Shimla
The Himachal Pradesh Pensioners Joint Struggle Committee has issued an ultimatum to the state government, warning that it will gherao the Assembly if pending demands are not addressed during the Budget session.
Addressing mediapersons in Shimla on Monday, additional general secretary Bhoop Ram Verma said a state-level meeting has been convened at Sundernagar on March 5. The meeting will be chaired by state president Suresh Thakur and attended by state-level office-bearers, district conveners and presidents of 18 pensioners’ organisations.
Verma said the committee has already submitted a 14-point charter of demands to the government, but no positive action has been taken so far. He added that the Chief Minister had assured on December 18 at Ghumarwin that pending medical bills would be cleared within a month. However, more than two months have passed without any relief to pensioners.
The committee has reiterated its demand for payment of gratuity, leave encashment, commutation and revised pension to employees who retired between January 1, 2016 and January 31, 2022. It also claimed that 13 per cent dearness allowance (DA) and arrears for 146 months remain pending.
Other key demands include timely pension for HRTC pensioners, implementation of Old Pension Scheme (OPS) benefits for electricity board employees, release of ₹15 crore for clearing medical bills, and pension revision for urban local body pensioners as per the 2016 Pay Commission recommendations.
Protest Warning
Verma warned that if adequate budgetary provisions are not made to address these demands, the committee will organise protests at district headquarters and stage a gherao of the Assembly. He asserted that the interests of pensioners would not be ignored.
