Kolkata, July 7 (IANS) The BJP government in West Bengal on Tuesday announced that it will release 50 per cent of the Dearness Relief (DR) arrears to state government pensioners and family pensioners who draw their pensions through banks in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) area.

According to the state government, the decision has been taken to expedite payments that have been delayed due to the non-availability of verified bank records.

In a notification issued by the Pension branch, the finance department said the decision has been taken as an interim relief measure while the government awaits validated details of past pension disbursements from concerned banks.

The notification said the government has decided to release 50 per cent of the estimated arrears of DR for the period from 2008 to 2019 to pensioners and family pensioners drawing their pension from different banks in the KMC area.

It further stated that the delay in releasing the arrears was due to the absence of historical pension disbursement records maintained by banks.

The notification said the estimated arrears would be calculated on the basis of data available with the Accountant General, West Bengal; the DR rates notified by the Finance Department during the ROPA 2009 period from April 1, 2008 to December 31, 2019; and the applicable All India Consumer Price Index-linked formula.

To facilitate the process, the state government has developed a dedicated Bank Pension Management Portal under the West Bengal Integrated Financial Management System (WBiFMS). Banks have been directed to verify and update pensioners’ records on the portal and immediately credit the admissible amount to their bank accounts.

The government has also asked banks to furnish validated details of all pension disbursements made during the ROPA 2009 period so that the remaining DR arrears can be calculated and paid.

The notification said the modalities for payment of the residual DR arrears would be announced separately.

In this regard, the state president of the Government Employees Council, Debashis Shil, said that those who have retired since 2008 will be given half of their arrears, i.e., 50 per cent.

However, those who receive pension from the treasury outside the KMC area have been given the full amount for 2016 to 2019. Those who were in service after 2008 and retired midway are being given 50 per cent till 2019.

As a result, these retired employees are getting much less money financially and are facing discrimination compared to others. He added that a memorandum will be submitted to the Finance Secretary very soon to remove this discrimination and demand that the full amount for 2016 to 2019 be given.

–IANS

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