Demanding the immediate disbursal of their pension, the retired staff of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation staged a march to KSRTC depot here on Monday.
The protest was part of a state-wide agitation instilled by the pensioners throughout the state.
In Thiruvananthapuram, members of the KSRTC Pensioners Organisation shifted their dharna which has been going on for several days, from the KSRTC Bhavan to the Secretariat.
The agitated members are yet to receive their pension for this month, slated to be received on the fifth of every month.
“The pension is late by around ten days, and the officials have also not given any prior notice,” said Ernakulam unit secretary S R Pillai.
He said the authorities are yet to announce the date when the pension will be disbursed. “There are thousands of retired employees who solely depend on pension sum for their livelihood and most of them are above the age of 60 and are ailing. The authorities are denying us the right to live,” he said.
As per information, the officials have not been able to provide the money owing to lack of funds. Also, there are rumours that the money was diverted for other purposes.
“As we are a retired lot, the officials are also taking advantage of it,” Pillai said.
The amount of pension ranges from `3,000 to `15,000 per month.
Delaying of pension was a constant issue during the LDF government’s rule. However, when the UDF came into power, Minister V S Sivakumar made it mandatory that the pensioners be given the money on the fifth of every month.
“The government has been washing their hands off the issue for years. If they could step in and take up the reins of paying the pensioners, the KSRTC which is undergoing huge loss will not meet with such a situation,” said P A Muhammed Ashraf, state general secretary of the Pensioners Organisation.