Priyanka hits out at govt on DA freeze, says wasteful expenses should be cut

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the government on Saturday over the decision to freeze the dearness allowance (DA) of its employees and pensioners, and asked it to curtail wasteful expenditures.

She asked the BJP-led government what was the basis of freezing the DA of health workers and policemen, who were putting in extra hours at work in this time of crisis.

Gandhi also asked the government to stall the bullet train and new Parliament complex buildings instead.

"What is the logic of cutting the DA of government employees? While the pressure of work on them has increased manifold in these times, what is the rationale for cutting the DA of health workers and policemen serving day and night? The third and fourth class employees are pained by this. Why are people dependent on pension being hurt," the Congress general secretary said in a tweet in Hindi.

"Why do governments not stop their wasteful expenses? Why a 30 pc reduction in government expenditure is not being announced? Why is Rs 1.25-lakh bullet train project and Rs-20,000 crore new Parliament building project, which are unnecessary, not being stalled," she also asked.

The Congress has been making this demand to the government for some days now, while calling the decision to freeze the DA of employees and pensioners unjust.