Dear All,
PAUSE, THINK, FUTILITY OF DISPARAGING REMARKS, UTILITY OF A STRATEGY
1) LOVE is important. LOVE is the be-all & end-all of life. LOVE denotes affection & kindness. LOVE is all-embracing sacrifice for others. LOVE is shower of kisses, not kicks.LOVE is the nectar of life. LOVE is being merciful. Mercy is twice blessed, it blesseth him that gives & blesseth him that takes. LOVE is fragrance in full. Rose is a rose is a rose.The fragrance remains in the hands that offers rose & also in the hands that receives the rose.
2) When we see the war of words again, when we forgot Counter–Affidavits in courts but only want to give Counters & Counters, here & there, merrily & happily, that shows the decline in culture & ethos .Elders, pensioners of our age gained experience & maturity but it is strange & shocking that our lives have not been reformed or chastened. When mudslinging commenced many months before, after passage of few months, loud appeals & reiteration of appeals, requests for sanity, plea for moderation were rightly blown like a trumpet of care & caution to avoid deterioration. It looks now after completing a full circle, again yet another round of abuses & warnings are given. All these are not in good taste. This is in spite of announcements that no more such emails can be inserted as it is polluting the atmosphere & more rigidity will develop bad blood, if it is not completely stopped.
3) We all must realize whatever is our station in life, we must exhibit a sense of decency & decorum. We cannot indulge in caustic comments or sarcasm or subterfuge.If one feels so,let it be ignored rather than giving a handle to perpetuate. Think for a while if all these emails are not portraying the bickering, emails purged of the sentences which do not convey any forward step but only throwing stones at others or pointing out lack of courtesy etc but only the Strategy delineated, efforts under way, decent deadline for solution as pensioners. Tryst with Destiny date is nearing, no postponement of a finality, no question of probability, but an air of Certainty with that positive decision of unanimous voice on 12 Aug or later before SC Bench when all the 3 SLPs converted as CAs come for submissions,THAT ALONE WILL BECOME PALATABLE. But if no openness or frankness exists, facilitation is still going on, what to do when good offices are not agreed after many phones & face to face talks, pensioners fate continues to hang in balance
4)i) GS, Fedn of Retired Class I Officers Assns letter dt 31/5/2014 to Hon FM Arun Jaitley again sounds same resonance of DR only with reiteration of adhoc percentages for Pension revision. That is retrograde. DR School only -- was exposed after many presentations by me, sound & convincing with ever ready charts by Sri CH Mahadevan. Wave was always thereafter with TWIN BENEFITS only. We learnt many were unhappy with GS, Fedn of Class I Officers Assns, vote of no-confidence was in the air, GS silently sent SMS when he went to preside his Hyderabad Unit that those who do not subscribe to their majority view must be warned etc, but nothing happened. He offered to resign but no one was prepared to shoulder the onerous responsibility. Point is all these did not come into open & few knew such developments. We must learn a lesson, we persist in such exchanges, not consistent with decency or decorum. We have to keep our house in order & it must be more easier for Unity move agenda to complete the task with precision sooner.
ii) On every platform we pensioners differ & ONLY SAFE, SECURE DOUBLE DECKER MULTIPLE PENSION REVISION WITH EVERY WAGE REVISION clinched victoriously by AIRIEF, what does it point out ? Unity efforts must primarily concentrate on this as pensioner fraternity cannot be kept on tenterhooks till the DDay 12 Aug or immediately thereafter. Preferably by 3rd week of this July month itself, if unity efforts succeed, that will be a great step forward & relieves pensioners of discomfort & frustration to cut short the waiting period endlessly.
5)i ) Look, AIIPA which was not in the picture of Court cases has also now written to FM, I learn, about pension upgradation & all know their request is truncated & from hereafter, prospective only, after wage talks conclude. Of what avail, friends ? What a grievous loss will it be for ALL GROUPS of pensioners need not be recapitulated.
ii) All these are only to put the brake, reverse the gear, slow motion court picture & panorama again getting muddled with contradictory perceptions, when we all, after indepth magnanimous portrayals of multiple benefits of pension --- decided with ONE VOICE to INSIST on TWIN BENEFITS secured thro that Unique Hon SJ Jaipur verdict dt 12/1/2010.
6) If that be so, whither are we going excepting expressing our personal opinions, that too unnecessarily loaded with harsh words hurting others. Kind words cost little but are worth so much. A word spoken or written or an arrow sped cannot be taken back, Bruises are bruises, deep wounds fester. I sincerely & seriously appeal to all involved in Unity Move, & all others who exchange correspondence not to attack others, follow a parliamentary democratic path, whatever Action Plans one has, convince the above messengers of partial benefit only to pensioners, to see reason when end of the road in SC Bench proceedings are soon due & ensure there is no miss between the cup & the lip.
