AAP demands ‘one pension’ rule for MLAs
A delegation of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators on Tuesday met Punjab assembly speaker Rana KP Singh to demand the ‘One MLA-One Pension’ rule in the state
A delegation of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators on Tuesday met Punjab assembly speaker Rana KP Singh to demand the ‘One MLA-One Pension’ rule in the state.
Led by leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, the AAP delegation submitted a memorandum to the speaker, opposing the present policy under which a member is entitled to pension for each term. The party delegation included Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Budh Ram, Meet Hayer, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Kulwant Pandori, Jai Singh Rodi and Amarjit Singh Sandoa, all first-time legislators.
The AAP MLAs, in their memorandum, opposed more than one monthly pension for MLAs who have been elected to the state assembly more than once, stating that such financial gain in the name of increments was “morally and theoretically wrong”. “A legislator should be given the same pension no matter if he had become MLA more than once,” they said.
Cheema said the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government had stopped the pensions of Punjab government employees in the name of reforms in 2004, which was strongly opposed by the entire employees and pensioners community. “The delegation demanded that in the forthcoming assembly session, a law should be passed with the consent of all the MLAs to abolish more than one pension rule and restore the old pension scheme for government employees,” he said in a statement.