NATIONAL COORDINATION COMMITTEE
OF PENSIONERS ASSOCIATIONS..
(Registered undder the T.U. Act.No.
RTU01/2021.Dated.7.01.2021
Website: nccpahq.blogspot.in.E mail:
nccpahq@gmail.com.
13.c Feroze Shah Road,
New Delhi. 110 001
PRESIDENT:
COM.SHIV GOPAL MISHRA.(97176 47594)
SECy.
GENERAL: COM.K.K.N.KUTTY.
(98110 483030)
Dated: 8th February, , 2021
To
The Secretary,
Staff Side, JCM. National Coucil,
13/c/Feroze Shah Roadm
New
Delhi. 110 001
Dear
Comrade,
Kindly refer to your letter asking
the members of the National Council to submit items for the National
Council/Standing Committee meeting, which is likely to be held soon. I am
sending 28 items for inclusion in the agenda.
I have gone through the pending items and to the best of my information
none of the following items are pending consideration of the Govt. Some of the items I have included in this list
have been discussed earlier. It is
reintroduced because of the pronouncements of various courts which are in
favour of the employees and pensioners.
Thanking yo,
Yours
fraternally,
K.K.N.
Kutty,
Secretary
General, NCCPA Member Standing
Committee,
National
Council, JCM
AGENDA ITEMS.
1. Health
insurance for Pensioners:
The
7th CPC had recommended for the creation of an health insurance scheme
especially in the background that the pensioners, who are living in non-CGHS
cities do not have an alternate system of health care as is available for the
working employees. The CCS(MA) Rules
are not extended to them. They are presently at the mercy of providence. The demand for extension of CCS(MA) rules to
the pensioners was rejected in view of the huge financial outlay. The pensioners are in receipt of a fixed
medical allowance, which is presently at Rs. 1000 p.m. The number of pensioners
who are beyond the ambit of CGHS runs into lakhs. The Government may evolve a scheme by which
the beneficiary will be entitled for an assurance coverage of RS. 15 lakhs for
which the premium can be appropriated from the fixed medical allowance. We
suggest that 3/4th of the FMA
i.e. Rs. 750/- p.m or Rs. 9000 p.a may be taken as premium from the
concerned pensioners for a coverage to the extent of Rs. 15 lakhs Every
district headquarters of the country may be declared the identified towns for
the purpose of hospitalisation and the private hospitals be recognised for this
purpose so that the pensioners will get treatment as and when hospitalisation
becomes necessary. The other details can
be discussed and mutually acceptable understanding could be reached among the
stake holders, i.e. pensioners, Government, and the Insurance companies.
2. Opening CAT
bench at Madurai in Tamilnadu.
Madurai
is the second largest city in Tamilnadu.
It is situated at the southern part of the State. Quite a number of
Central Government offices are located in and near the region. The Madras High Court has a bench functioning
from this city for quite a number of years.
The Government had taken steps to open the Bench of the Tribunal at Madurai.
However, some interested parties had obtained a stay of operation of that
proposal from the Madras High Court.
The DOPT had instructed the
CAT. Principal Bench to implead in the
case and get the stay vacated. However,
so far no attempt has been made to get the stay vacated. It looks that the stay has now taken the
shape of final decision without hearing even the parties. The Central Government employees and
pensioners are required to spend enormous amount to litigate before the Tribunal
as they have to undertake journeys and make stay arrangements at Chennai. It is, therefore, requested that expedite
action may be initiated to vacate the stay against the establishment of the bench of the Tribunal at
Madurai.
3. Pension revision
in the case of personnel compulsorily retired.
Compulsory
retirement is a punishment meted to the delinquent officials taking into
account the seriousness of the charges and allegations levelled against them.
Compulsory retirement will curtail the years of active service and consequently
bring about a reduction in the otherwise pension entitlement of the employee
concerned. When pension is revised as
per the recommendations of the Pay Commissions, such revision is also extended
to the personnel who are compulsorily retired and those who took voluntary
retirement. However, the personnel who
were compulsorily retired have been excluded from the purview of the operation
of O.M.No. 38/37/08P&PW(1A) dated 6.4.2016 andNo,38/37/2016-P&PWA sated
12/05/2017. Such exclusion appears to
be bereft of logic or reason.
By denying revision of their
pension entitlement , these personnel
are punished twice. It is not rught or
permissible to punish a person twice for
a crime. They may be brought within the ambit
of the above said two memos immediately.
4. Establishing
CGHS wellness centres at the newly sanctioned stations.
