‘Notice’ saying pension halted frightens retirees, Kolkata mayor orders probe

A ‘notice’ that left hundreds of employees of Kolkata Municipal Corporation shocked, as it allegedly declared halting of pension for the recent retirees of the government body due to a fund crunch, is being probed.

The corporation has declared that no notice with the consent of the municipal commissioner or of the civic body was put up. Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim on Friday clarified that those who have put up the notice have done injustice and the municipal commissioner has been asked to investigate how such notice was put up.

“We are looking into it. Whoever did it, did an injustice. The commissioner has been asked to investigate… we will search, and disciplinary action will be taken,” the mayor said.

The Kolkata mayor added that those who have been receiving pensions so far will continue to get. Those, who are in process of availing pension, will have a slight delay. A notice put up on Thursday for the civic employees had stated, “Payments of pension and pensionary benefits (to the retired employees who have been superannuated from September 2021) are not currently released due to (the) crisis of fund.”

The unsigned notice created panic, and soon rumours of the Kolkata civic body having gone bankrupt were in circulation.

The mayor, however, accepted the fact (as already stated by him) that the corporation has Rs 1,000 crore liability in its accounts. Attempts are on to instil financial discipline.

The Bengal BJP, meanwhile, took a dig at the Trinamool government, saying that the way expenditures are incurred doesn’t reflect an economic crisis, and if there is a crisis in the civic body, then who created it in the first place. A BJP councillor also protested with a banner, “No pension, no KMC”, at the venue of the corporation’s routine meeting, that took place at the Town Hall in the city.

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