-Pension Crisis at Jai Narain Vyas University-
A Constitutional, Humanitarian and Institutional Failure
By: Prof.Sushil J.Lalwani &
Macro Economist Anil K. Jain
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The continuing pension crisis confronting retired employees of Jai Narain Vyas University has now transcended the boundaries of an administrative lapse and assumed the dimensions of a profound constitutional, humanitarian, and socio-economic concern.The present governments at the state and the centre are committed to social security measures and in Rajasthan Pension is paid to Government college staff through State Treasury whereas Universities have been excluded.There is a crystal clear discrimination between the government college staff and government controlled universities. Accordingly , the Government pay should seriously consider pension and terminal benefits to university employees at par with the Government college staff .
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Nearly 1,500 retired professors, academicians, administrative personnel, and family pensioners of the university are reportedly languishing without pension payments for the last four months, while delays in retirement benefits and irregular pension disbursements have persisted for years. Many retirees are still awaiting settlement of their lawful retiral dues even after the passage of more than a year following superannuation.On the other hand the Government college staff instantly get the amont next day or the date of retirement itself.
The predicament is particularly distressing because the affected individuals belong to the most vulnerable segment of society — elderly and superannuated citizens who are wholly dependent upon pensionary entitlements for subsistence, medical care, and dignified survival. Several pensioners have been compelled to undertake prolonged demonstrations and dharnas under the extreme climatic conditions of Rajasthan, despite frail health and advancing age.
This situation represents not merely financial distress but a serious erosion of constitutional morality and administrative accountability.
Under well-settled jurisprudence evolved by the Supreme Court of India, pension is not a gratuitous concession or ex gratia benevolence extended at the discretion of the State. Pension is a vested statutory and constitutional right flowing from long years of dedicated public service.
In the landmark constitutional pronouncement in D.S. Nakara vs Union of India, the Supreme Court unequivocally held that pension constitutes a measure of socio-economic justice and social security consistent with the ideals embodied in the Constitution of India. The Court emphasized that the State cannot arbitrarily discriminate among similarly situated pensioners and that pension is indispensable for ensuring dignity in the twilight years of life.
The continued withholding of pension therefore raises serious constitutional concerns under:
Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before law and prohibits arbitrary discrimination;
Article 21, which has been expansively interpreted to include the right to live with dignity;
and the broader Directive Principles mandating the State to secure social and economic justice for its citizens.
The apparent discrimination between university employees and government college employees is particularly indefensible. While pension liabilities of government college staff are reportedly borne directly by the State Government, university retirees remain trapped in chronic uncertainty despite serving the same higher education ecosystem. Such differential treatment, without any rational or intelligible classification, may fail the constitutional test of equality and reasonableness.
Equally alarming is the structural contradiction embedded within the higher education financing framework. Universities function under pervasive governmental regulation. Salaries, appointments, reservation-driven fee structures, academic governance, and administrative oversight remain substantially controlled by the State. Simultaneously, universities are denied meaningful commercial autonomy or sustainable financial instruments necessary to independently discharge mounting pension obligations.
It is, therefore jurisprudenceincongruous and administratively inequitable for the State to exercise extensive regulatory dominion while disowning corresponding fiscal responsibility toward retired university employees.
Educational institutions, particularly public universities, cannot realistically be expected to function perpetually on precarious self-financing models while simultaneously fulfilling constitutional obligations relating to inclusive and subsidized education for economically and socially disadvantaged communities.
The issue consequently assumes the character of a systemic public policy failure rather than an isolated institutional deficiency.
The plight of these pensioners also raises larger ethical questions concerning the societal treatment of educators and intellectual contributors who devoted their lives to nation-building, academic excellence, and the intellectual advancement of successive generations. A civilization that fails to safeguard the dignity and economic security of its teachers imperils not merely its educational institutions but its moral legitimacy itself.
Temporary fiscal interventions, including previously sanctioned emergency financial assistance, have evidently failed to provide durable resolution. What is required now is not episodic crisis management but a comprehensive statutory and financial framework ensuring:
Immediate clearance of all pending pension and retirement dues;
Time-bound and uninterrupted monthly pension disbursement;
Establishment of a permanent State-supported pension corpus for university employees;
Elimination of discriminatory treatment between university staff and government college personnel;
And long-term restructuring of public university financing in accordance with constitutional obligations and social realities.
The matter demands urgent intervention from the Rajasthan Government, constitutional authorities, policymakers, legislators, and all stakeholders associated with higher education governance.
At stake is not merely pension disbursement.
At stake are the constitutional promises of equality, dignity, social justice, and the moral obligation of the Republic toward those who spent their lives in the noblest vocation of public enlightenment.
Prof. Sushil J. Lalwani (9352656190) &
Macro Economist Anil K. Jain (9810046108
Do we have Governace is the State Of Rajasthan abd in JNVU.
Hapless Pensioners are at the verge of death and payment of pensi9n is delayed by months.
Our Gratitude to overseas philanthropic human beings for support..
SHAME ! SHAMA!! on State Governmznt of Rajasthan and JNVU .
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In democracy,can any Administration of University and State Govenment be so insensitive.
Pensioners of JNVU -Jodhpur are suffering endless pain and agony due to neglect and irresponsible approach of University administration and State Govenment
SHAME ..
The gross delay in payment of pension to 1500 JNVU- JODHPUR PENSIONERS is becoming critical
The Vice Chancellor PK Sharma and the State Government is just silent spectator.
Total lack of sensibility and responsibility
MKBHANDARI
The gross delay in payment of pension to 1500 JNVU- JODHPUR PENSIONERS is becoming critical
The Vice Chancellor PK Sharma and the State Government is just silent spectator.
Total lack of sensibility and responsibility
MKBHANDARI