Pension issues addressed at district convention of pensioners’ association

Pension issues addressed at district convention of pensioners’ association

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Mar 7: Comrade Dipankar Mukherjee, the national secretary of CITU and member of the CBT, said that the GDP does not come just by investments by the government, but by the hard work and contribution of 46,000 crore workers in India. He was addressing the gathering at the DK district convention of Karnataka State Provident Fund Pensioners Association at Town Hall on March 7, Monday. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking on the rally held at Delhi on Feb 23, he said that, although 5 lakh Indian trade unions except BBM participated in it, the parliament did not care and the top national dailies did not report it. Criticizing the Indian government for failing to consider the issue of pension while making budgetary allocations, he said that over 3 lakh laborers are getting less than Rs. 100 per month as pension. There are 2 crore organized laborers and 44 crore unorganized laborers in India, he added.

He also said that MPs are given a pension of Rs. 30,500 every month for not doing anything, while the poor laborers are not given any pension for their hard work and efforts. He urged the laborers to question the MPs and MLAs and fight for their rights.

Comrade B. Madhava demanded that the union government should immediately amend the Provident Fund Act 1952, on the basis of which the pension scheme 1995 (EPS – 1995) has been formulated. He said that over 28 lakh EPF pensioners are receiving pensions of Rs. 7 to Rs. 10 per month. Stating that the EPS-1995 pension scheme is a curse for over 28 lakh laborers covered under this scheme, he said that their pensions have not been revised for the past 10 years and that commutation and capital returns have also been withdrawn in 2008. He said that the meeting has been convened for March 7, which will shed light on this and other major aspects of the scheme.

The dignitaries on the dais were Comrade K. Pavithran, the president of the Kerala State Provident Fund Pensioners Association; Comrade Vasanth Achari; Comrade U. B. Lakkanna; Comrade K. R. Shriyan; Comrade K. T. Madhava; Sukumar, the convener of the association; Comrade Ramani; and others.