HRTC pensioners protest in Shimla, accuse Sukhu govt of “betrayal”; threaten gherao of CM, Deputy CM

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 13 (ANI): Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) pensioners on Friday staged a protest outside the office of the corporation’s Managing Director in Shimla, accusing the state government of failing to fulfil its assurances made ahead of Diwali and neglecting their long-pending financial demands.
The protesting pensioners, under the banner of the HRTC Pensioners Welfare Association and the H.P. Pensioners Joint Action Committee, expressed resentment over what they described as discriminatory treatment of retired employees, particularly regarding dearness allowance (DA), pension arrears and other retirement benefits.
Brij Lal Thakur, Media In-charge of the HRTC Pensioners Joint Action Committee, Himachal Pradesh, said pensioners had been struggling to receive their dues for the past four years, but neither the state government nor the corporation management had seriously addressed their concerns.
He said pensioners had been protesting despite their advanced age and difficult weather conditions. Their main demand was that HRTC pensioners should receive the same benefits as other state government pensioners.
Thakur said pensioners were seeking the implementation of financial orders issued by the Finance Department, including pension revision benefits and additional pension allowances of 5, 10 and 15 per cent for those aged 65, 70 and 75 years, respectively.
He added that thousands of cases related to these benefits were still pending, even after pensioners had approached the tribunal, High Court and Supreme Court over nearly 14 years.
He further alleged that arrears under the Assured Career Progression (ACP) scheme, pending since the tenure of former Chief Minister late Virbhadra Singh, had also not been cleared.
Questioning the government’s decision to grant only a 3 per cent DA increase to HRTC pensioners, Thakur said they were demanding an 8 per cent increase, in line with the benefits sought by other state pensioners.
He said the government had granted only a 3 per cent increase despite their demand for 8 per cent, and had also failed to clear pending arrears. He claimed that the outstanding dues amounted to hundreds of crores of rupees.
Referring to the recent High Court directions on the payment of pension-related arrears, Thakur welcomed the decision and urged the government to release the first instalment by December 15 and the second by February 28, 2027, along with interest.
He warned that pensioners would intensify their agitation and gherao legislators, ministers, Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister if their demands remained unresolved. He also threatened protests in Haroli, the constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, and Nadaun, represented by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Thakur said HRTC had approximately 8,700 pensioners and around 12,000 serving employees. He alleged that meetings with the government were largely formalities, with no meaningful discussion or decisions on their demands.
Meanwhile, Dev Raj Thakur, President of the Transport Pensioners Welfare Association, Himachal Pradesh, said the organisation had 16 demands, but its main demand was to provide HRTC pensioners the same benefits as state government pensioners.
He said pensioners were not seeking any additional benefits and only wanted the government to extend the facilities already provided to state government pensioners. He alleged that every time they raised their demands, they were made to feel that the matter was not being taken seriously.
Dev Raj Thakur also alleged that pensioners were misled during discussions with the corporation’s Managing Director. He said the MD had initially sought two days to examine their demands and later fixed another meeting. However, pensioners were subsequently informed that the MD was not authorised to take decisions on their demands and that the Transport Minister would brief the media.
He said the government later announced a 3 per cent DA increase for retired HRTC employees after a delay of 18 months, but did not release the corresponding arrears. In contrast, serving employees received the same increase along with arrears.
Calling it discrimination, he said the government had also announced another 5 per cent increase for serving employees ahead of Diwali. Pensioners had specifically demanded that whenever the government announced an increase for serving HRTC employees, the same benefit should also be extended to retired employees.
Calling the treatment unfair, Dev Raj Thakur said many pensioners aged between 70 and 80 years felt betrayed despite having devoted their working lives to the corporation.
He said nearly 11,000 retired employees and around 8,500 pensioners were associated with the organisation. He warned that the agitation would be intensified if the government failed to respond to their demands.
Dev Raj Thakur announced that pensioners from across Himachal Pradesh would gather in Shimla on November 27 along with their families to continue the agitation and gherao the HRTC headquarters.
The protest on Friday was part of a wider agitation being organised by pensioners across the state over their pending financial and retirement-related demands. (ANI)