Pradhan asks Bihar govt to address pension issues of retired varsity employees

Patna: Taking cognizance of the hardships faced by thousands of retired teachers and non-teaching staff of Bihar’s universities due to irregular pension payments, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has asked the state education department to take prompt action in this regard.Forwarding a petition from the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations of Bihar (FUTAB), the minister’s office on Wednesday directed the state govt to examine the issues and initiate necessary steps on priority.Earlier, FUTAB working president Kanhaiya Bahadur Sinha had written to the Union minister, highlighting the financial and physical distress faced by pensioners of all 13 conventional universities in the state due to delays in monthly pension disbursement.The federation stated that pension payments are often delayed by three to four months, causing acute financial and mental hardship. Many elderly retirees are struggling to meet basic needs, forcing some to skip medical treatment.The petition noted that pension is often the only source of income for retirees to meet rising medical expenses and other essential costs. In the absence of regular payments, several beneficiaries are compelled to depend on savings or borrow money.FUTAB has been consistently urging the state govt to resolve the issue. It has also proposed adopting the Madhya Pradesh model, under which the State Bank of India (SBI) acts as a nodal agency to ensure direct transfer of pension funds into beneficiaries’ accounts, reducing delays caused by procedural bottlenecks.