Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. file photo
PTI, Shimla. Himachal Pradesh government owes approximately Rs 17 thousand crore to the pensioners of the state. Himachal Pradesh Pension Welfare Association has opened a front regarding this. Warning that if the demands of the pensioners were not met, they would gherao the State Secretariat.
Speaking to PTI Video on the occasion of Pensioners' Day on Wednesday, he said a Joint Action Committee (JAC) of 18 departments has been formed and a 14-point demand letter has been submitted to the Chief Minister.
The union expressed hope that the Chief Minister would soon call them for talks and warned that if the government does not find any solution through talks, the pensioners will be forced to take to the streets once again.
Referring to the recent protest in Dharamshala where a large number of pensioners had gathered from across the state during the winter session and marched to the Assembly at Tapovan, he said the Chief Minister had called a delegation for talks and had assured to meet them after the Assembly session. He warned that the next protest would take the form of a siege of the state secretariat.
According to pensioner leaders, there are currently around two lakh pensioners in Himachal Pradesh and their demands include payment of dues since 2016, outstanding dearness allowance (DA) and pending medical bills. Sharma said that pension and medical facilities are the main support for pensioners after retirement, but payments in these areas are pending for years, causing huge inconvenience to the retirees.