Delhi HC tells north MCD to release pension of retired civic employees

The court asked the civic body to be prepared on the next date of hearing, September 21, with the timeline within which the pension arrears will be released to the retired employees.

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to release the pension of its retired employees due for April 2020, by the end of August 2020, and sought the response of the Delhi government and the civic body on a plea that sought directions to pay all arrears.

The plea sought a direction to provide cashless medical facilities to all retired employees who deposited subscription fee for the purpose in empanelled hospitals.

A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad asked Delhi Government and North DMC to file a status report on a petition filed by Nagar Nigam Sewa Nivrit Karamchari Kalyan Samiti, a body of retired employees of the municipal corporation of Delhi, who are above the age of 75 and physically disabled to seek redressal of their grievances.

The court asked the civic body to be prepared on the next date of hearing, September 21, with the timeline within which the pension arrears will be released to the retired employees.

Appearing for the civic body, advocate Mini Pushkarna said the corporation had released the pension till March 2020 and steps will be taken to pay the amount for the month of April 2020 at the earliest.

In its plea filed through advocate Ranjit Sharma, the association sought a direction to the respondents to release the pension on time every month and pay arrears of the benefits of seventh Pay Commission without delay.

The plea sought a direction to provide cashless medical facilities to all retired employees who deposited subscription fee for the purpose in empanelled hospitals.

The petitioner said the retired employees have been facing the problem of non-payment of pension since 2015.

“The retired employees of North DMC are facing immense problems in meeting their daily expenses. Some of them have medical problems, which require urgent treatment and care. These retired employees do not have any other source of livelihood other than their pension. If the pension is released after a lapse of 2-3 months, it is imaginable what difficulties they would be facing,” the plea said.