ಹರಿದಾಸ ಮಂಜರಿ

Bengaluru, March 29: The Bank Retirees’ Joint Forum staged a massive protest today at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, demanding the central government to fulfill long-pending demands, including pension revision and improvements in health insurance. These demands have remained unresolved for several decades.

The Bank Retirees’ Joint Forum is a national-level coalition comprising around seven major bank retirees’ organizations in India. Several organizations participated in the protest, including: All India Bank Retirees’ Federation, All India Retired Bank Employees’ Association, Forum of Retired Bank Employees, Retired Commercial Bank Employees’ Association, Retired Bank Officers’ Confederation, Bankers Deserve Justice Society and Retired Employees’ Association of the State Bank of India Group

Speaking at the protest, S.C. Jain, convener of the Joint Forum, stated that the revision of bank retirees’ pensions pending since 1995 must be addressed immediately. He also stressed the need for: Pension on special allowances, Ex-gratia payments for private bank retirees, Improvements in health insurance, Complete exemption of GST on health insurance, Eliminating discrimination in pension benefits for commercial bank retirees, Expediting pension disbursement for those who resigned from bank jobs

K. Vishwanath Naik, Joint General Secretary of the Federation, urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to directly hold talks with leaders of bank retirees’ organizations regarding their demands. He warned that if the central government continues to neglect these issues, the protest would intensify.

The event was attended by C.N. Prasad, General Secretary of ARBIEA, and Giriraj, convener of the Karnataka State Bank Employees’ Associations’ Joint Forum, along with several other prominent leaders.