Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 27
A general body meeting of the PAU Retirees' Welfare Association was held at the Students' Home at Punjab Agricultural University here today. Around 175 members attended the meeting.
Jila Ram Bansal, president of the association, said their 19 demands had been accepted by the Punjab Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor, including depositing the medical reimbursement cheque in the pensioners account directly by the department concerned, payment of the medical reimbursement within 3 weeks, free distribution of medicines to the chronic patients, purchasing new testing machines, updating the PAU operation theatre, appointing eye and dental specialists on part-time basis, doctors to prescribe medicines which are easily available in the market, providing water, sewerage and other facilities to the pension office, opening of an Ayurvedic Govt Dispensary near Gate No 3, etc.
Ashwani Sharma, Chief Manager, and Kuldeep Singh, Branch Manager, of the SBI (Punjab Agricultural University branch) addressed the pensioners and the difficulties being faced by them were solved. Bank officials announced that soon be a 24-hour 'e-Lobby' would be launched.
It would be equipped with one cash withdrawal and cash deposit machine, one automatic passbook-printing machine, one cheque depositing. The existing SBI branch would also be upgraded.
Bansal said soon they would meet the Comptroller and the Vice-Chancellor to get their pending dues cleared before March 31.