State govt has cleared pension arrears of retired HRTC employees: Agnihotri

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds charge of the Transport Department, today said that the state government today sanctioned Rs 75.47 crore to be transferred to the bank accounts of the pensioners of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) ahead of Diwali.

Agnihotri, while addressing mediapersons, said that pension had been released to all three categories of pensioners, He added that all pension arrears in the HRTC had been cleared.

He said that 222 retired HRTC employees, who had not received their first pension after retirement in the past few months, were given all their dues along with arrears amounting to Rs 29.47 crore. He added that 647 pensioners, who had completed 75 years of age and were eligible for pension revision, were given all arrears amounting to Rs 23 core. The unpaid pension for September 2025 amounting to Rs 23 crore was also credited to their bank accounts of the HRTC retirees.

Agnihotri said that 420 cases pertaining to gratuity on account of death in the HRTC were still pending for payment and Rs 33 crore would soon be credited to the bank accounts of the family members. He added that leave encashment of 490 retired persons amounting to Rs 33 crore was also pending for payment. He added that the government was making efforts to credit the amount to the bank accounts of the retirees by the month end.

To the BJP’s allegation that the payment of salaries and pension by the Congress government was erratic due to the poor financial health of the state, Agnihotri said that in August 2022, the Jai Ram Thakur government had announced the grant of Dearness Allowance to state government employees but did not provide budget for the same. As a result, the BJP government left Rs 11,000 crore arrears to be paid to the employees.