Pension Amendment: A Blatant Betrayal of
Retirees’ Rights
All India BSNL Pensioners Association strongly condemns the government’s proposed amendment to the Pension Rules, which seeks to override Supreme Court rulings and deny rightful benefits to pensioners.
This amendment is not just a bureaucratic change—it is an outright assault on the dignity and financial security of millions of retirees who have served the nation with dedication.
The Supreme Court, in landmark judgments such as D.S. Nakara v. Union of India, has upheld that pension is not a government charity but a vested right of retirees, and that differentiating pensioners solely on the basis of retirement date is unconstitutional. Instead of respecting these rulings, the government is now manipulating the law to suit its convenience, bypassing judicial scrutiny, and institutionalizing discrimination against past pensioners.
Exposing the Government’s Real Intentions
Deliberate Exclusion of Past Pensioners:
The amendment ensures that future Pay Commission benefits apply only to new retirees, robbing existing pensioners of fair revisions. This is an open violation of equality and natural justice.
Financial Austerity at the Cost of the Elderly: The government is prioritizing budget control over retirees’ livelihoods, refusing to honor pension commitments despite collecting lifelong service from employees. If there is money for corporate bailouts and political extravagance, why deny justice to pensioners?
Suppressing Judicial Directives: This is a validation law—a sneaky move to neutralize unfavorable Supreme Court judgments that upheld pensioners’ rights. By rewriting the law, the government is evading legal accountability.
Pension is a Right, Not a Favor: Retirees do not live on government generosity—they live on what is rightfully theirs. This amendment reeks of betrayal, treating pensioners as a burden rather than the backbone of the nation’s workforce.
We, as a pensioners’ association, demand an immediate rollback of this anti-pensioner amendment.
We call upon:
Parliamentarians to oppose this draconian move and stand for justice.
Trade Unions and Employee Associations to recognize this as a dangerous precedent that could impact future retirees as well.
The Judiciary to take suo motu cognizance of this attempt to override legal protections.
All pensioners and the public to unite in resisting this injustice and expose the government’s anti-retiree agenda.
If the government does not withdraw this amendment, we will escalate our protests nationwide, mobilizing pensioners, employees, and the public against this blatant violation of rights.
We refuse to be silent victims. Pension is our right, and we will fight for it.
