Some leaders, despite favourable verdicts of various courts, doubt about LIC pensioners getting one rank one pension (the personnel retiring in the same rank with same length of service getting uniform pension or stage to stage fitment irrespective of date of retirement ). They, probably, feel that the Babus at the Centre would never approve updation as demanded by the pensioners of LIC and banks. It would result in the LIC and bank pensioners getting more pension than the GOI retirees of similarly placed cadre/ rank.
The GOI retirees have been getting updation of pension on certain fitment formula (merger of 100% DA /DR with the existing basic pension of a pensioner plus 40% fitment weight-age) once in ten years along with revision of pay scales of serving employees. There is no uniform pension- OROP among the GOI civil servants. As announced by the former Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram in his interim budget in February 2014, the Defence pensioners get OROP from April 2014. The GOI civil servants are also at it for nearly a decade and strongly in one voice.The GOI pensioners would not rest until their demand is accomplished ! They ( shall have to ) be granted with OROP as per law of equity as enshrined in the Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Shri Arun Jaitaly, the new Finance Minister, who is a legal luminary, has this obligation to comply with / to fulfil the long awaited demand of Government pensioners !!
As against the revision of pay scales of GOI employees once in ten years, the pay scales of LIC and bank employees' are revised once in five years. While the GOI pensioners and family pensioners get updation as stated above once in ten years, the LIC and bank pensioners' demand has been for updation of pension along with revision of pay scales once every five years.The recent development of GOI granting in principle approval for updation of pension to RBI pensioners once in ten years, prospectively from 01-11-2012 ( the due date of revision of pay scales of bank employees including RBI employees ) --on the lines of GOI -- the OROP or as per fitment formula vogue in GOI , subject to certain conditions, is apparently an attempt to set a precedence in the industry (better not call it as a bad precedence because the stubborn attitude of MOF towards denying updation of pension to other than the government pensioners has changed for good, the ice since broken).
Shri Asthanaji has already to his credit winning twin cases of 100% neutralisation in DA/DR to pre August 1997 retirees retrospectively and updation of pension along with pay revision of working employees every five years. The judgement of Hon.Justice Bhandari of Rajasthan High Court is final and LIC has to honourably comply with. Chandigarh and Haryana Court (the Court has also asked LIC to pay 12% interest),the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court are very much in consonance with the Hon. Justice Bhandari. The GOI cannot thrust any new decision on LIC pensioners.
SN ( a 1992 pensioner )
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"I had drafted the above more than a month back."
"I read the article appeared in the Hindu...very sorry to know the developments...the Govt. , the Congress or the BJP shd. not go back on its commitment. Five hundred crore for four months in interim budget and one thousand crore provided...provision after due calculation .....Why tamper with the accredited definition of OROP ? Why allow
bureaucrat/s to exert corrupt influence over a matter over a definition
which was duly deliberated and accepted by all ? ...I restrict my comments ...but sad,"adds Shri SN.