Pension protest at PM's House: Aruna Roy, others detained

NEW DELHI: Elderly citizens, including social activist Aruna Roy, were detained Friday for demonstrating outside Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh's official residence here to press their demand for restructuring of the pension scheme.

All were taken to the Parliament Street police station and let off in the evening, a senior police official said.

The elderly citizens under the Pension Parishad gathered outside the PM's House at 7 Race Course Road, demanding the government restructure the existing pension scheme so they can live a life without extreme poverty.

"Section 144 of the CrPC banning any gathering of four or more people has been imposed so they cannot protest here," said a police official.

The protestors from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka were led by veteran leader Baba Adhav and social activist Aruna Roy.

"We have met Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and other leaders. We decided to gather before the PM's House to put forward our demand because despite their assurances, nothing concrete happened," Aruna Roy told IANS.

The senior citizens have been protesting at the Jantar Mantar here since Nov 27, demanding the government immediately introduce universal and non-contributory old age pension system with a minimum dignified monthly pension amount.