Electricity Board Pensioners Forum Sundernagar Condemns Delay in Pension Arrears, Warns of Protest.
Shimla:
The Sundernagar unit of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Pensioners Forum held a meeting at the Suket Cinema premises at Sundernagar in Mandi district today under the chairmanship of unit president Er. K.S. Jamwal. During the meeting, pensioners strongly condemned the delay in the payment of pension arrears and other financial benefits to retired employees and officers, urging the state government and electricity board management to resolve the long-pending issues without further delay.
The meeting began with a two-minute silence to pay tribute to the departed souls of E.B.R. Verma, retired Executive Engineer, and A.R. Gautam, Assistant Engineer. The members prayed for peace to the departed souls and expressed their condolences to the bereaved families.
During the meeting, the pensioners expressed serious concern over the failure of the Himachal Pradesh government and electricity board management to fully disburse pension arrears to employees and officers who retired over the past two decades, in accordance with their revised pay scales.
Addressing the gathering, unit president Er. K.S. Jamwal, General Secretary Sohan Singh Chauhan, and State Deputy General Secretary Jagmel Thakur said that despite repeated representations by the Pensioners Forum, several long-pending financial dues remained unpaid.
They pointed out that employees and officers who retired between January 2016 and April 2022 had yet to receive the arrears relating to leave encashment, gratuity and other retirement benefits calculated according to their revised pay scales for their service period and at the time of retirement.
The office-bearers expressed disappointment over what they described as the lack of action by the electricity board management despite repeated requests from the pensioners’ organisation.
Pensioners Unhappy Over Non-Implementation of Government Decision
The forum members also criticised the board management for allegedly failing to implement the decisions taken by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu at a state-level meeting of pensioners on September 21.
According to the forum representatives, the meeting had decided that all Class-III pensioners would receive the full arrears of their revised pensions, while Class-I and Class-II officers would be paid 15 per cent of their arrears.
However, the pensioners alleged that the electricity board management had not taken the necessary steps to implement these decisions, leaving the affected retirees waiting for their legitimate dues.
The speakers said that pensioners had devoted their working lives to the functioning and development of the electricity board and deserved timely payment of their retirement benefits. They maintained that prolonged delays in settling financial dues were causing considerable disappointment among retired employees and their families.
Demand for Payment of Pending 15% DA Arrears
The meeting also expressed deep concern over the non-payment of pending 15 per cent dearness allowance (DA) arrears. The members unanimously appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and ensure that the outstanding amount was released at the earliest.
The forum warned that if the government and electricity board management continued to ignore the demands of pensioners, they would be compelled to intensify their agitation.
The representatives stated that the Electricity Board Pensioners Forum would join hands with other pensioners’ organisations already engaged in protests against the alleged neglect of retirees’ interests. If their demands remained unaddressed, pensioners would be forced to take to the streets along with their family members to register their protest.
The office-bearers emphasised that the pensioners were seeking the timely settlement of their pending financial entitlements and the implementation of decisions already taken by the government. They urged the authorities to act promptly to prevent further escalation of the agitation.
Large Number of Retired Officials Attend Meeting
Several retired senior engineers and other pensioners attended the meeting. Those present included retired Chief Engineer S.S. Daihal, R.P. Dhiman, Pawan Sharma, N.P. Sharma, R.K. Kaundal, R.S. Katwal, Khushal Sharma, P.K. Sharma, N.D. Walia, Lakshmi Sharma, P.C. Katoch, Hans Raj Gupta, P.R. Parashar, S.L. Kashyap, K.D. Dhiman, Jeet Ram Thakur, K.R. Sandhu, Ravi Kapoor, Satish Sen, Bhup Singh Rana, O.P. Kaushal, Bal Krishan, Khem Singh Thakur, Lalit Mahajan, Arjun Singh Chauhan, Goverdhan Singh, Parmanand, Brij Lal, Chait Ram Sharma, Naresh Chauhan, Mahendra Singh, Dharam Prakash, Ganga Ram Thakur, Jai Singh Thakur, Lakshmi Das, Narottam Ram, Hem Prab, Inder Singh, Jeet Ram Verma, Tek Singh Thakur, Muni Lal, Shyam Lal, Yogesh Prakash, Prem Singh and Narpat Ram, among others.
