This refers to the article "The path to ageing with dignity" (BS Weekend, May 30), which poignantly highlights the plight of the elderly, who have to perform hard physical labour for survival and the pittance of a few hundred rupees paid to them as old-age pension. While the situation in the organised sector is better, there are wide disparities between retirees from the central government and those from the public sector, with the former alone drawing a pension that enables them to live with some dignity in old age. Even here, the implementation of the much publicised "one rank one pension" (OROP) rule in defence services is still pending, though reportedly cleared in-principle by the government, with a budgetary provision already made thereof.
In the recently concluded wage revision agreement in public sector banks, providing a 15 per cent salary hike for the working staff, the retirees have been left in the lurch, with the Indian Banks' Association taking the cruel stand that 'pension payment is a welfare measure and a contractual relationship between the banks and the retirees does not exist'. Unless the OROP rule is implemented in all sectors and retirees (including those from the public sector) are paid uniform pension from a "consolidated pension fund", longevity in India would be a blessing (thanks to medical advances), but old age would remain a curse.
V Jayaraman Portland, Oregon
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