New Delhi: Employees of Coal India (CIL) and SCCL have called for a day-long dharna in the national capital on December 5 to protest against the inordinate delays in the revision of retirement benefit for pensioners, stated an official statement released by two associations. "Pensioners in the coal sector from Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Uttar Pardesh, Delhi and other states will gather at Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi to pitch for quick redressal of their concerns. The executive and non-executive level employees of Coal India and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), both serving and retired, will join the demonstration," it added.
"All Indian Coal Pensioners Association (AICPA) and All India Association of Coal Executives (AIACE) in association with other coal miners pensioners and welfare organisations will stage one-day dharna at Jantar-Mantar New Delhi on December 5 for review of CMPS 1998 and revision of pension for coal miners thereof," according to a joint press statement by AICPA and AIACE. "We are staging dharna so that the revision and enhancement of pension of pensioners can be hastened without any further delay," PK Rathor, Convenor, AICPA, said.
"There was a provision to review after every three years but it was never done regularly. The review and revision have not been done for the last 24 years and more than 50,000 pensioners are getting less than Rs 1,000 per month which is quite insufficient to meet daily needs," the statement said.
After the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1973, employees got the benefit of a pension scheme called CMPS-1998 in the year 1998 with great expectations. The scheme covers pensioners from Coal India Ltd, SCCL and few other coal companies. Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization (CMPFO), working under the coal ministry, has been entrusted with the task of implementing this scheme.
(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)