Govt. employees, pensioners press Centre, State to fulfill their long-pending demands

The Karnataka State Government Pensioners Federation (KSGPF), the All Karnataka State Government Employees Federation (AKSGEF) and the Vijayanagara District Joint Committee, Hosapete, on Tuesday submitted a memorandum through the local Tahsildar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking immediate redressal of long-pending demands of government pensioners and employees.

They staged a brief demonstration outside the Tahsildar’s office in Hosapete before submitting the memorandum.

The unions stated that they have been petitioning both the Union and State governments for years without tangible results.

At a joint convention of pensioners and employees in Hosapete on August 24, fresh resolutions were adopted to intensify pressure on the governments for the fulfilment of their demands.

Among the key demands, the unions have called for the withdrawal of the recently introduced Finance Code 2025 which they say is “detrimental to pensioners”.

They urged that the commutation deduction period be reduced from 15 years to 11 years and sought the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission benefits, including DCRG, commutation and encashment of earned leave, for over 26,000 employees who retired between July 1, 2022 and July 31, 2024.

The memorandum also demanded the release of 18 months of dearness allowance arrears withheld during the COVID-19 period, the scrapping of NPS, UPS and PFRDA and the re-introduction of the Old Pension Scheme.

The practice of appointing guest lecturers, contract and outsourced staff should be discontinued and replaced with permanent appointments based on merit, they said.

The federations pressed for the withdrawal of “anti-employee recommendations” of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission and the immediate recruitment to more than 2.8 lakh posts that are vacant across government departments.

The other demands include a free healthcare scheme for retired employees, steps to prevent harassment of women employees and strict implementation of additional quantum of pension (10% for those aged between 70 and 80) along with a monthly medical allowance of ₹500 as per the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations.

The memorandum also sought 50% concession in railway fares for senior citizens, constitution of a Pay Commission every five years, a minimum wage of ₹36,000 per month for non-permanent staff and the release of salary pending for 11 months for outsourced workers of Kannada University.

The unions said that if the governments continue to ignore their genuine demands, they will be left with no choice but to launch State-wide agitations.