9-year-old Hriday Singh from Assam visits Prime Minister’s office in Delhi, demands restoration of Old Pension Scheme

Children are considered the future builder of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow. One such bright student from Dibrugarh, decided to take a step which very few of his age would only dream of undertaking the route less travelled by.

9-year-old Hriday Singh from Dibrugarh reached Prime Minister’s Office in Delhi, demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme. 

A student of Don Bosco School, Dibrugarh, Hriday Singh is currently studying in class 4. Hriday was accompanied by his parents who presented a letter to the PMO Office addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme which has put the future of more than 3 lakh teachers in a state of uncertainty. 

Hriday mentioned in the letter, “Teachers who have retired from Primary Schools in Assam or were teaching students of primary classes, receive only Rs 500-Rs 1000 as monthy pension. Due this, the family members of the retired teachers are facing abject financial crisis and dwindling social security. Now if my parents also retire, they too will get only Rs 500 as monthly pension.”

The letter further mentions that there are several teachers under the state government of Assam, who are engaged temporarily for more than 10-15 years, but have been converted to permanent posts, whose retirement years are officially signed as only after working for 15-16 years. Additionally the corpus fund received via the National Pension Scheme (NPS) is also less. 

Although Hriday couldn’t meet PM Modi, his letter as well as his visit to the PMO is making headlines across social media platforms. 

Teachers who are incorporated under the NPS scheme are facing instability with respect to their government funded monthly remuneration post retirement. 

Earlier, the Assam State Primary Teachers’ Association (ASPTA) had renewed its demand for restoration of the old Pension Scheme and scrapping of the New Pension Scheme.

The ASPTA has even submitted a letter in this regard to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma terming the New Pension Scheme as detrimental to the interests of teachers and government employees.