7) Coming to Jaipur, Panchkula/Chandigarh peace-keeping efforts AIRIEF President, GS, myself had a long talk on many occasions last 2 months & more, followed up with many emails ,to realize importance of common umbrella of AIRIEF to help & assist every RIEA in their efforts to work in tandem & convergence to realize our Ultimate goals of TWIN BENEFITS which alone will engage the attention.Other important all-India leaders also offered sound advice to desist from unwanted exchange of words causing damage.One can say with an element of certainty that realization came & proper conducive atmosphere was created. We have pleaded with them to work without deviations & distractions & abandoning any ego altogether.
8)i) AIRIEF President & GS have reached out to all parties, Fedn of Class I Officers Assns whose cooperation will be crucial & vital. Already President has initiated some measure of sharing thoughts as a prelude to face to face meetings for the one & only solution of presentation & submission of arguments with perfect Symphony & Unanimity to score victory on 12/8/2014 or thereafter.
I have requested our President & GS to quickly select a Sr Counsel whose words will count, who has a good image & reputation in SC.
ii) Tough fight will it be in SC, no easy going & that is why I was always, with mature reflections & thinking, advised that Sr Counsel should not be caught unawares, he must be able to scan thro our Note with Succinct Points & history of developments , sincerely portrayed, arguments for rebuttal supplied. That input upgradation is necessary, plan & strategy must be distinct & clear, courtcraft of the highest & truly professional submission with repartees & rebuttals of LIC Counsel a dire need. What is required is Aristocracy of thoughts & Meritocracy of ideas. Appealing to the mind & heart of Hon SC Bench, with facts & figures of aged pensioners, the innumerable deaths of pensioners more than 13,000 by now, the jump of Family Pensioners from 18% to 35 % depicting a sad tale of helplessness for the widow, the dillydallying by LIC & UOI with preconceived ideas & stubbornness, misinterpreting the verdict to suit their own way, seeking many adjournments, scant respect to sanctity of Courts ,untouched LIC Board Resolution dt 24/11/2001 on which Foundation, Hon SJ Jaipur wonderfully erected a Superstructure extending pension upgradation with every wage revision as then 8/2002 & 8/2007 wage revisions were yet to come, the Clinching SECRET letter dt 31/12 /2001 by LIC to MOF/UOI recommending the desirability of relativity of pensions inter-generational for various pensioner groupwise, & quoting latest OROP Defence force case ,where SC 5-Judge Bench presided over by Hon Chief Justice Sri Lodha, hit the nail on the head, throwing away the despicable sticky defence of UOI for effective date 9/2012 & pronouncing 1/1/2006, from when the Discrimination emerged.
iii) So too, for we pensioners, why should pre-8/1997 pensioners agree to anything later or prospective, which LIC may again tout saying Board Resolution decision says so & if that silly statement by LIC Counsel comes must be overthrown by combined synergy & unanimous voice of 3 Sr Advocates. Similarly, even for pension upgradation, our Sr Counsels can claim any earlier date after Board Resolution , say 1/1/2002 or synchronizing with 1/8/2002 wage revision or at worst 1/1/2007 as pension upgradation Writ is CWP 654/2007. Indeed this 5–Judge SC Bench verdict will go down in history as yet another post-Nakara unique judgement for pensioners to revel, just like the ever famous Nakara presided over by Hon CJI YV Chandrachud & this must be appropriately & convincingly utilized with assertiveness & even aggressiveness, as we pensioners are at the receiving end with 4 positive verdicts & 10 Hon Judges expressing in our favour.
iv) The task was formidable, it was Himalayan, years before, but thrilling victory was handed over to all of us by that historic judgement dt 12/1/2010 of TWIN BENEFITS TO PENSIONERS. AIRIEF flag was flying fullmast. It was an arduous & uphill task but each & every pensioner savoured of a Brave New World.
9) i) Normally in accounts,NPAs & some other items are written off.History cannot be erased. The saga of love, sacrifice by AIRIEF Office Bearers & Activists cannot be written off. Even Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva wont dare to write off. It was we who submitted the famous MOU dt 14/1/1994 between LIC Management & Unions announcing “SAME DR FOR PENSIONERS AS SAME DA FOR EMPLOYEES”. LIC is crucified with their own documents !! At this age, when AIRIEF was born, distant 5/12/1996, till today & more time to click & clock,AIRIEF is proud to tell & remind readers & viewers & all the whole world of elders & pensioners & others too, its Achievements & Accolades running into pages. AIRIEF in its 18 yrs worthy, fruitful existence, on time & with great preparation has planned, exchanged ideas & thoughts & wanting to successfully conduct, believe me the 9th Biennial GC on the dot & time at Bangalore. Few organizations or Pensioners Fedns can boast of such promptitude & willing to shoulder heavy responsibility assuredly for the future. Certainly growth pangs, ups & downs , swings of some apathy at times sets in, but overall, with pride, I can assert in all humility & modesty, the sterling successes, the superlative efforts , of contacts with top LIC management many times, & influence that matters with MOF silently undertaken.The famous Gratuity case of 3/2008 & 8/2008 in SC for retirement benefits to be paid on Revised salary after wage revision was yet another feather in the cap of our Kozhikode RIEA & later AIRIEF. The aftermath of this fup again at Jaipur HC where also LIC Appeal was dismissed is still being pickled by LIC even after our Lawyers notice to LIC. Class I Officers retired between 1/8/1992–31/3 1993 will get huge benefit once the deck is cleared, the numbers are few. Even the 75% rebate in mediclaim premium to pensioners, same as that of employees, in May 2010, Family Floater Policy mediclaim in May/June 2014, which is a great harbinger of peace, tranquillity & enormous mental peace as pensioners lacked finance to foot the big bill, that & that is a tremendous relief & a great great victory by securing major benefits delineated in our CO Demands , from LIC for which we are eternally grateful to them.
