SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, April 28: Beleaguered pensioners of Coal India Limited (CIL) sent a memorandum to the prime minister and union minister of coal for revision of pension of the employees who retired before 2006 and get merely Rs 49 as pension. They also demanded probe of the fund in Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization (CMPFO).
Coal Pensioners Association (CPA) in its memorandum has said that thousands of coal employees who retired before 2006 are facing hardships in a lack of pension revision. Despite repeated appeals to competent authorities, no steps have been initiated to bail them out.
CPA president Ramanuj Prasad said that those coalmen who retired before 2006 are struggling to survive as their pension was fixed on 1971’s basic salary. This resulted in them getting a pension of a minimum of Rs 49 to a maximum of Rs 5,000. Not to speak of general employees, even the retired chairman of Coal India Limited (CIL) SK Choudhary gets merely Rs 2,500 as a pension.
“Since the Prime minister and coal minister are custodians of coal companies and it functions on their directives, the coal pensioners have requested both to bail them out from penury by revising the pension of the employees based on present basic pay,” said Ramanuj Prasad, the president of CPA.
Coal Pensioners Association has also knocked on the door of the Delhi High Court and the matter is pending there.
The pension scheme was introduced in CIL in April 1998. Though the management gave a chance to employees who retired in April 1994 to become a member by depositing their contributions. But at that time, the basic salary of employees was so low that most of them showed no interest in it.
Those who retired before 1994 from the coal company do not get even a single penny as a pension. GD Mishra, US Sahay, and IM Jha are among the lacs of retired persons who do not get a pension.
“Coal India has turned into a profit-making body. We urged the prime minister and coal minister to direct the company to contribute to the pension fund so that retired persons (before 2006) could get an honourable amount for survival,” said Ramanuj Prasad.
