Pensioners’ body urges CM to act swiftly on demands

The Himachal Pradesh Government Pensioners’ Association, in a meeting held on Sunday under the chairmanship of its newly elected president SL Gupta, urged Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to constitute the Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) without delay.

Addressing members, Gupta said the JCC would provide a platform to raise key issues concerning pensioners, enabling resolution of their long-standing problems. He asserted that government pensioners had played a significant role in bringing the present government to power over two and a half years ago, expecting it to be sensitive to their demands. However, he alleged that their concerns were now being neglected.

The association expressed disappointment over the government’s failure to release the 3 per cent Dearness Allowance (DA) announced earlier by the CM, while noting that the next 4 per cent DA installment was also now due. It demanded that both pending installments be released together.

Other demands included reimbursement of medical bills and extension of financial benefits under the revised pensions to employees who retired between January 2016 and January 2022.

During the meeting, Gupta — who has been unanimously elected president multiple times — also expanded the association’s working committee. Jaswant Dhiman was named general secretary, Inderpal Sharma as finance secretary, Satish Sharma as senior vice president, Suresh Sharma and Rakesh Kumar as vice presidents and RK Gupta as press secretary. Additionally, a nine-member working committee was announced.