Dear friends,
D-Day is coming. Beware the ides of August. Our Motherland’s
Independence day is on August 15th, 67th Anniversary. Freedom
Independence day is on August 15th, 67th Anniversary. Freedom
from foreign British rule, we really became true Indian citizens,
breathing fresh air of liberty, equality & fraternity &
feeling elated with the aroma of Patriotism. Did we not say &
articulate in ever so many briefs, replies,charts, rejoinders,
dissertations, clarifications that we are Indians 1st &
Indians last, we are LICians 1st & LICians last, we are
Pensioners 1st & Pensioners last?
We had pride in our profession & we were & are proud of our organization, which won accolades from every quarter,undiluted ,unadulterated praise & tribute. LIC is still the darling of the masses, milch cow for Government, Rock of Gibralter, undeclared Navratna & an economic Tajmahal. A distinct & unique institution must be able to summon courage to penetrate the veils of bureaucracy & render unto pensioners what pensioners richly deserve.
It is not for the asking we want pension upgradation. It is not for the asking we plead for end of discrimination to grant Full DR to pre-8/1997 pensioners who were left in the lurch. Let a hundred flowers bloom, similarly a 1000 & more articles, spicy, juicy, littered with facts & figures, right & left beaming, virtually of 24/7 news & views, legal jargons & vocabulary made easy, ears & eyes glued to ongoing legal battle, real Kurukshetra battle, getting prolonged without rhyme or reason with ever so many formidable victories in many Courts, verdicts pronounced by eminent Hon Judges, a real Discovery of LIC pensioners fortitude &bravery, patience & endurance, support from so many angles & quarters, & Sensor & Radiator Calicut blog LIC PENSIONERS CHRONICLE always there to update, blowing the bugle & the trumpet, like a running commentary. Whether, Whither are the questions to be answered like in a puzzle or scrabble.
2) Look at the Editorial in HM, VETERAN July 2014 by GS, IOBRA of Indian Overseas Bank
“Dear Friends! This issue carries news on two important developments. The first is that the IBA, during the course of ongoing bipartite talks, informed representatives of negotiating organisations that they are favourably inclined to consider the demand of extending 100% DA for all pensioners and the same is awaiting the approval of the Government. We do not have information about the effective date of extending 100% DR neutralisation to pre-2002 retirees. Rumours are circulating thickly that that it is likely to be prospective and not retrospective. Efforts are on to make us believe that IBA may condescend to give effectfrom1-11-2012 andwe should be satisfied with this gesture. We want to remind ourselves that denial of 100% DR neutralisation to pre-2002 retirees was and continues to be a great injustice and discrimination. This announcement has come after a prolonged fight by all retirees and especially by IOBRA in various forums. You may recollect that our SLP is pending before supreme Court. Since this is only a rectification of an anomaly created in the Eighth Bipartite agreement and ending discrimination meted out to senior retirees, we reasonably expect IBA to act gracefully and implement this with retrospective effect from 01-05-2005. We appeal to all the negotiating Unions and Associations to secure justice for senior retirees.
The second development is a historic one. The Government of India has given in-principle agreement to implement Pension Updation in Reserve Bank of India. We are happy about this development. But, the Government has put some riders to this sanction. They have given it as a package stating that henceforth the Salary Revision as well as updation in RBI will be once in 10 years. The second rider is that the method of revising Basic Pension will be the one followed for the government Pensioners.This will result in an anomaly in that the method adopted for revision of Basic pension will be different from the method adopted for wage revision. This will in turn result in different Basic pension for persons of same rank/service but with different date of retirement.Thus the exercise of Pension updation will not meet with the desired purpose. Further, the offer to change the periodicity of wage revision from the present 5 years to 10 years may not be feasible and unacceptable to the serving employees' organizations.
As RBI and PSB employees have similar pattern and periodicity of wage revision ,if a similar package is handed over to us, a similar chaotic situation will descend on bank retirees of PSBs also. Therefore it is necessary that the bank employees and officers as well as Bank retirees define and demand Pension updation as follows.
• The method adopted for refixation of Basic Pay in the new scale for arriving at the new Basic Pension for pensioners should be the same as adopted for revising and refixing Basic pay for the serving employees which is the method of point to point/stage to stage fixation from old scale to revised scale.
• Similarly the periodicity of Pension updation should also be once in every five years along with salary Revision for serving employees and the date of effect of Pension updation should also be the same date of effect of salary revision of serving employees.
