(FE)
As many as 600 retired employees of IFCI have approached the government against what they call the state-run infrastructure lender’s “abrupt” and “arbitrary” tweaking of rules to curtail their “legitimate” pension benefits, and sought swift restoration of these entitlements.
In letters to the finance ministry, these people have alleged that IFCI, which had been revising half-yearly dearness relief for its pensioners in sync with the model followed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), changed its practice from February 2008 and “unilaterally” adopted the less-attractive benefits extended by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to its employees. Strangely, the IBA pattern was made applicable only for those who had retired in the pay scales effective up to October 31, 2002, and not for all IFCI employees and pensioners.
So, while handing out a raw deal to those who retired before end-October 2002, IFCI’s 2008 move allowed its then employees and pensioners who retired after November 2002 the more attractive entitlements in sync with the ones extended by the RBI to its employees, thus, resorting to unfair discrimination, these petitioners have contended.
