Suicide bid by old man sign of frustration against govt: Cong
Monday, 20/04/2015
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CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Congress has blamed the state government for an octogenarian rickshaw-puller’s setting himself ablaze at Dhilwan near Kapurthala on Saturday for a small monthly pension of `250.
Reading the suicide attempt by Som Nath (83) as “a sign of frustration against the AkaliBJP misrule”, the Congress has asked deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to introspect. Som Nath had not received his old-age pension for six months.
“In the budget debate in the assembly recently, Sukhbir and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had claimed that all pensions were being paid on time,” said Dera Baba Nanak legislator Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, adding: “This suicide attempt has proved that Badals lied on the floor of the House. If they didn’t, they should act against the officials who didn’t disburse the pension.”
“In its last election manifesto, the Shiromani Akali Dal had promised to increase the monthly old-age pension from `250 to `1,000, but its non-performance since coming to power has frustrated the public so much that people are taking extreme steps,” said Randhawa, accusing the ruling combine of the SAD and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politicising the pension scheme for personal benefits.
“Accept that the government has collapsed and failed to solve the problems of drugs, debt, unemployment, crime, and declining Punjabi incomes,” he told Sukhbir, fearing that the situation might led to the revival of terrorism.
