Himachal to pay pension arrears to Class III pensioners in October

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday announced that Class-III pensioners will receive 30 per cent of their pension arrears in October this year.

Class-I and Class-II pensioners who retired between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 will receive 15 per cent of their pension arrears during the same month, he said.

Sukhu made the announcement while addressing a meeting with the Himachal Pradesh Pensioners’ Joint Front here on Monday.

The chief minister said the state government was aware of the issues faced by pensioners and employees and was making efforts to resolve them.

“The state government has been releasing financial benefits to employees and pensioners from time to time, and is considering releasing another instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) in the coming period,” he said.

Sukhu said directions had been issued to all departments to clear pending medical reimbursement claims of pensioners.

“Arrears of all pensioners above 65 years of age had already been cleared by the government,” he added.

The chief minister also said pensioners had played an important role in the development of the state and made valuable contributions to Himachal Pradesh’s progress.

He said the state government had restored the Old Pension Scheme for its employees without any political motive, with the objective of ensuring that employees could lead a dignified life after retirement.