Employees to take part in half-a-day dharna on Jan 9

Amaravati: The APNGOs association has given notice to the State government that it will organise half-day dharna on January 9 demanding withdrawal of PFRDA Act on Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

JACAP chairman P Ashok Babu and other leaders met Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar and submitted notice on proposed dharna. He said employees would stage dharnas before all mandal revenue offices and district headquarters. He said nearly 1.86 lakh employees and teachers joined service after September 1, 2004 and they are not eligible for pension as per AP Pension rules 1980.

He also said several representations were submitted to the State and Union governments requesting them to withdraw the obnoxious PFRDA Act. “The post retirement life of an employee or teacher under the CPS is unsecured and unsafe without pension,” Ashok Babu said.

He said the Pension Sadhana Samithi decided to demand that the State government should exit from the CPS as the scheme was intended for the Central government employees only and it was only an option to the State governments.

He said the AP government entered into the scheme and implemented it from September 1, 2004. He also said majority of state government employees were demanding the government should exit from the scheme.