Akhilesh attacks govt over ‘unpaid’ DA arrears to central government employees

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday slammed the government for refusing to pay the arrears of 18 months of depreciation allowance (DA) to central government employees and questioned the government’s claim of being a “global economic superpower”.

He also asked the government where the money from the ever-increasing GST is going.

“Does the government’s claim of becoming a ‘global economic superpower’ mean that employees are not getting what they deserve? The central government’s refusal to pay 18 months of DA arrears to central employees is, in a way, a denial of ‘government guarantee’,” Yadav said in a post on ‘X’.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also posted a newspaper clipping titled, “Centre will not pay workers 18 months of DA arrears”.

“The government should say where the money from the ever-increasing ‘GST’, ‘trillion-dollar economy’ is going? There is money for billion-dollar ships and leaky buildings, but not for the workers who actually run the government. Rising inflation on the one hand and not receiving the high-price allowance on the other is a double whammy for workers on limited incomes,” he said.

Claiming that the non-payment will also affect the productivity of employees, Yadav said that it will also affect the productivity of employees who are worried about their household expenses.

“The BJP is not paying due wages to those who work,” he added.

He said the BJP government is not even taking into account the elderly, whose healthcare expenditure is rising but pensions are not.

“Does the government now want senior citizens to go on hunger strike to get their pension? By withholding railway concessions, the BJP has insulted senior citizens,” he added.