Sri Vijaya Puram, Sept 20: At the call given by the Forum of Civil Pensioners Associations, New Delhi, Rangat Branch of the Govt Pensioners Association, Andaman and Nicobar Islands conducted a mass demonstration yesterday morning in front of the Assistant Commissioner’s office at Rangat, Middle Andaman. Despite rain, a large number of pensioners participated in the programme.
Addressing the participants in the programme, D. Ayyappan, former General Secretary of Non-Gazetted Govt Officers Association said that on this day in 1968, 30 lakh central government employees observed one-day All India Strike, defying draconian provisions of ESMA, against the callous attitude of the central government on DA, Bonus, need-based minimum wages, etc. He said that 17 central government employees were killed in police firing at different parts of the country like Pathankot, Bikaner, New Delhi, Guwahati, etc. Hundreds were injured, thousands were arrested, more than 1 lakh employees were issued terminated notices and suspended. He went on to say that it is because of this strike in 1968 that the present DA formula evolved. He said that even after 58 years of such a struggle, the central government employees and pensioners are still on the streets fighting for their genuine demands.
Suresh Lall, General Secretary and P. Sathyapal Asst General Secretary, Govt Pensioners Association also addressed the gathering. RK Baral, President and Ajit Kumar Dey, Secretary Rangat Branch led the mass demonstration. R Surendran Pillai and Projit Kumar Sarkar were also present on the occasion.
The demands highlighted during the programme today were (1) Scrap the draconian Validation of Pension Rules made through Finance Act, 2025, (2) Modify the Terms of Reference of the 8th CPC to ensure pension revision of pre-2026 pensioners, (3) Grant Interim Relief, (4) Merge 50% DA/DR with pay/pension, (5)Scrap NPS & UPS and restore Old pension, (6) Revise the pension of BSNL/MTNL absorbed pensioners due from 01.01.2017., (7) Extend the 8th CPC benefits and CGHS to Autonomous Bodies, (8) Restore commutation after 10 years and 8 months, (9) Resolve CGHS and other health-related issues and (10) Parity in pension
