TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, seeking immediate disbursal of 100% monthly pension to all retired government employees.
Mr. Naidu said that it was appalling to note that the State government had deferred 50% of the pension amount for March and until further orders.
“Pension is not a gift or bounty, but an entitlement earned by the retired employees due to their long and sincere and unblemished services. Thus, pension assumes the nature of property accrued by the long services of employees. In this context, ‘property’ cannot be deferred without the due process of law under Article 300A of the Constitution,” said Mr. Naidu.
‘No provision in law’
There is no provision in the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897; the Disaster Management Act, 2005 or regulations framed under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 which empowers it to curtail the rights of pensioners to receive full benefit, he said.
“The government not only was trying to violate the rights of pensioners by deferring pension, but also putting them under severe hardship during the lockdown period,” said Mr. Naidu.
Healthcare services
He further said that all the retired employees were above the age of 60 years and they were more prone to contracting the COVID-19 infection. “Given their fragile health conditions, the retired people need healthcare services in view of the pandemic. Therefore, the need of the hour is that the government should disburse 100% of the monthly pension to all the retired employees with immediate effect,” added Mr. Naidu.
