Abhay Chautala (File) After the Punjab government amended pension norms for MLAs, now Indian National Lok Dal’s legislator from Ellenabad in Haryana, Abhay Chautala, has said that there should be no pension for MLAs.
Interacting with media persons in Chandigarh Saturday, Chautala said, “People of the constituency elect and send us to the Vidhan Sabha to serve them and not to claim pensions. The people elect us so that we can raise their grievances in the Vidhan Sabha and get their problems solved by mediating between them and government officials. We are not elected so that we stand in queues in the Vidhan Sabha and demand various kinds of allowances for us. When we get so many other facilities as MLAs, why should a pension be given at all,” he said.
“It is of utmost pride for us that over 2.5 crore people of Haryana elect 90 persons to the Vidhan Sabha with the hope that we shall fulfill our responsibilities towards the electorate,” Chautala said.
He pointed out that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had increased various allowances for MLAs in Delhi. “MLAs in Delhi are getting the highest pension and allowances. He is drawing pension from the IRS and as an MLA too. It is yet to be seen for how long the Punjab government will keep functioning on instructions given by the Delhi government,” the INLD leader added.
Taking a dig at the BJP-JJP coalition government in Haryana, Chautala said, “The Haryana government had promised to increase old age pension to Rs 5100 per month, but this has yet not been fulfilled. Rather, the old age pension of several senior citizens has stopped.”
Reacting to the Punjab government’s recent announcement of free electricity up to 300 units starting July 1, he said, “Till date, the announcements made by the AAP have only been announcements. On the ground, there is no work being done… But, if the AAP government of Punjab implements its announcements, we shall welcome that.”
The MLA also spoke about the crop loss suffered by farmers in various parts of the state and demanded that the state government immediately give farmers a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal on wheat crop, besides compensating them for crop damage.
The issue of crop damage and compensation was also raised by Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief Kumari Selja on Saturday. “Crops of farmers were not being lifted from the mandis of Haryana and its payment was not being made on time. Lifting of the crop from mandis should be ensured within 24 hours of the sale, and payment should be made to the farmers within 48 hours. Also, payment should be made with interest to those farmers who have not been paid yet,” she said in a statement.
“Procurement of wheat crop had started on April 1, but the preparations were not made by the government in mandis. According to the Haryana government, if a farmer sells a crop in a government mandi on the Minimum Support Price, then the crop will be lifted from the mandi within 48 hours and the farmers will be paid within 72 hours of selling the crop. If the farmer does not get the payment, he will be paid with nine per cent interest. But these claims of this government are proving to be hollow and false,” she said.
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