Team Herald
VASCO: Registering their protest against the circular issued by the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) the Mormugao Port Trust Pensioners Association (MPTPA) on Monday claimed that MPT has no legal right to cut or reduce their pension.
They demanded that VDA to the pensioners should be paid in full and MPT should issue amendment to the circular at the earliest failing which MPTPA would be left with no option but to approach court against the decision taken by port management.
It may be recalled that on January 12, MPT, citing severe financial crises due to ban on handling of coal at MPT issued a circular mentioning that all Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA)/ dearness relief paid to the employees and pensioners will be paid at the VDA rates applicable for the month of December 2017 and all future increase in DA is deferred
“They have been deducting 12 per cent from the salary every month as pensioner funds and the same is returned back to us after retirement as pension. Management should reply to us as to where they utilized the funds which was earmarked to provide pensions to the pensioners, MPTPA president S R Fadre said.
Also under major port Act it is nowhere mentioned that chairman has powers to stop our pensions, and if it is, then he should show us the act, he added.
He said that though port had faced worst situation after SC issued mining ban order in 2012, the then Chairman made attempts to expand port business but did not touch pensioners, adding that the current Chairman I Jeyakumar, in the name of coal is trying to put pressure on pensioners. If MPT’s financial position was bad then why has MPT paid Rs 15 crore as wage revision arrears to officers ranks recently, he questioned.
He is trying to threaten us in name of coal and have issued circular which is inappropriate and we will give benefiting reply to the same, another member of MPTPA said.
MPT should ask the coal handling agencies to find ways to handle coal in the manner it is handled in other countries like Australia and if they are unable to do so then MPT should stop coal handling at its berths as our children are suffering from illness due to coal. My daughter died due to blood cancer. Similarly, there are many others facing different ailment due to coal. From 2004 till date about 423 children have been inflicted by various diseases due to coal, he claimed.
We are MPT pensioners as well as citizens. We therefore demands that MPT should either created world standard infrastructure to handle coal and if MPT is unable to do so or fails to control pollution then even we are opposed to coal handling at MPT berths as port should not generate revenue at cost of lives of the citizens, the MPTPA members added.
