The Telangana Human Rights Commission has directed the Director of NIMS, Hyderabad, to release the complete pensionary benefits of retired anaesthesiology professor Dr. Mantha Srinivas within three weeks, after recording its displeasure over the nearly 12-year delay in settling his dues.
The commission, headed by chairperson Dr. Justice Shameem Akther, said Dr. Srinivas took voluntary retirement from the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences on November 13, 2014. According to the commission’s findings, his pensionary benefits remained unpaid despite government orders issued in October 2023 directing their release.
The direction places personal responsibility on the NIMS Director to attend to the matter and ensure that the entire amount due is released within three weeks of receiving the commission’s order. The Director has also been asked to submit a compliance report to the commission.
The commission warned that if its direction is not followed, the NIMS Director will have to appear personally before it and explain the reasons for non-compliance. The matter has been posted for compliance on November 2.
In its order, the Telangana Human Rights Commission described pension as a valuable right earned through service. It said pension is intended to provide financial security and dignity in old age, and condemned what it characterised as the callous approach of NIMS authorities in allowing the matter to remain pending for such a prolonged period.
The case highlights the administrative consequences of delayed pension processing in a major public medical institution. Although government orders had reportedly been issued in October 2023, the benefits had not been released by the time the commission considered the complaint, extending the dispute nearly a decade beyond Dr. Srinivas’s voluntary retirement.
The commission’s intervention now creates a defined administrative timeline for NIMS. The institution must act within three weeks of receiving the order, report compliance, or face a requirement for its Director to appear before the human rights body. The next recorded milestone is the compliance hearing listed for November 2.
