Pension for Punjabi Suba agitators upsets HC

CHANDIGARH: How can the Punjab government equate those who fought for the Punjabi Suba (a separate state for Punjabi speakers) with those who fought against the Emergency? This question was asked by the Punjab and Haryana high court while hearing a PIL against the state's decision to give pension to those who participated in the agitation for the Suba.
Questioning the validity of the pension scheme for the 'Sangharshi Yodhas' as the state government calls them, a division bench headed by Justice S S Saron observed, "How can you compare the scheme for payment of pension to these people with those who fought against Emergency? How do you justify this scheme? Supposing government of opposition comes into power in Haryana and starts a scheme for giving pension to those who participated in Jat agitation, will that be justified?"
The Punjabi Suba movement was launched by the Akali Dal in the 1950s for the creation of a Punjabi-majority province. It led to Punjab being reorganised on linguistic lines and Haryana and Himachal Pradesh being carved out of it in1966.
The PIL, filed by advocate H C Arora, accuses the Punjab government of extending undue benefits to their supporters and their family members at the cost of tax payers. Submitting that such schemes set a bad trend for democracy and are against public interest, the petitioner has sought directions to scrap the scheme.
The state government's scheme, notified on December 8, 2015, provides a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to those who had participated in the 'morcha' against Emergency between 1975 and 1977 and the Punjabi Suba agitation between 1955 and 1965. Other benefits included are free travel in state buses.
The bench further asked the counsel, "How can you justify the powers given to MLAs etc for identification of beneficiaries under this scheme for granting pensions?"
Faced with the volley of questions, the government counsel sought time to seek instructions from the government, upon which the court adjourned the case for Friday.