More than 60 retired government officials from various associations staged a demonstration in support of their three-point charter of demands near the Collectorate here on Monday.
The protest, led by the district wing of Retired Officials’ Association, requesting the government to redress the grievances came after a decision taken at the State-level executive committee meeting in Chennai on May 27, said district president A Ramanujam.
The protestors demanded that the State sanction the pending dearness allowance (DA) with a 3% increase with effect from January 1, 2022.
“Usually, the State follows suit with the Union government in paying DA. But after the temporary suspension for two years due to COVID-19, the State is yet to pay the pensioners their DA arrears even after the Centre has resumed payment,” said Mr. Ramanujam.
“We also request the State to pay a preponed 10% of the hike in pension when a pensioner turns 70 year old, instead of giving a 20% upon turning 80, which will benefitting pensioners largely,” he added.
They wanted the health insurance scheme to cover more types of ailments for treatment and add more hospitals than the specified ones now.
Four representatives led by Mr. Ramanujam submitted a petition to Collector S Aneesh Sekhar at the Collectorate.
Similar petitions were submitted to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Minister for Finance Palanivel Thiagarajan and Finance Secretary N. Muruganandam, said Mr Ramanujam.
Association district secretary A. Thirumoorthy, vice-president V Jayaraman and others were present.
