Restoration of old GPF pension scheme demanded

Rajamahendravaram: Electricity employees have renewed their demand for implementation of the old GPFpension scheme for staff appointed between February 1, 1999, and August 31, 2004. The demand was raised at a meeting organised by the Electricity Employees GPF Sadhana Samithi JAC at the Electricity Engineers Association Hall here on Saturday. JAC chairman V V S Nageswara Rao and secretary B S S Venkateswara Rao said employees appointed during the said period were denied the old GPF pension despite being eligible under the rules then in force.

They stated that nearly 5,000 electricity employees across the State were affected after APSEB was unbundled into separate companies in 1999. Though they were covered under GPF earlier, they were later shifted to the contributory pension scheme after 2004, they said.

The leaders said the JAC has been pursuing the issue for many years, and a government committee was recently constituted to examine it. Referring to a written assurance given during the strike withdrawal in October, they urged Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to intervene and resolve the issue.