Congress pummels Khattar's reversal of decisions

Haryana Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, Kiran Choudhry, has termed the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government as a "roll-back government".

The Haryana Cabinet had on Tuesday reversed the decision of the retirement age of employees from 60 years to 58 years. It also cleared the removal of chairman and members of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission. The move is likely to help the ruling party absorb its own members on the boards and commissions.

The chief minister justified the act of reversing saying it will open job opportunities for the youth in the state.

The value-added tax (VAT) on diesel in the state has been increased from 9.24 per cent to 12.07 per cent.

Choudhry said the decision had been taken under pressure from the petroleum lobby and will have a cascading effect on prices of farm inputs and essential commodities. Farmers are already suffering from dry weather conditions and losses on account of the poor minimum support price. While diesel prices in the global market are coming down, the government has decided to add to consumers' burden. The decision to roll back the age of the retirement for government employees from 60 years to 58 reflects the anti-employee stand of the BJP government.

For Class IV employees and Persons with Disabilities (PwD), the retirement age has been lowered to 60 from 62 years.

"The government has failed to fulfil promises made to the people in its manifesto. The BJP had promised to double the old age pension to Rs 2,000 but it has raised it by only Rs 200, taking it to Rs 1,200 a month. The people have already begun to feel let down," she said.