New Delhi: Retired coal workers across the country are planning a fresh protest as their pensions have not been revised since the time of their retirement, with several top-level executives getting less than Rs 10,000 per month.The retired employees – mainly from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), Coal India Limited (CIL) and their subsidiary companies – have alleged that the pension amount which, as per the Coal Mines Pension Scheme, 1998, is to be reviewed every three years has not been revised since inception. Additionally, the 1998, 2007 and 2017 wage revisions for employees were also not applied to these pensioners.“There are more than five lakh coal pensioners whose pensions have not been revised. Many have even passed away waiting,” said Venu Madhav, a retired SCCL employee, who has been advocating for pension revision for years. While the government raised the minimum monthly pension rate in 2024 to Rs 1,000 for those getting even lesser, many mid-to-senior-level retired employees continue to receive meagre monthly pensions that have not kept pace with inflation.SCCL and CIL are both public sector undertakings under the administrative control of the Union coal ministry. However, these pensioners have been overlooked despite the pensions of other central government employees having been enhanced from time to time as per the Unified Pension Scheme. Similarly, the pension amount for employees of other public sector enterprises and public sector undertakings – like Gas Authority of India Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and public sector banks – have also increased over the years.The Coal Mines Provident Fund Organisation (CMPFO), the autonomous body which provides for the pension of coal sector employees, and falls under the Union coal ministry, has repeatedly told the pensioners that due to a shortage of funds, they have not revised the pensions.Pensioners have, however, countered this in a petition in the Delhi high court, stating that the fund has grown over the years. ‘Government not doing anything for us’Rayanna P.B. worked at SCCL, Telangana for 33 years before retiring as the chief transport officer with a basic pay of Rs 40,000 in 2006. Seventy nine now, he gets a pension of Rs 8,087 per month, the same as 20 years ago.“We work so hard for so many years, take risks on the job, inhale coal dust regularly, yet the government is not doing anything to improve our lives,” he alleged. Ramachandra Reddy B., another SCCL retiree who retired as a general manager of civil operations in 2002, said, “I was on one of the higher pay brackets. Yet, my pension, which was Rs 4,000 at the time, has not been revised to date.” In 2002, Reddy drew a basic pay of Rs 23,600, which he said was equivalent to nearly Rs 1 lakh, with the wage revisions for employees since. “What good is Rs 4,000 today to run daily expenses?” the 82-year-old asked.Like him, Prabir Kumar Mukherjee, a retired CIL executive, who gets a monthly pension of Rs 9,977, said, “The basic pay of employees has increased over the years. The 2007 and 2017 wage revisions provided for handsome revisions for newer employees, making way for better pensions too. However, for us, in 27 years, there has been no pension revision.”“The Coal Mines Provident Fund Organisation keeps saying that they do not have funds and so cannot increase the pension rate. The government is taking no action in this regard,” Mukherjee said.Madhav said, “The central government keeps talking about ‘atmanirbharta’, they ask us to be ‘atmanirbhar’, but how will we be if we remain so poor? So many industries are dependent on coal and coal workers – power supply being at the top. It is a dangerous job that we do, there are health risks involved. Yet, we are not given enough pension or benefits to even pay medical bills.”A Bill yet to be tabled in the parliamentThe retirement age for coal mine employees is 60 years. Many of the protesting pensioners are in the age bracket of 70-90 years now, facing serious health problems and struggling to meet daily expenses.The Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1948, was last amended in 1996. The Coal Mines Pension Scheme, which replaced the Coal Mines Family Pension Scheme, 1971, came into effect on March 31, 1998, to provide monthly pension benefits to retired coal miners, and was covered under the 1948 Act.In October 2025, 77 years after the 1948 Act’s enactment, and following years of protests by coal pensioners, the Union government announced an overhaul by proposing a draft Bill, titled the Coal Mines Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Bill, 2025. The Bill has not been tabled in the parliament yet.In a letter to the coal ministry, dated October 15, 2025, the All India Association of Coal Executives (AIACE) and All India Coal Pensioners Association (AICPA), demanded restructuring of the pension scheme to include the pensioners’ demands – a substantial increase in coal pensions, linking pensions to inflation and ensuring financial security and dignity for retired coal workers who dedicated their lives to building the nation’s coal industry.The associations also sought a timeline for the preparation and implementation of a new pension scheme under this Bill to ensure the introduction of a Dynamic Pension Scheme with built-in Dearness Relief (DR) linkage without requiring parliamentary amendment, as per the letter. DR is additional payment to pensioners to ensure the pay keeps up with inflation.