The pensioners of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) organised a state-level protest and laid siege at the PSPCL headquarters in Patiala on Tuesday.
The protesters, from across Punjab, gathered outside the PSPCL headquarters and raised slogans against the corporation management and the state government for not releasing arrears of dearness allowance (DA) and not clearing other pending dues as well.
Pensioners’ Association general secretary Dhanwant Singh Bhathal said that despite repeatedly approaching the PSPCL management and the state government in this regard, the authorities have failed to release the DA arrears of July 2018, and January to July, 2019. Also, they are yet to implement the sixth pay commission for the pensioners, he said.
“On one side, the state government has been making tall claims of working towards pensioners’ welfare, and on the other hand, the pension benefits are not being released on time,” Bhathal said.
The pensioners also condemned the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited management for delaying payments of monthly salaries into the bank accounts of the employees.
He added that the protesters had submitted a notice to the PSPCL management regarding resentment among the pensioners’ community over the “callous attitude” of the powercom authorities in clearing their pending dues.
Pensioners’ Association president Avinash Sharma said that they have demanded that the PSPCL management should provide them the facility of concessional electricity units at the earliest.
{{/usCountry}}Pensioners’ Association president Avinash Sharma said that they have demanded that the PSPCL management should provide them the facility of concessional electricity units at the earliest.
{{/usCountry}}“We have held multiple meetings with the officials concerned in this regard. But nothing has been done on the ground level so far. We have informed the management that the power corporations of New Delhi, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are already providing such facilities to their pensioners,” he said.
Earlier in a month, the PSPCL employees had observed complete strike for two days after they were not paid monthly salaries due to the corporation’s financial constraints.