Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today lashed out at Parkash Singh Badal led SAD-BJP government in Punjab for misleading and luring the state government employees with fresh recruitments, insurance and credit schemes at the fag end of its term especially when it has been widely criticised for mistreating and humiliating the employees for 10 years.Addressing the media at Amritsar Head of AAP legal Cell and Candidate from Majhita Himmat Singh Shergill said where was Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy chief minister son Sukhbir Singh Badal when employees of several departments were regularly denied monthly salaries and their retirement emoluments for several months without offering them any plausible reason. Where were Badals when employees demanding regularisation of their jobs were holding peaceful protest demonstration but were cane charged and beaten up mercilessly by the contingents of Punjab Police force.By promising to give Rs. 15 Lakh as accidental insurance, Rs. 25 Lakh for an air crash mishap and Rs. 5 Lakh for disability insurance Badals are once again making fools of the people and the employees in particular. Similarly by promising to provide house loan to employees at 9.4%, car loan 9.75 % and gold loan at 11.2%, Badals seemed to have taken the employees for granted as by now they are already aware of the tricks and trade of the Akalis when the polls are around the corner.
Shergill said that the State Bank of India with which the Punjab Government has tied up is already offering cheaper interest rates and waiver of processing fee to government employees. The SBI is offering 9.15 to 9.35 percent on home and car loans for online applications and also giving extra 0.5 percent rebate to women employees. Similarly, the State Bank of India has already covered its 1.5 Crore Saving Bank Account holders under personal accident and disability insurance schemes. Majority of government employees already avail the facility either from SBI or other banks.In fact all Punjabis are very much aware of the Badal government's loot of the state exchequer and hence they have rendered the state treasury nearly empty. All the promises and new financial schemes being announced by Badals are nothing but panic reaction to woo the voters who have already decided to throw them out of power in 2017. Shergill said AAP has already said in its manifesto that once the party would form the government it would not employee anyone on ad hoc, temporary or contractual basis. " We have always been supporting regular employment in the state government departments. Shergill said that AAP has already promised that it would reintroduce old pension scheme for the Punjab government employees once the party is voted to power in 2017.Shergill said the scheme was discontinued after January 1, 2004. Shergill said the old pension scheme would benefit Punjab government employees of nearly 46 different departments of the state who are over 1,15,000 in number. Out of which nearly 20,000 employees who would directly benefit the old pension scheme are from Punjab police department.