Former Punjab BJP president Jattvibeil Jakhar on Saturday strongly condemned what he described as the Punjab Government’s attempts to create divisions among its employees, questioning the announcement regarding Dearness Allowance (DA) for employees recruited after 2020.Taking exception to the announcement, Jakhar pointed out that newly recruited employees are not entitled to DA for the first three years of their service. “If newly recruited employees are not being given DA for three years, then who exactly is going to benefit from this announcement?” he asked.The government’s move would raise DA from 42 per cent to 60 per cent for around 85,000 employees recruited after July 17, 2020, but leaves around 3.15 lakh employees recruited earlier who are still waiting for relief, including the release of their outstanding DA instalments, amid a prolonged stand-off between the AAP government and Punjab’s employees and pensioners over the issue.In a message shared on social media, Jakhar said the Punjab Government was now claiming, under what appeared to be a divisive policy, that the DA would be given to employees recruited after 2020. “But the real question is: how many employees will actually benefit from this decision?” he said.”If we accept the government’s own claim that it has recruited 75,000 new employees, these employees are not entitled to DA or other allowances during their first three years of service. What, then, is the purpose of announcing this increase? Is this merely another publicity exercise?” he asked.Jakhar further said DA was meant to help employees and pensioners cope with the rising cost of living and meet their families’ expenses amid inflation. “DA is not charity. It is a legitimate entitlement and part of an established policy. The government should give up its stubborn stance and release the rightful dues of all employees and pensioners,” he said.He also alleged that Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann was making government employees bear the burden of his government’s poor financial management, and urged the Punjab Government to give up its rigid stance and release all legitimate and legally due benefits to employees without further delay.