The Hindu
DIGNIFIED Livelihood:Members of the Madurai District Ex-Services League
staging a demonstration in Madurai on Wednesday.— Photo: S. James
The protestors demanded the Bahratiya Janata Party to keep its promise made in September 2013.
Members of the Madurai District Ex-services League
staged a protest demonstration here on Wednesday demanding the Centre to
implement “one rank one pension” for the armed forces veterans and
family pensioners.
The protestors said that there was
a huge difference in the pension given to those retired before 2006 and
those who retired after that.
“The Bharatiya Janata
Party had promised to implement “one rank one pension” in September
2013. But, it is yet to be implemented,” league’s general secretary M.
Arumugam said.
All the governments in the Centre had in-principle agreed to implement “one rank one pension.”
“Even
this was passed in Parliament in December 2014. But, the Centre was yet
to issue a Government Order to facilitate its implementation,” Mr.
Arumugam said.
Stating that the armed forces were
protecting the hard-earned Independence of the country by toiling under
trying conditions on the borders, Mr. Arumugam said that they sacrificed
all their youthful days for the cause of the country.
“We
are not allowed to work beyond 42 years of age so that the foot
soldiers of the country remain young. After having served for 17 to 24
years in the armed forces, our pension is calculated on a pro-rata basis
keeping 33 years of service as the basis. This leaves us with a very
minimal pension and even in that there is lot of anomaly,” he also
added.
He said that even the pension for the armed
forces was reduced to 50 per cent (from 80 per cent) of the last drawn
salary in the III Central Pay Commission.
Family pensioners
“The
worst affected are the family pensioners. The young widows find it
difficult to educate their children or marry off their daughters with
the meagre pension,” he said.
The league had 2,500 members in Madurai district. Among others its president R. Govindaraj took part in the protest.
The
agitators raised slogans urging the Centre not to force the World War
II veterans and those who had participated in wars for the country in
1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999 to take to the streets for a dignified life.
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