Retired railway employees seek increase in pension

The monthly meeting of the Northern Railway Retired Employees Federation was held under the chairmanship of president PD Sharma.

Welcoming the members, Sharma requested general secretary Ravi Agarwal to conduct the proceedings. Agarwal reiterated the federation’s demand for a 5, 10, or 15 per cent increase in pension and an enhancement of the medical allowance from Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000. The members also agreed to raise the issue of stopping pension commutation after 12 or 10 years and eight months instead of 15 years.

The delay in setting up the Eighth Pay Commission and the expected submission of its report after 18 months was strongly opposed. The federation demanded interim relief to be provided periodically. Pensioners also expressed concern over the recent increase in OPD fees at railway panel hospitals from Rs 350 to Rs 700.

Among those present were chairman Ram Prakash, deputy chairman Amrik Ubhi, organising secretary Vimal Rampal, Pawan Jamla, Anoop Kumar, Bhupinder Singh, Ved Pal, Kuldeep Sharma, Sukhpal Singh, Ajitpal Singh, Ved Prakash, Surinder Pal, Dilbag Chand, Amarjeet Singh, Om Prakash Parmar, Nathu Ram, Jaswant Singh, Hari Chand and others.