New Delhi [India], July 8 : Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, launched a scathing attack on the Delhi BJP government, claiming that plans are underway to cancel the pensions of 60,000 helpless women, after already cutting off 25,000.
Slamming the move as deliberate and heartless, Atishi said the BJP government is fabricating excuses to rob the most vulnerable of their basic dignity.
"Every day, distressed women are coming to AAP MLAs' offices, saying their pensions have been stopped. Now BJP wants to declare 60,000 more women 'ineligible'. This is a direct attack on the poor," she said.
"The BJP has already cut the pensions of 25,000 widows. Women are coming to our MLAs' offices in tears, saying they were receiving pensions for years, but the BJP has suddenly stopped them. Now the BJP is spinning a new story to cancel the pensions of another 60,000 helpless women," Atishi stated.
Further, the AAP leader questioned the logic of targeting those barely surviving on Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 a month.
"Only the truly destitute, those with not a rupee in hand, those wandering from pillar to post, come to claim this meagre pension. Elderly and widowed women walk for kilometres in the sweltering heat to reach our offices, because they cannot afford even a rickshaw fare," the Delhi LoP said.
Atishi said that the BJP is deliberately inventing excuses to cut off essential support to the poorest.
"This is part of a larger pattern. The BJP is demolishing jhuggis, snatching jobs from poor youth working as bus marshals and Mohalla Clinic staff, and now they are going after widows' pensions. The BJP's anti-poor face is now out in the open," Atishi declared.