Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 11: The retired employees of J&K State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) today staged a protest against the non-payment of their leave salary and gratuity.
Scores of such employees appeared in the Press Enclave and were seen chanting slogans against the administration for its failure in addressing their issues over the last 2 years.
“We retired back in 2020. We don’t have pension benefits and we rely on the leave salary and gratuity. Our families are suffering and we are not able to support them in any way. We have medical needs which we are not able to fulfill on our own,” one of the retired employees, Sheikh Ghulam Muhammad said.
The protestors said that their families are suffering and that they are not able to support them in any way. “We have medical needs which we are not able to fulfill on our own.”
Click here to watch video
The retired employees alleged that the management of the SRTC, especially the Managing Directors, was dodging them and gave them nothing, but assurances.
“It was earlier assured by the SRTC management that the pending benefits will be released within three months but there has not been any response from them so far,” they said.
The protestors said that this kind of attitude indicates that the management is not serious about our issue. “It might seem a small issue for them, but for us, it is about life and death,” they said, adding that their several colleagues died and could not get the treatment well in time.
The aggrieved retired employees said that if the SRTC is taking loans from the banks to make sure they release the salary on in-service employees, then, they asked, what is stopping them from doing the same to clear our dues.
“They are operating with a total bias; for those in Jammu, their dues are being cleared, but they are looking the other way when it comes to releasing the post-retirement benefits of those from Kashmir; this is sheer injustice and nothing else,” the protestors said.
They urged the LG Manoj Sinha and other higher-ups in the administration to look into the matter, lingering since 2020, on priority so that they heave a sigh of relief and their hardships are eased up.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
