Madurai, August 10: The Madras High Court today issued notice to the Union Finance and Labour secretaries and the EPFO on a petition seeking a direction to the committee set up for a review of the Employees Pension Scheme 1995 to complete its assignment of revising the pension expeditiously.
The PIL by the Textile Mill Retired Employees Pensioners’ Welfare Association also wanted the committee to consider the representation of the association to enhance the pension.
The division bench of Justices V Ramasubramanian and D Hariparanthaman here admitted the petition and ordered the issue of notice.
The petitioner, R Renganayagam, Secretary of the association, submitted that as per the latest EPF (Employees Provident Fund) scheme, persons who completed 33 years of service and retired in 2005, 50 per cent of salary along with price rise index would be given as monthly pension.
Similarly, persons who completed 40 years of service and retired in 2005 would get 60 per cent of their salary along with price rise index as pension. But the government did not implement the same, he said.
Retired mill workers were only getting a meagre pension of Rs 400 to Rs 750. “This is not enough even for tea expenses.”
He said the EPF pension was last hiked by four per cent in 2000. While the government pensioners were getting pension to the tune of Rs 4,000 to Rs 15,000, mill workers were getting only a paltry sum. This amounted to discrimination.
The government should ensure at least Rs 100 per day for the pensioners, the petitioner said.
—Agencies