Khattar coercing govt staffers to donate to Covid fund: Surjewala

CHANDIGARH: Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Tuesday accused the Haryana government of coercing its employees to contribute towards Covid relief fund.

In a virtual press conference, Surjewala said instead of ‘extorting donations’ for the fund from the employees, the top brass of the state government — including the governor, chief minister and cabinet ministers — should pitch in with substantial amounts from their personal funds.

“The CM should persuade industrialists, mining and liquor companies to make contributions,” he added.

The Congress leader said sharing had always been a part of the Haryanvi culture and the employees had always made voluntary donations. “But, the way this regime is mounting pressure on them is unheard of,” he added.

As an evidence, Surjewala shared an education department communication asking the school principals to ensure registration of Group B and C employees for making donations towards relief fund failing which their March salary will be held back. “I have seen a Whatsapp group where the heads of departments have pressured the employees to make donations,” he said. It cannot be a mere coincidence that salaries of lakhs of government employees have not been disbursed by the Khattar government till April 7,” he added.

IT IS A VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION: CM

Meanwhile, CM ML Khattar clarified that no employee was being coerced to donate towards the relief fund.

“It is a voluntary contribution. Everyone will have to give information on a website about how much they wanted to contribute,” he said during a digital conference.