Chandigarh: Punjab Congress president and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Wednesday urged chief minister Bhagwant Mann to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for govt employees and clear their pending dearness allowance (DA) dues.In a letter to Mann, Warring said the employees’ demand for pending DA was legitimate and noted that the Punjab and Haryana high court had directed the state govt to make the payment within a stipulated timeframe. He criticised the Mann govt for challenging the order in the Supreme Court, saying it was “going to the Supreme Court against its own employees”.Warring put the pending DA dues at around Rs 14,191 crore and alleged the govt was delaying payment despite spending public money on “wasteful things”, including advertisements and election campaigns outside Punjab.He alleged the govt was “biding time” as its tenure neared its end and would leave the issue for the next govt. Warring promised that a Congress govt would clear the dues immediately if voted to power.On OPS, Warring said the AAP govt had notified its restoration in Nov 2022 but had yet to implement it. He alleged the govt’s handling of the DA issue indicated it had no intention of implementing OPS.Warring said a Congress govt would clear the DA dues and implement OPS, citing the party’s moves in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