• In the case of Pensioners who retired during the currency of earlier Bipartite settlement/s the components of "Pay" drawn on the preceding ten months of service prior to retirement, which were considered for the purpose of calculating Basic pension, should be refixed in the revised scales of pay implemented during subsequent bipartite wage settlement/s, adopting the method of point to point/stage to stage fixation notionally and revised Basic Pension to be implemented as a result of Pension updation should be recalculated.
We are informed by representatives of negotiating organizations who are participating in the ongoing bipartite talks, that as regards updation of pension, IBA was apprehensive about the same since it involves substantial financial burden to the Banks.
So we have a lot of work to do, lobbying with various interest groups like GOI, IBA as well as representatives of negotiating organizations UFBU and convince everyone and bring them to accept our view point. We have miles to go before we sleep. Let us March forward. Victory is ours. With Regards and love,Dr. B. Ramji, Editor/General Secretary IOBRA ”
3) Institutions are compelling the pensioners to move from pillar to post. MOF/UOI is oblivious to the needs of pensioners. Courts are sentinels of justice & equity & even they do not discharge their true obligations, especially in the background of rich & result-yielding developments, the original purpose of the Writ having been inked positively with a salutary Jaipur Judgement affirming the TWIN BENEFITS & echoed & confirmed by Chandigarh & Delhi HCs with a positive version wanting to grant these benefits deservedly to all pensioners with 12% interest too. All pensioners federations are not still wanting to display or announce esspiritde corps, sportsmanship spirit with an UNANIMOUS & ONE VOICE of all pensioners before the Hon SC Bench on 12th or 19th August to impress forcefully & graphically the developments, the point of discrimination & the veracity of pronouncements in favour of pension revision with every wage revision One tree makes 1 Lakh match sticks.
But one matchstick can burn 1 Lakh trees.
Similarly, one negative thought or doubt can burn thousands of dreams… Why are you waiting for an auspicious day, announce true & right intentions now itself.
4) Chandigarh CCP to 27 Jan 2015, but 4 weeks time to LIC for calculations. Same Jaipur rigmarole should not be allowed to be repeated. Alertness must be there when LIC deposits the amount. In fact, we were interested in looking at implementation & not any reenactment of the drama, as we quoted many cases, where in CCP also, Courts have ordered the institutions to implement with a time frame. Why, Sri T. Sampath Iyengar’s latest insertion in Chronicle confirms that, so end result can come even in CCP.
So too, Jaipur case which came up on 21 July ended with postponement & though LIC wanted 2 weeks time, now 25 August 2014 is the date given for hearing. SC Bench alone looks to be the last straw & the real Saviour
5) Portents will be ominous, if after all this 14 years of struggle, the grave deaths of pensioners so large in numbers, Family pensioners jumping from 16 % to 36 % of Regular pensioners, LIC SLPs having been dismissed on 8 Aug 2013, historic 30 Sep, 2013 verdict of SC Bench, in spite of LIC efforts to ditch the judgement itself, emphatic & perhaps empathetic ,NO STAY verdict by Hon SC Bench but only starved of full benefits to pensioners by condoning delay, unpardonable 6 months & 23 days & the result proliferation of further SLPs converted as CAs , which 3 of Jaipur, Chandigarh & Delhi will come for a historic Sound & Light show on that august August Day. Postponements have again become the order of the day & that too long postponements defeating the very ends of justice. Hope not in August. We are not living in a fools paradise. Sr Counsels wit & wisdom, sparkling presentations, convincing arguments, pithy & stark data support of pensioners, powerful rebuttals, a tribute to Judiciary always coming to the rescue of befitting alienated, discriminated, disadvantaged elders & pensioners, longest wait for the Final dispassionate Judgement must ensure from the mouth of the venerable & Hon SC Bench. Lot of spadework, Note to Sr Counsel, why Sr Counsel be selected without delay, already valuable time lost, please touch your Conscience & atleast now, submerge Egos, difference between RUN & RUIN is I, let Pensioners feel the coming of good times, to handshake & embrace one another, convert Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained.
