SRINAGAR: Since 2021, about 600 retired employees of the disbanded JK Cements Limited have been struggling to receive their retirement dues totaling Rs 184 crore, as the Department of Industries and Commerce (I&C) has yet to fulfill their obligations, Daily Excelsior reported.
Despite government disinvestment of JK Cements due to losses, these employees have been left without their retirement benefits, partially unpaid from 2006 to 2017 and completely unpaid since 2018. Efforts to seek justice have led them to various offices in the Civil Secretariat in Jammu and Srinagar, but to no avail, the newspaper reported.
Tragically, out of the 600 retirees, 120 who served for over 30 years have passed away without receiving their due benefits. Some retirees are struggling to afford life-saving medications or manage expenses such as their children’s weddings, pushing some families to the brink of starvation.
Each retired employee is owed an average of Rs 40 lakh by JK Cements, with amounts ranging from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 90 lakh per person. Despite meetings with officials over the past three years, bureaucratic hurdles have prevented any substantial progress, leading to growing resentment among retirees and their dependents.
Representatives of the JK Cements Retired Employees Association lament the lack of concrete responses from government officials, with bureaucratic delays persisting. Despite the closure of JK Cements in October 2021 and rehabilitation measures for in-service employees, retired workers have been left without support, and their retirement benefits remain unpaid.
In recent appeals to key government officials, the Association has demanded justice and the immediate payment of overdue dues, some pending since 2006, for some employees and since 2018 for others.
