Prayagraj: The monthly meeting of the North Eastern Railway Pensioners Association was held on Monday in the hall behind the temple at Rambagh station. During the meeting, pensioners discussed important issues related to pensioners in detail. They strongly demanded amendments to the Finance Bill, restoration of the old pension system, pension revision under the Eighth Pay Commission, the previous railway fare discount for senior citizens, the three-month freeze on dearness allowance during the COVID-19 period, the opening of an AIIMS-like hospital in Prayagraj, and the announcement of a provisional dearness allowance of 20% for employees and pensioners from January 1, 2026. Pensioners also raised slogans in support of their demands.
Addressing the meeting, President Rajesh Yadav congratulated everyone on the historic victory achieved through your unity and continuous struggle. He welcomed the Railway Board’s order to issue manual passes to retired railway employees. He called the provision to review this system after six months wrong. Our organization has been and will continue to strive for the rights of pensioners. The government must take a just decision on this matter, which will alleviate the dissatisfaction among pensioners. R.N. Tiwari appealed to all to join the 24-hour protest on September 29th, following the call of the All India Government Pensioners Federation. D.N. Upadhyay, born in August, was honored at the meeting.
During the meeting, Shashi Bhushan Pandey, Ramkishore, B.Z. Khan, Sanjay Majumdar and Yogendra Pandey enthralled the audience with their ghazal and song performances.
While conducting the meeting, Yogendra Kumar Pandey said that as per the previous tradition, if the dearness allowance exceeds 50%, then the dearness allowance should be added to the basic pension and then the dearness allowance should be given on that basis. R.P. Upadhyay expressed his gratitude. Two magazines were also distributed in the meeting.
Anil Kumar Pandey, Kamlesh Sonkar, Munna ji, Dwarka Prasad, Prakash Kumar, Uday Chandra Sonkar, Sushil Kumar, Ramkishore, Rajesh Upadhyay, Md. Mazhar Abbas, Kamlesh Sonkar, Triveni Prasad and many other central and state pensioners were present in the meeting.
