Bhubaneswar: The United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees Monday said its members will go on mass casual leave September 4 and 5, pressing their long-pending demands over pension related issues.
The members held a demonstration before the RBI head office here.
They said they would go on a mass leave from September 4 to 5, to press for their demands related to pension that have been “pending for the past 16 years”.
UFRBOE convenor Purna Chandra Behera said, “RBI is supposed to update the pension scheme from time to time for its retired officers and employees. The central government is making illegal and unwarranted interference in the administrative matters of the RBI, which is an autonomous institution.”
According to UFRBOE members, pension remains fixed unless revised. According to rules, pension schemes should be revised from time to time.
Behera claimed that about Rs 1,500 crore was available in the pension corpus fund but the RBI was not providing proper pensions owing to interference from the finance ministry. “Those [top officials] who retired in 2002 or 2005 are getting less pension than a D-grade employee,” he said.
The forum also wants the RBI to provide one more pension option under which all officials, including those recruited at present, can avail pension. The members urged the RBI to provide pension, as it is the only social security measure.
Over 1,800 pensioners are not getting proper pension from the institution. The forum urged RBI to immediately exercise its power under the autonomy, as clearly pointed out in the report of the parliamentary committee and grant pension updation to its retirees and honour its own written commitment.
The forum said that strike is the only option to put their demands forward.