Dharamshala, May 11
A political controversy has erupted over the alleged delay in disbursement of financial benefits to retired government employees, with opposition leaders accusing the state government of ignoring long-pending dues of lakhs of former workers. Addressing a press conference on Monday, BJP leader and former Vice Chairman of the Employee Welfare Board, Ghanshyam Sharma, alleged that the Congress-led state government has been withholding Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears of around 4 lakh retired employees for the past 48 months.
He claimed that employees who retired between 2016 and 2021 have still not received their leave encashment, gratuity, and other post-retirement benefits. Sharma said that after retirement, employees depend heavily on their pension for medical and daily expenses, but even pension payments are not being released on time in several cases. He cited HRTC pensioners as an example of those facing continued hardship.
Sharma further alleged that the state’s financial management has “collapsed,” with 15 percent instalments of dearness allowance still pending. He added that despite promises made in the Congress party’s election manifesto to resolve employee and pensioner issues, the government has failed to deliver and has instead offered only assurances.
He also claimed that dissatisfaction among retired employees is growing and may reflect in upcoming municipal corporation elections. According to him, pensioners of HRTC are receiving pensions at the end of every month, while employees of the Electricity Board have not been included under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
The BJP leader further stated that the state government has accumulated pending liabilities of around ₹17,000 to ₹18,000 crore towards retired employees, who have been awaiting their dues for a long time.
