Bhubaneswar: All India NABARD Retired Employees’ Welfare Association (AINREWA) has accused the Union government of inordinate delay in approving pension revision for directly recruited NABARD pensioners, despite prior approval for revision of family pension.
The association has also alleged unjustified delay by NABARD authorities in implementing the already approved family pension revision, along with failure to address other pension-related issues.
AINREWA members held a demonstration in front of NABARD’s Regional Office at Nayapalli here, pressing a six point charter of demands.
AINREWA, which has more than 3,500 members across the country, has demanded pension revision for NABARD employees who retired before November 2017.
The demands also include implementation of the centrally approved family pension revision, removal of the upper ceiling on family pension, grant of full pension after 20 years of service, and fixation of pension based on the last drawn salary or the average salary of the last 10 months.
The association alleged that through its order dated July 21, 2023, the Centre has unjustly excluded NABARD-recruited pensioners from pension revision, thereby creating two categories of retirees within NABARD. This, the association said, is discriminatory, as for the last 43 years since NABARD’s inception, all retirees had been treated equally without any distinction.
The government order, AINREWA contended, is not only discriminatory but also violates the NABARD Pension Regulations, 1993, and infringes Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
The association further pointed out that despite prior approval by the government for revision of family pension and removal of the upper ceiling on family pension in line with RBI norms, there has been excessive delay in implementation.
Many elderly family pensioners are struggling to survive on meagre pensions that are far below subsistence levels. Even after more than 30 months since government approval, the management has failed to implement the revised family pension, pushing family pensioners into poverty, it alleged.
On the occasion, a mass representation was submitted to the NABARD Chairman at the Head Office, and a memorandum was also submitted through the Officer-in-Charge of the Regional Office.
