Modi government's 'inhumane' move to freeze dearness allowance hikes : 'Why not shelve bullet train?' Congress

New Delhi: Noting that it was "insensitive and inhumane" to freeze dearness allowance, the Congress on Friday said instead of "hurting" the middle-class employees and pensioners, the government should shelve bullet train and Central Vista redevelopment projects to save money for the coronavirus fight.

It is an insensitive and inhumane decision of the government to cut DA (Dearness Allowance) of central employees, pensioners and soldiers serving the public while battling coronavirus, instead of suspending the multi-million crore bullet train project and the Central Vista beautification project," Rahul Gandhi tweeted this evening.

On Thursday the centre stopped a hike in dearness allowances and reliefs for all government employees.In a notification on the subject the government said the move will help save Rs 37,350 crore in financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22.

A similar move will save states Rs 82,566 crores, making for a combined saving of Rs 1.20 lakh crores, the notification said.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked the government to curtail 30 percent of its own expenses and shelve the Central Vista redevelopment and bullet train projects to save money to be used to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

"The government of India, instead of helping people by giving them financial support in this crisis, is hurting them.

Instead of curtailing its own wasteful expenditures, the government is cutting the money of the middle-class people," he told an online press conference.

The government on Thursday froze inflation-linked allowance for its 1.1 crore employees and pensioners, a move states are likely to replicate, helping save a combined Rs 1.2 lakh crore that could be used to combat the coronavirus crisis.