Defense personnel took out a grand march

Visakhapatnam: Demanding continuation of the old pension scheme, under the aegis of the Defence Coordination Committee (DCC), a massive padayatra was organised from Sriharipuram to the Eastern Naval Headquarters here on Sunday. A large number of representatives from Visakhapatnam District Pensioners Association, NCE Union, NAD CE Union, SBC CE Union, MES CE Union, NSTL CE Union and DGNP CE Union participated in the protest. Speaking on the occasion, DCC chairman Reddy Venkata Rao stated that the pension is the right of the employees and there is no need to beg anyone. He demanded the Union government to continue the old pension scheme, otherwise, the agitation would be intensified. He elaborated that workers are being discriminated against compared to the Mumbai dockyard conditions. Reddy Venkata Rao demanded that the management of the Eastern Navy should immediately resolve the arrears of salaries pending for six years. The Union leaders warned that if their problems remain unresolved, a ‘vanta-varpu’ programme would soon be held near the Naval Base Gate. They made it clear that the old pension system provided minimum support to the dependents of the employees who died or retired, while the new pension system was based on the profits made on investments in the share market. All India Defence Employees Federation and other national federations are going to agitate for their demands on August 10 in Delhi, they added. AIDEF national executive committee member P Gopala Krishna, CITU district general secretary RKSV Kumar, TNTUC district general secretary K Nagarjuna Rao and DITU state president Ch Chittiraju opposed the Union government’s attitude.