Retired government employees in Odisha's Koraput district take to road alleging bias

KORAPUT: Members of the Koraput District Retired Government Employees Association (KDRGEA) took out a rally on Tuesday alleging that the State Government is biased in providing medical allowance and benefits to its retired employees.

According to the 5th Central pay commission, 1988, the Centre had extended the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) to its pensioners along with providing a monthly health allowance of Rs 1,000. This was followed by every state. However Odisha government, in addition to the other benefits, was granted a health allowance of Rs 1,500 only to the retired judicial officers ignoring the rest, alleged members criticising the move as a violation of the right to equality.

KDRGEA President Raghunath Das alleged that despite the submission of several memoranda by the Odisha State Retired Employees Federation in the past, the government paid no heed to their pleas. “We had to take the protest route,” said Das.

A majority of pensioners were lower-rung retired employees and the pension admissible to them was not sufficient to meet the medical expenditure required, said Das adding that 11 pc of Dearness Relief was not provided during the Covid period.

Although the Centre declared and released 3 pc DR in January 2022 and is preparing to declare another DR benefit, the Odisha government is yet to implement the same for its pensioners. The members submitted a memorandum on the matter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through the District Collector on the day.