Every year, December 17 is celebrated as pensioners day since 1983 in India. The pension system in India was brought by the British government in 1857. The scheme was similar to pension system then prevailing in Britain. Pension is a type of retirement plan where a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years. The money is paid back to the employee after his retirement in the form of periodic payments. Atal Pension Yojana Scheme Has Over 1.9 Crore Subscribers Now.

The Pension system was finalised by the Indian Pension Act of 1871. However, Governors and Viceroy were given to authority for granting pension. Thus pensioners were at mercy of Governors and Viceroy. Even though the pension benefits were provided by the government, they were not incorporated in fundamental rules effective from January 1, 1922.

DS Nakara, then finance to Ministry of Defense, retired in 1972. He also faced problems in getting his pension like other pensioners. Therefore, he filed a petition in the Supreme Court. It was on December 17, 1982, that the top court delivered a judgement in favour of pensioners.

Late Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, then Chief Justice of India had ruled: "Pension is neither a bounty, nor a matter of grace depending upon the sweet will of the employer, nor an ex-gratia payment. It is a payment for the past services rendered. It is a social welfare measure rendering socio-economic justice to those who in the heyday of their life ceaselessly toiled for the employer on an assurance that in their old age they would not be left in the lurch"

Even after three decades of the historic judgement, the plight of pensioners is very well known to us. On Pensioners' Day 2019, let us continue our fight for justice to all pensioners.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 17, 2019 07:36 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).