Congress govt. slammed over pension hike demand

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-09-08 16:40:19 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-26 22:37:24

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Pension hike for Congress employees rebuffed as unethical, inflation-busting.

The Kashmir pension scandal has claimed its first victim, with the Congress government coming under fire for its refusal to raise pensions in line with inflation.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has criticized the government, claiming it is ethically unjust for politicians to earn large salaries while freezing the pensions of their employees. Given the high inflation rate, this constitutes a pay cut for those on pensions, removing any motivation for employees to stay engaged in serious work.

Abdullah, who himself served as Chief Minister from 2009 to 2015, tweeted that as a politician, he gladly accepted the salaries and perquisites of the office, and criticized the government for expecting pensioners to "adjust" with increases in the cost of living.

This latest scandal has widened the rift between the Congress government and Kashmiri employees, who have been protesting the state's perceived prioritization of centrally-funded schemes over investing in the local economy.

With an election due in the next two years, politicians are likely to come under increasing pressure to act on this issue.

It remains to be seen whether the Congress government will scramble to regain favor with the electorate, or whether employee pensions will be deemed an unnecessary expenditure in the face of a cost-of-living crisis.

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