GUWAHATI, July 6 � Miffed by the alleged indifference of the government towards resolving the genuine grievances of the retired teachers and employees of the provincialised schools, the Assam Provincialised Retired Teachers and Employees Association has decided to come out to the streets to protest against the apathy of the government.
Addressing mediapersons here on Tuesday, the association announced its decision to stage a sit-in demonstration on July 23 at the premises of the NCP office, Digalipukhuripar from 11 am to 3 pm.
The association affiliated to the All India Federation of Pensioners Association warned that in the coming days its agitation would be intensified if the government does not implement the revised pension for the teachers and employees who retired after January 1, 2006. The association alleged that though the necessary steps like dispatching the service books to the office of inspector of schools for implementing the revised pension as per the recommendation of the Assam Pay Commission has been initiated, the process was very slow.
�The apathy of the government and the rising prices of all the essential commodities have forced us to take up agitational programmes,� said Ashish Ranjan Dey, general secretary of the association pointing out that the apathy of the government was reflected in the fact that only 20 service books have been dispatched to the inspector of schools in Kamrup district so far.
The association referring to the central provision of providing enhanced rate upto 20, 30, 40, 50 and 100 per cent on the basic pension of its retired teachers and employees aged above 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100, regretted that such a provision was yet to be undertaken by the State Government.
On the other hand, the association has insisted on the minimum pension and family pension at par with States like Punjab, Orissa, etc. where the minimum pension and family pension for retired teachers and employees is Rs 3500. The Assam Government has fixed the minimum pension for retired teachers and employees at Rs 3000 and the minimum family pension at Rs 1800.
