Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Minister's call for uniform festival allowance

By Our Staff Reporter

The Cultural Affairs Minister, G. Karthikeyan, inaugurating the 12th annual State meet of the Kerala State Service Pensioners' Union in Pathanamthitta on Tuesday.

PATHANAMTHITTA, MAY 25. The Minister for Cultural Affairs, G. Karthikeyan, has stressed the need for a uniform festival allowance pattern for pensioners as well as Government servants in the State.

Inaugurating the 12th State meet of the Kerala State Service Pensioners' Union (KSSPU) here today, the Minister said that he would take up the matter with the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, and the Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, soon.

Mr. Karthikeyan said that pension benefit was a Government servant's right. A discussion was needed on raising the pension age in the State, he added. The Minister said that it was important to study various aspects of the issue, especially the unemployment problem.

The KSSPU State president, C.P. Narayanan Nambiar, presided over the inaugural function. The district panchayat president, Mathew Kulathumkal, K.K. Nair and Joseph M. Puthusserry, MLAs, also spoke.

The founding leaders of the KSSPU, P. Chithran Nampoothiripad, V. Chacko, N.K.G. Menon and Maroor N. Kochukesavan, were felicitated on the occasion. The Minister presented ponnada to them.

The former general secretary of the Kerala Gazetted Officers Association, M.K. Vasu, spoke on the challenges facing the pensioners in the State. G. Balagopalan Nair, G. Sivarajan, Kadammanitta Vasudevan Pillai, Jose Parakkadavil and P.M. Thomas were among those who addressed the cultural meet as part of the annual convention.

A rally was held in the afternoon in connection with the annual meet.

The Ranni MLA, Raju Abraham, inaugurated a public meeting at the private bus stand in the evening.

The meeting will conclude tomorrow.

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