Budgam, Sep 29: The Jammu and Kashmir Pensioners Welfare Federation and Senior Citizens held a one-day convention at Town Hall, Budgam, demanding parity in medical allowance for pensioners and employees of J&K with their counterparts in Ladakh.
The convention was held under the chairmanship of Lenin Sampat, State President of the Federation, and was attended by pensioners and senior citizens from Budgam as well as district presidents and office-bearers from various districts.
Budgam district president Malik Gh Hassan and other office-bearers welcomed the State President and participating delegates.
Addressing the gathering, the Budgam unit president highlighted what the Federation described as a disparity in medical allowance between the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. He said pensioners and employees in Ladakh are entitled to a medical allowance of Rs 1,000 per month, while the corresponding allowance in J&K is lower.
State President Lenin Sampat urged the Lieutenant Governor and Chief Minister of J&K to consider the long-pending demand for enhancement of the medical allowance to Rs 1,000 per month, bringing it at par with the rate applicable in Ladakh.
Sampat said the demand had also been raised by several Members of the Legislative Assembly during the ongoing Assembly session.
Chief Patron of the Federation, Nisar Ali Mir, assured the participants that the organisation would take up their demands with the J&K Government. These include enhancement of the medical allowance and release of Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief (DA/DR) due from July 1, 2026, in favour of pensioners.
The convention expressed hope that the Government and Administration would consider the demands at the earliest and address the disparity in medical allowance between the two Union Territories.
The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the chair and participants.
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