‘No dearness allowance’The AIACE and AICPA has organised similar protests several times in the past too, including in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025. Speaking to The Wire, P.K. Singh Rathor, convener of the AIACE-AICPA, said that in so many years, there was also no provision for dearness relief in the scheme. “As a result, even someone who retired at the top level may be getting something around Rs 3,000 because their pension was never revised,” he said.In a supplementary letter, the coal employees’ body said, “In the 27 years since the pension scheme’s inception, no comprehensive revision or actuarial rebalancing has ever been implemented. The pension amount paid to retired coal employees is grossly inadequate – in many cases less than Rs 1,000 per month – rendering the scheme socially meaningless and financially exploitative. “The Court case and representations for enhancement of pension over two decades show a complete failure of fiduciary responsibility and erosion of pensioners’ faith in the system,” the letter added. When The Wire reached out to the coal ministry, it reverted with the standard response that the CMPFO “does not have sufficient funds to sustain an increase in pension”. According to Chetna Shukla, deputy director general at the coal ministry, matters of pension revisions are dealt “on a case-to-case basis”.The Wire also reached out to the CMPFO commissioner regarding the status of the revisions. Assistant Commissioner, CMPFO, Madhuresh Kumar Singh pointed to a Rs 47 crore-deficit in funds. “The matter is under review. Decisions are taken by the board of trustees. We do not know anything about it,” he said.‘They claim insufficient funds, but the companies are making a profit’P.T. Rao, who retired in 2001 as a senior finance executive from the SCCL in Telangana, receives a mere Rs 5,000 as monthly pension. “We have approached the central government many times, written to the prime minister, coal minister, etc. They keep saying they don’t have sufficient funds but the companies are making profits,” he alleged.In July 2025, the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), chaired by Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member KC Venugopal, tabled its report in the House saying that the “failure of Coal Mines Provident Fund Organisation (CMPFO) to take timely decision to redeem debentures of Diwan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) resulted in [an] avoidable loss of Rs 315.35 crore”.The PAC observed that money from the CMPFO was invested in the debentures of DHFL despite its “ill reputation”.The committee had observed there has been “critical irregularity” on part of the Ministry of Coal to oversee the functioning of CMPFO which led to the failure to ensure safety of its investments due to “lackadaisical approach in redeeming debentures of DHFL despite adverse critical ratings.”“The funds are not being diverted to the pensioners. We are the worst sufferers,” Rao said.In 2015, petitioners, under the banner of Federation of Coal Industries Retired Employees Association, had approached the Delhi high court regarding the valuation and revision of the Coal Mines Pension Scheme. According to the petitioners, the pension fund grew from Rs 21,033.27 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 22,898.90 crore in 2023-24, and stood at Rs 24,495.66 crore as of March 31, 2025. Despite an apparent monetarily healthy position, they argued, the members of the pension fund are drawing a very meagre amount of pension due to non-revision at the end of the Board and the Union government.The matter is expected to be listed before the Delhi high court on March 20.Meanwhile, coal pensioners have decided to stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on March 30 to raise their demands. The protest is being organised by AIACE-AICPA and other pensioners’ organisations.Ahead of the protest, Rathor said that the government should recognise the sacrifices of coal workers and take immediate action to resolve the long-pending pension issue, emphasising the need to draw national attention to the difficult conditions faced by thousands of elderly coal pensioners.