Ratia, July 8:- The monthly meeting of the Retired Employees Association Haryana, Block Ratia, was held at Noor Garden, Ratia. The meeting was presided over by Block President Sukhwinder Singh, while the stage was conducted by Secretary Gurpreet Singh Nain.
In the meeting, senior member Balindra Sharma discussed the economic situation of the country and the state in detail and demanded the immediate fulfillment of pensioners' pending demands. He urged that the withheld Dearness Allowance (DA) amount should be released promptly and that pensioners who have completed 65, 70, 75, and 80 years of age should be given an additional 10 percent benefit. Furthermore, he demanded that the medical allowance be increased to Rs 3,000 per month, as pensioners are facing financial difficulties due to rising inflation.
In his address, President Sukhwinder Singh expressed concern over the cases of embezzlement of crores of rupees in government bank accounts and demanded an impartial investigation and strict action against the culprits. He stated that the pace of development works in the state is not as expected, and many schemes appear to be limited to papers only.
Highlighting various problems in Ratia city, he said that a permanent arrangement for the drainage of rainwater has still not been made. Piles of garbage are lying at various places on Tohana Road, Lali Road, and Sehnal Road. More than three years have passed since the government gave assurances regarding the construction of Tohana Road, but the work remains incomplete, causing severe inconvenience to people and damaging vehicles.
The speakers at the meeting said that the streets of the Dalit settlements in the city are still broken, whereas most of the streets in newly developed colonies have been paved. The road connecting the 'Kallar Colony' in Ward No. 5 and Ward Nos. 4 and 5 to the bypass has also been lying incomplete for the last two years. They asserted that development works should be visible on the ground and not just confined to government records.
Association office-bearers also demanded that the government should effectively curb the increasing corruption at the level of first-class officers and ensure administrative accountability.
Despite the scorching heat, a large number of retired employees participated in the meeting, demonstrating the unity of the organization and raising their voices in support of their demands.