Bhubaneswar, Jan, 02:The allowance for Pachika assistants will now be paid in the first week of every month, instead of every 6 or 8 months. The retirement age for assistants will be increased to 62 years, and the death benefit has been promised at Rs. 1 lakh.
These assurances were given by the Minister of Mass Education, Nityananda Gand, after meeting with representatives of the Pachika Assistants’ Union, affiliated with AITUC. Under the leadership of union president Kamal Kumar Shandh, the delegation presented their demands to the minister nine times during the meeting.
The minister received the memorandum, discussed the demands, and stated that in February, the allowance for Pachika assistants has already been increased by thousands of rupees. After the upcoming budget, the government will reconsider further allowance increases.
The minister confirmed that allowances will be disbursed in the first week of each month, the retirement age will be raised to 62 years, and the death benefit will be increased to Rs. 1 lakh, as promised.
Earlier, during the protest meeting, several leaders and dignitaries addressed the gathering, including Zamei Majhi, AITUC State General Secretary Vijay Jena, former CPI legislator N. Narayan Reddy, AITUC leader Sur Jena, and union vice-president Uttam Mallik. They presented various demands of the union.
Following this, thousands of Pachika assistants from different districts, under the leadership of AITUC-affiliated Nirmool Odisha MDM Pachika Assistants’ Union, marched along Gandhi Marg in a demonstration to highlight their demands.
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