ii)When Pensioners organizations find it difficult to have many Units because of inherent & inbuilt weaknesses, old age, lack of volunteers, full time dedicated work & fup hard to commit, GS,AIRIEF & All India Organising Secretary did their best to spread tentacles to many corners of India. House Magazine Varistha Vaani Qly on dot radiating news & views. Salute AIRIEF, don’t denigrate AIRIEF & its leaders. In fact, the long long innings we are associated with have not been without tremors or quakes, but we successfully conquered all of them with confidence & courage. Which Pensioners Fedn has done such a yeoman service ? In India talkers are more, walk the talkers are nil.We in AIRIEF did announce plans , fup vigorously & culmination was a resounding success. Whether it is LIC Board Resolution, or letters/emails to Board Members then & now, fup face to face with them, whether it is dialogue with Chairman to EDP, the letter dt 31/12/2001 by LIC to Addl Secretary, MOF which strengthens Board Resolution & clinches the issue of pension upgradation at different CPI by successive mergers, dear friends, all these & many more were also because of our long long cherished meeting with ever so many Top dignitaries of LIC.
iii) Had not AIRIEF prepared many many years before in 1998/1999 itself Loss of Pension Chart for All cadres,this strong case & real liability for pensioners, experiencing such losses without a murmur,& such a fillip we gave by circulation, to all in MOF , they told us, we are faster than LIC in replies, gathering & collating of data & presenting it holistically.Appreciate that Insight & Foresight. You want to write off !! had the seed not been sown then , this sprout of a TWIN BENEFIT verdict would not have come. So too in 8/2003, 2/2009 & 5/2009 after our goading LIC letters & reminders to MOF. Memory is short . So we remind & reiterate at this important juncture.One should not be infatuated with ones journey for unity, but laced & coupled with acrimony & brickbats in the next sentence. Mature sensible leaders ignore any other offside events or happenings & like Arjuna, aim accurate with pinpoint precision with the bow of legal strategy at that critical turning point for TWIN BENEFITS submissions BY ALL THE 3 Jaipur, Chandigarh who will certainly plead for twin benefits as they fought for them & all based on Jaipur historic verdict only & Delhi HC coming as 3 SLPs converted as CAs.
10) i)We have an important role to play.We have to act as responsible people.We must not spread messages which will sink in others minds & making them believe & think bad of all of us & our worthy organization. AIRIEF has contributed in the past, is contributing in the present & will contribute in the future as well. I sincerely appeal to you all to forget & forgive, desist from any more public cry, live today to look into the ensuing legal battle in the final stages, prepare for the strategy, for which whatever AIRIEF has to contribute, it will play constructive role, & to see overall prestige & reputation of our organization grows & we serve as humble & valiant partners in progress of the pensioners movement & journey to a very bright future , by a sterling & memorable Victory . None will work against pensioners interests or welfare.
ii)Time is short. Please don’t raise any bogey any more. We all must treat all others as friends, not foes, as collaborators , not destroyers. I cannot indulge in polemics or personality baiting, direct or indirect, caustic or sarcastic or clothed in disdain. In fact, I wanted to keep mum.I was busy in preparing replies to LIC mammoth SLP 31925—31928/2013 & converted as CAs 5959-5962/2013 as it covers many intractable, legal areas, sleepless nights I had, toiling & tiring, consuming enormous time, as drafting is so difficult , an uncertain & hard terrain as LIC is cornering us all with difficult questions of great importance. I prepared my replies,sent them to KMLA in 2 long instalments.
iii) LOVE ALL, SERVE ALL . HELP EVER, HURT NEVER SRI SATYA SAI’s DICTUM BE FOLLOWED
LOVE IS AN EMBLEM OF ETERNITY.
LOVE IS A HANDSHAKE, AVOID CLENCHED FISTS.
AVOID COUNTERS , AVOID REJOINDERS IN THE LAST LAP OF JOURNEY.
GREETINGS, GOOD LUCK & GODSPEED,
R.B.KISHORE
VP,AIRIEF