Kanpur Pensioner Forum Meeting: Retired Employees Demand Pending OTA Payment
Kanpur Pensioner Forum Meeting: The Central Executive Committee of the Pensioner Forum held an urgent meeting at RKM Gym, Pandav Nagar, Kanpur under the chairmanship of Acting President Rajesh Kumar Shukla. The primary agenda was the long-pending OTA (Overtime Allowance) payment of retired employees from the Defense Factory since April 2009.
OTA Payment Remains Unresolved for Retired Employees
During the meeting, members discussed that working employees in OEF (Ordnance Equipment Factory) received 50% of their OTA, while Parachute employees received 100% of their payment. However, retired employees and family pensioners have not received their dues, as they lack an official representative to advocate for them.
It was alleged that the CMD (Chairman & Managing Director) of the factory has certain expectations that retired employees and family pensioners cannot fulfill, leading to their exclusion from payments. They were reportedly told that no matter what they do, they will not receive their dues.
Legal Action Threatened if Payments Are Not Released
High Court Order and Budget Allocation Ignored
Pensioner Forum General Secretary Anand Awasthi highlighted that despite a High Court order and budget allocation, the administration of the Ordnance Factory has still not processed the payments. He assured that the Pensioner Forum will continue to fight for justice and, if necessary, will escalate the matter to:
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh (a letter has already been sent)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, if further intervention is needed
CMD Accused of Tarnishing Government’s Image
Awasthi accused the CMD of damaging the government's reputation by delaying the OTA payments. He warned that if the payments are not released soon, the forum will:
Seek an official meeting with the CMD
Pursue legal action if discussions fail
Launch protests and demonstrations until the payments are made
Pensioner Forum Members Attend the Meeting
The meeting was attended by several key members, including: Satyanarayan (Deputy General Secretary), A.K. Nigam, Siddhnath Tiwari, Krishna Kumar Dixit, B.L. Gulbia, P.S. Bajpai, K.K. Srivastava, R.P. Srivastava, Subhash Bhatia, Devendra Raj Kapoor, Paramjit Sardar, Tara Chand Bajrangi, Naval Mishra (Advocate), Kamal Verma, B.P. Srivastava, and R.P. Verma. The session was conducted by Umesh Kumar Shukla.
What’s Next?
If the pending OTA payments are not processed, the Pensioner Forum has vowed to escalate the issue legally and through protests. Retired defense employees and their families continue to struggle for their rightful dues, despite court orders in their favor.
