AAP slams Saini over stoppage of diet allowance for athletes and old age pensions

Chandigarh: Intensifying the attack on chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, Aam Aadmi Party national media in-charge and senior leader Anurag Dhanda on Saturday termed the former as the "master of all liars".Dhanda accused Saini and his govt of depriving over 37,000 sportspersons of diet, in addition to salaries to coaches employed in sports nurseries."Haryana's athletes sweat all day on the field and win Olympic medals through their parents' hard-earned money. Some athletes even died due to falling poles in dilapidated grounds. Was that not enough that now the diet allowance of 37,000 athletes was stopped?" questioned Dhanda.The recent communication of the govt even asked to close sports nurseries for two months – February and March.Dhanda said the anti-people policies and intentions of CM Saini forced athletes, who brought medals to the country, to struggle for their rights, dignity, and basic facilities."Haryana has always been the land of sports. Most athletes who raised India's flag high at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games come from this soil. But today, those same athletes are asking whether the value of their hard work and medals is limited only to applause on election stages. Are athletes reduced to posters and speeches," he said.The AAP leader also released a poster calling CM Nayab Saini a "Just Chill CM". He went on to say that Saini had earned a "PhD in lying" on record.Dhanda said the Haryana CM mastered lying and was working on a new policy of "run ahead, leave everything behind". Athletes earlier died due to dilapidated sports grounds, and now the Nayab Singh Saini govt was trying to starve them.Targeting the CM over old-age pensions, Dhanda said while Saini recently claimed no pensions were cut, more than 75,000 elderly people in Haryana had their pensions stopped.Illogical reasons are being given for stopping pensions. If a farmer's account shows Rs 1.5–Rs 2 lakh from crop sales, they are being told their income is Rs 3 lakh, and therefore, they are ineligible for pension. This means the govt considers a farmer who sells crops worth Rs 3 lakh as wealthy, he added.The AAP media in-charge further said the purpose of old-age pension was to allow the elderly to live their final years with dignity, but the CM says they will not receive pensions because their families earn well.Across Haryana, hundreds of elderly people and women are standing in lines outside govt offices asking why their pensions were stopped. Officials have no valid answers, he said.MSID:: 128034070 413 |