Struggling to get the pension revised since 2006, a retired professor of Punjab Agricultural University, DD Narang,82, made an emotional appeal to chief minister Bhagwant Mann to intervene and increase the pension as per the norms.
In its appeal published in Kheti Dunia— a weekly publication of PAU, Narang stated that around 400 pensioners between the age of 75 to 92 years are struggling to meet even their medical needs as their pension was allegedly reduced by the university authorities on the basis of wrong calculation of their basic salary.
He alleged that the super senior citizens (above 80 years) are forced to make rounds of PAU, but no one is paying heed to the problem due to which they are struggling to make ends meet.
Narang said, “In 2006, our basic pension was fixed at around ₹23,700 which should have been around ₹25,500 as per the norms. The dearness allowance (DA) which is given along with the pension is also calculated on the basis of the basic pension, so our DA is also less than others.”
“ With inflation already burning a hole in the pockets of the residents and a number of taxes being imposed by the union and state government/municipal corporation (MC), we pensioners are struggling due to financial constraints. It is also difficult to run a household when a gas cylinder costs around ₹1,000. We have been demanding that at least the UGC pay scales should be notified properly as our pension will also increase in that course, but the state government has also failed to do so. No benefits are being given to the teaching staff, while the salaries of non-teaching staff have been increased in the past,” Narang said.
{{/usCountry}}“ With inflation already burning a hole in the pockets of the residents and a number of taxes being imposed by the union and state government/municipal corporation (MC), we pensioners are struggling due to financial constraints. It is also difficult to run a household when a gas cylinder costs around ₹1,000. We have been demanding that at least the UGC pay scales should be notified properly as our pension will also increase in that course, but the state government has also failed to do so. No benefits are being given to the teaching staff, while the salaries of non-teaching staff have been increased in the past,” Narang said.
{{/usCountry}}“ We appeal to CM Mann to take corrective steps in time as it will be of no benefit to us if the decision in this regard is taken after we pass away. Also, we demand that the state government should announce a special grant for the retirees,” he added.
Meanwhile, the PAU authorities said a case in this regard is sub-judice in the Punjab and Haryana high court and the final decision has to be taken by the court.