6) High hopes are kindled by the overwhelming majority of BJP by itself & with alliance of NDA partners & above all the image of worthy PM, who has already initiated many reforms from many angles. Plus all Ministers appear to be alert & all are catching the attention of the media by some announcements. OROP was & is an excellent theme & ideal for parity & prepoll shibboleths & grandiose manifestos must not fade into insignificance. How many Fedns have met how many MPs, how many Ministers in the last 2 months with Memorandums & shawls & boquets. All India Confederation of Trade Unions comprising the largest segment also met FM. Fine, needed as a tool & strategy to prepare fresh ground, break the ice, to garner support, to impress FM &others to advise bureaucrats properly & in right spirit in consonance with past developments portrayed in Memorandum. More so, if this Govt seen to be enabling, suffused with enthusiasm & even euphoria cannot see the Core point in Court developments, that too dragging for decade & more, knowing the Institution ins & outs so well & performing such a purposeful, laudable & predominant role in Indian economy & for financial inclusion the all embracing theme of any party & more so in NDA Agenda, should they not condescend to approve in toto our strong case of pensioners with realistic , modest & genuine demands, who else will ? Not only that, if PMs advice is to resolve all grievances of citizens travel, children & ladies, elders & Sr Citizens etc within 2 months, & if Law Minister loudly & clearly asserts that National Litigation Policy will be taken seriously, delays will be considerably curtailed, not to interfere with the independence of the Judiciary, why not ours be a Test case for reality check. Then don’t impose the once in 10 years rule being cooked up for pension upgradation, as we lose the step by step difference once in 5 years, ie 60 months & next wait again once in 10 years. True, 10 year jump will be low to high whereas 5 year jump will be stable. May be MOF knows that many will die during that 10 year period & so save !! Why, Family Pensioners, ipso facto will have to wait for 10 year period & FPs will also lose 6th to 10th year. Why perpetrate suchies again. If you want as MOF to assert, clean your tables 1st, set your house in order, all packages of perquisites endeavour to introduce uniformity, bureaucrats enjoy maximum in service & out of service too.
Did you not cleverly introduce through the backdoor GRADE PAY concept, which is enveloping all CODemands, as Govt & RBI were the 1st to do. When it is known that scales of pay are rising so high, how to grant % increase, sabash, Grade Pay comes to the rescue, what a component. Look how high it is & eligible for all benefits. But poor plight of pensioners will be crushed with your might. How long himsa & adharma can last ?
7) Friends, one more recent development has added to our proud arsenal yet another Brahmastra, the dismissal of LIC SLP by SC Bench in M.C Jain Retd RM Accts, also a Jaipur case, also a Hon Bhandaris verdict, dismissal of LIC appeal earlier, LIC deliberately kept it pending as they knew if they accept this, necessarily & by compulsion, they have to accept & implement the double-decker or pension in chain upgradation, as by asking LIC to implement their orders, Officers retired between 1/8/92 to 31/3/ 93 will have to be refixed in revised pay after 1/8/92-31/7/97 wage agreement, get the arrears for the few months till date of retirement PLUS refixation of pension as per New Pay scales for their cadres in Class I, get the difference between old lesser pension which was as per old scales of pay, & the new higher pension warranted by new scales of pay, with correct DR calculated & all such differences for nearly DOR to say 31 August, 2014 , for a long period of 21 years, assuming August as a Victory month after due acceptance by LIC without in any way acquiescing in the situation to abort or subvert. That will fail, as earlier all officers retired 1/8/92—31/7/94 received substantial arrears of Gratuity for 1993 to 2/2008 & 9/2008 as I wrote in an earlier but recent Chronicle contribution.
This salient but sound judgement also must open the ground for Pension upgradation successively & must be driven home to eminent SC Bench with aplomb, pinpoint precision & penetrative arguments to put down LIC Counsel & when many times hitherto, LIC even when driven to a corner, was able to come up as a Sphinx & that must be nipped in the bud in the decisive battle in 3rd week of August
8) Lastly, prospective will be a gloom. DR difference has to be from the date when discrimination arose, viz 1/8/1997 as post 8/97 get Full DR. OROP also SC was strict & compelled Govt to fix 1/1/2006 as effective date & not 9/2012. Our blood boils when we notice the huge loss in DR Slabs all through, poor Seniors of Seniors are losing regularly. If Politicians burn effigies, all pensioners must burn the cruel, gruelling, miserly, unconstitutional APPENDIX IV Formula of LIC Pension Rules 1995 on that victorious day. So too, when we see & look around 9 cadres below get more pension than such high level cadres, it is a much much bigger loss. After LIC Board Resolution charter date 1/8/2002 or 1/1/2007 CWP 654/2007 on pension upgradation effective date can be claimed as 1/1/2007 atleast. Have you seen the Retirement benefit chart, then & now & going up & up ? We have to hang our heads in shame how we tolerated & how we eked our existence, honestly. Respected Pradhana Mantri Modiji slogan Acche din anewale hai has already come for existing employees with a charter yet to be unfolded & resolved. When are we getting, how are we going to get by traversing the last lap of our journey with complete resonance & vibration of ideas with similarity & unanimity & above all dealing on that memorable Day with a heart & mind full of elixir & glory. Shine & Sparkle, Smile & bring Cheers & Dimples on faces of all pensioners.
Greetings,
R.B.KISHORE
VP,AIRIEF