Pensioners threaten stir over demands

The All India State Pensioners’ Federation has warned the state government of a statewide protest if their long-pending demands are not fulfilled by September 29.

The federation has announced that pensioners will stage a dharna from September 30 if demands remain unfulfilled.

Federation senior state vice-president Dr DK Soni said the pensioners were still awaiting arrears of 13% Dearness Allowance (DA) due since July 2023. He added that DA installments for January 2024, July 2024 and January 2025 are also pending. “The government claims to have released DA, but all pensioners have got is assurances,” he alleged.

District president BS Yadav, unit president Ashok Kumar Sharma and general secretary Budhia Ram said despite repeated reminders the government had failed to clear the arrears of pay-scale revision from January 2016 to January 2022.