New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday slammed Modi govt for freezing dearness allowance hike and said it wasn’t necessary to impose hardships on government servants and armed forces personnel at this stage.

As #COVID spreads, Modi Govt hurts 1.1cr Central Govt employees instead of providing relief. Withdrawing DA instead of cutting wasteful expenditure like Central Vista project is insensitive & inhumane. Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, Shri @RahulGandhi & others express deep concern. pic.twitter.com/M6WQ0tojxG

— Congress (@INCIndia) April 25, 2020

Congress’s concerns may be genuine especially for the pensioners who have multiple liabilities to look after. But, a look at party’s own record shows that its stand on the issue is more of a sham and like playing to the gallery.

It’s important to mention here that Modi govt has only put on hold the hike in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) till June 2021, however, it will continued to be paid at existing rates for the entire period.

Documents show ‘despotic’ Cong rule in 1963, 74

In 1974, when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister and Dr Manmohan Singh the Chief Economic Advisor, the taxpayers were ‘coerced’ to deposit 3-5% of their salaries for a lock-in period of 3-5 years.

This gets more interesting because in 1963 this COMPULSARY deduction was not just for salaried income, but also for land revenue, urban property, and agrarian income. Another fun fact is that when deduction was enforced in 1974, Dr Manmohan Singh was the Chief Economic Advisor. https://t.co/gDpQE53OtB pic.twitter.com/NRlrGDBQGS

— Suresh Nakhua ?? ( सुरेश नाखुआ ) (@SureshNakhua) April 25, 2020

Moreover, in 1963 & 1974, there were 2 Cumpulsory Deposit Schemes in operation, mandatory for employee of Central government. Under this scheme, a part of their salary was withheld and deposited in a fund for lock-in period of 3-5 years.

A look at Cong’s ‘coercive’ schemes:

As documents show, the forceful deposit of the money was mandatory for the government servants and their consent was neither needed nor important.

DA hike freeze, an opportunity to score political points

Congress may want to score big political points by raking up this issue and also give an impression that government servants & pensioners are being subjected to harsh treatment under the current regime.

But, the facts speaks for themselves. Under their own govts in 1963 & 1974, govt servants were forced to shell out a substantial part of income apart from the taxes.

The current dispensation has already taken the lead by taking 30% pay cut, applicable for all lawmakers, for strengthening fight against Covid-19.

Cong’s attempt to highlight the issues looks more like a ‘misinformation campaign’ rather than addressing the ground reality.

The Finance Ministry has made it amply clear that inflation-linked allowance for 50 lakh Central govt employees and 61 lakh pensioners have been frozen till June 2021 due to Covid-19 crisis. However, the Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) at current rates will continue to be paid.