________________GN SRIDHARAN____________
Someone has referred me to the mail published in the Pensioners Chronicle from an
anonymous pensioner and asked for my comments. I have attempted to classify his viewpoints and clarify as below, in an article-like form:
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| a pensioner ! |
1. UPDATION as for Government employees: drawing a comparison of Government employees has limitations. The updating of pension and family pension for retirees of Govt services no doubt takes place when revision of scales of pay of serving employees is recommended by successive Pay Commissions. For the pensioners only a percentage of increase is indicated in the recommendation.
Excerpts from my elaborate communication to our members as early as an year back (precisely on 1st September 2012) are worth reproducing. “The position is different with Government employees ..., so far disbursing pension from out of consolidated funds (budgeted revenues). Some revisions have happened, a couple of times ...; these are based on administrative instructions and not as sequel to amending Pension Rules. Even the Government has now brought in New Pension Schemes (NPS) which when implemented will overshadow (suppress) any revision demands because payout will depend on contributions of individuals and employers”.
This means that basically a defined pension related to the salaries drawn will cease to be the basis for any retiree’s pension in the days to come.
2. Military pensioner: He has rightly said that military personnel have been recently given relief/ enhancement (not that sizable) in pension and family pension naming it ‘OROP’. I may add that even this is because (or in spite) of a few verdicts from the SC and policy statements in the Parliament. It is for the wisdom of LIC pensioners to think what best could be in store for them.
3. Situation in RBI: The pensioners of RBI too had several hiccups in getting their DR anomaly set right. It was at last done from 2005. They are also not benefitted by any revision in basic pension although they continue to press for it.
4. Family pension: This (in LIC and banks also) should be revised to 30% of the updated/revised basic pay of late employee / pensioner from the date of his / her demise. I strongly support the most justifiable demand. We must strive for it, and we are at it.
I wish to add that none disputes the justification for updating basic pensions and on the other hand everyone wants it. However, in LIC, pensioners have been given hopes in that a sizable hike or a point to point re-fixation was vociferously propagated after the Jaipur High Court verdict. It was this kind of upgradation that I have been saying is not given in any corporate pension anywhere, and I have three firm views:
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It is difficult to elaborate as of now on the all three points (for valid reasons). If there is a meeting of our pensioners with differing viewpoints it is worth debating in person. Can the meeting be in Calicut? On my part, I am willing to discuss with leaders of any other organization who are willing to have a fresh look at our demands with open mind.
How I wish:
Incidentally, I wish to state that I have also demanded updation in my recent letter to the Chairman and this letter has been followed up with a legal notice by our Counsel at Delhi but I repeat what I had earlier written:
While there are controversies in the upgration intended by LIC, let me repeat what I had said earlier: “the terms ‘revision’ and ‘upgradation’ have been used almost interchangeably, by different people and different points of time. I have not seen clear distinction in any communication.” The upgradation itself is viewed inconsistently. “The upgrading is in the context of establishing uniform rate of DR, is a corollary of merging DR with basic pension of retirees, analogous to merging DA with basic salary for in-service employees during periodical wage revisions. In this, the total pension increases because of 100% neutralisation only. However that one longs for would truly occur only when at least a % increase is given at the points of implementation of each successive wage revision for in-service employees. It is only because we are clear that the demands that are made such such as point to point revision will be a far cry, we in our Federation have been demanding ad hoc increase to begin with. Pensioners should have by now realised that the attempts to force LIC to deposit the deposit the amount required to suit a given interpretation of Court Judgment by prolonged and repeated contempt proceedings have miserably failed.
(GN Sridharan 5th September 2013)