not only clear the pending DA dues but also implement the Old Pension SchemHe cited Congress governments in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh as examples of states where the party had moved towards implementation of the OPS. “Although I know very well that you have no intention of paying the employees their pending DA and implementing the OPS, I still appeal to you, to reconsider your position and pay the pending DA to the employees and implement the OPS,” Warring said