Budget 2019 expectations: Pensioners urge Modi govt to give them minimum monthly pension of Rs 7500, along with DA

Budget 2019 demands: Ahead of the presentation of Budget 2019, all the segments of society, as well as working people from public and private sectors, are someway or the other trying to put a pressure on the government to get some benefit, knowing well the hour is ripe since the ruling dispensation has to listen to them prior to crucial Lok Sabha elections. Similarly, pensioners under the Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) managed by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) have also sought the government's attention to hike their minimum pension amount to Rs 7500, besides linking it with dearness allowance. 

Putting forth their demands, president, All India EPS-95 Pensioners Sangharsh Samiti, Commander Ashok Rout stated that members of EPS-95 and their wives should be provided free medical aid. Further, he asked that those pensioners who have completed 20 years of their services should get extra weightage of two years as per norms, and membership of EPS should also be increased. 

According to EPS-95 Pensioners Sangharsh Samiti, those who are getting Rs 1000 monthly pension under this scheme should get an enhanced amount of Rs 7500, and it must be grouped with dearness allowance. Through a communique, Rout said the Centre is sitting over a fund of over Rs 4 lakh crore under this scheme, besides earning huge interest over it, but pensioners are deprived of their due. 

Earlier in support of their demands, senior pensioners under EPS-95 scheme staged a protest in front of Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar's residence in Bareilly. Rout said that Gangwar had last year given them concrete assurance to fulfill our demands, but failed to meet that.

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He further stated that out of 60 lakh pensioners, 40 lakh are getting even less than Rs 1500 pension per month, while according to the recommendations of Koshiyari Committee, pensioners should get a minimum monthly pension of Rs 7500 along with a dearness allowance of Rs 5000.