In a major victory for retired staff of RINL-Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, the long-pending pension issue has been resolved thanks to the relentless efforts of Lok Sabha MP M. Sribharat and MLA Palla Srinivas Rao. Over the past 15 months, thousands of pensioners were facing difficulty due to delay in pension disbursement.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had delivered a judgment in favour of EPS pensioners entitling them to pension on actual salary drawn by them at the time of retirement on payment of the arrear contributions for the eligible period of their service.
The Regional PF office, Visakhapatnam, had issued demand notices in September 2023 to about 2,500 eligible aspirants of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) asking them to remit such arrears in their contributions for processing the higher pensions.
On this account, over ₹400 crore was remitted to the Regional PF Office over a year ago. Although pension is to be granted within two to three months of receipt of contributions, there was no progress ever since.
However, with Mr. Sribharat’s intervention, the Centre finally approved the release of pensions, bringing the much-needed relief. Mr. Sribharat took up the issue with Union Minister of Labour & Employment Mansukh Mandaviya several times, stressing the urgent need for a resolution. He held discussions with the EPFO central office, ensuring that necessary approvals were expedited.
Similarly, Gajuwaka MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao played a key role by closely monitoring the situation at the regional level, holding regular discussions with officials at the Vizag Steel Plant and the Regional PF Office. Despite pensioners depositing over ₹410 crore as per EPFO Visakhapatnam Field Office’s demand notices, the delay in pension disbursement caused immense distress to the pensioners.
The Visakhapatnam Steel Officers’ Association and retired employees have expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Sribharat and Mr. Srinivasa Rao for their dedicated efforts.
A delegation of RINL pensioners represented by Vasa Srinivasa Murthy, D. Kumara Swamy, Dwaram Swamy, Duddu Srinivas and J.A. Swamy met Mr. Srinivasa Rao on Thursday, and conveyed their gratitude to him and to Mr. Sribharat for their efforts in addressing their concerns and securing a favourable outcome.
Published – February 07, 2025 08:32 am IST
