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| Pensioners protest in Dhanbad on Monday. Picture by Gautam Dey |
Over 500 retired employees of Coal India Limited (CIL) and its eight subsidiaries on Monday staged a protest in front of the office of Coal Mines Provident Fund Organisation (CMPFO), demanding a revision of their 16-year-old pension scheme to increase monthly allowances.
Braving the rain, the aged agitators, many of whom came from other parts of the country, assembled at the main gate of CMPFO around 11am and demonstrated there for over three hours.
Protesting under the banner of Coal Pensioners’ Association, they later blocked CMPFO’s both the gates, prompting the authorities to invite them for talks.
A six-member delegation, led by union president Ramanuj Prasad, met CMPFO assistant commissioner Vinod Kumar and put forward their demands.
“The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. The CMPFO assistant commissioner told us that the coal ministry was seriously considering a revision of the pension scheme,” Prasad said after the meeting.
According to the protesters, around four lakh pensioners of CIL and its subsidiaries Bharat Coking Coal Limited , Central Coalfields Limited, Eastern Coalfields Limited, Western Coalfields Limited, Northern Coalfields Limited, South-eastern Coalfields Limited, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited are suffering due to the apathy of the coal ministry and the Centre.
Prasad said as per the provisions made in the Coal Mines Pension Scheme 1998, monthly allowances were to be reviewed in every three years.
“But, there hasn’t been a single revision since its inception. As a result, some pensioners are getting a minimum pension of Rs 73 per month,” Prasad said.
“How can a retired employee and his spouse lead a life with a meagre sum of Rs 73 per month?”
The working president of the association, S.N. Singh, said the coal ministry should raise the minimum pension to Rs 10,000 per month.
“In today’s world where prices are skyrocketing, no body can think of living a respectable life with an amount less than this,” he argued.