The
number of CGHS towns in the country was announced to be raised to 100 by the
Government. The said announcement had brought relief and appreciation amongst
large umber o CGEs and CG Pensioners. They rightly thought that the facilities
will come into operation quickly. But in many such towns even the preliminary
steps are yet to be initiated. Coimbatore
in Tamilnadu is one among them. There are large number of employees and
pensioners staying in the city of Coimbatore Similarly three stations in Kerala
were also earmarked for such wellness centre.
Though the wellness centres were opened there, it lacks certain
facilities.. We request the Govt. to
kindly go into the matter and take immediate steps to open the wellness centres
at all the announced stations ; sanction requisite funds for establishing the
centres without further delay.
5. Ward
Entitlement of the CGHS beneficiaries.
The
scale of pay (Pay level) or the Grade Pay is the criterion to decide the rate
of subscription for the CGHS beneficiaries.
However, the ward entitlement is decided on the basis of the basic pay
drawn in the pay level or scale of
pay. This procedure has created a
peculiar situation in as much a person in the higher scale of pay or pay level
might some times get a lower level ward
entitlement..
For
instance: Rs. 250 is the rate of subscription for those beneficiaries in the
pay levels from 1.to 5. But if his basic
pay is Rs. 48200, he will be entitled as to a semi private ward. In the case of a beneficiary who is in level
6 will pay Rs. 450 as the monthly subscription. But he would be entitled for a
general ward as his basic pay is only Rs. 35400. The ward entitlement has
therefore to be linked to the basic pay one draws irrespective of the pay level
one is placed.
6. Restoration
of the commuted portion of pension after 12 years:
Presently the restoration of the
commuted value of pension is permitted
only after 15 years i.,e. at the age of 75.
The Government will recover the full amount of the commuted value of
pension after 11 years. It is therefore,
not proper to continue the recovery even after the period by which the Govt.
has fully recovered the amount. It is,
therefore, demanded that the commuted portion of the pension be restored
immediately after 12 years.
7. Fixed
medical allowance to be increased to Rs. 2000 p.m
The demand placed by the staff
Side during the discussion with the Government over the 7th CPC. Recommendations in
respect of FMA was to increase the same to Rs. 2000. The Government has, however, raised the FMA
only to Rs. 1000. This amount even at
that time was meagre and the beneficiaries were to spend sizeable amount to get
treatment as Out-patient. This is
because of the huge amount of charges levied by the hospitals for consultation
and other lab tests. The Government had been persistently rejecting the demand
for the application of CCS(MA) Rules to the pensioners who are not CGHS
beneficiaries. Taking into account the
fact that the amount is meagre and the same has been fixed years back, we
request that it may please be raised to Rs. 2000 per month.
8. MACP to be
made effective from 1.12006 in implementation of the judgement of the Supreme
Court.
The
Staff Side vide their letter darted 16th
January, 2018 had brought to the notice of the Department of Personnel that as
per the judgement of the Honourable Supreme Court in W.P. 3744 of 2016 dated 8th
December, 2017, the MACP scheme was to be implemented with effect from
1.1.2006. Since there had been no reply thereof
the staff side again wrote to them on 7th August, 2018,
wherein it was pointed out that the Ministry of Defence had implemented the
decision not only in the case of the applicant but all similarly placed defence
service personnel vide their order in No. 14(1)99.D(AG) dated 25th
July, 2018. The action of the Ministry of Defence clearly establishes that the
judgement was in ram and is applicable to all similarly placed personnel. The Staff Side had specifically pointed out
in that letter of the direction of the
Supreme Court in the case of Inderpal Yadav vs. Union of India 1985 SCC 648
that similarly placed persons are entitled to the benefit of the Judgements of
the Courts. Again on 14th
May, 2019, the staff side wrote to the Secretary, Department of Personnel. None of these communications were responded
unfortunately. It is, therefore,
requested that the ratio laid down in the judgement cited be made applicable to
all Central Government employees making the date of effect of the MACP scheme
from 1.1.2006.
9. Grant of one
notional increment for those who retired on superannuation on 30th
June,
The
Madras High Court had directed the Government to grant one notional increment
to the petitioner who had superannuated on 30th June,2013. Even though he had completed one year, he was
not given the increment as he had retired on 30th June, 2013.The
increment as per the extant order is to be sanctioned only on Ist July, following
day on which one has completed one year. The contention was that he had
completed one year on 30th June, was not appreciated by the
Government. Aggrieved by the directive
of the Honourable High Court, the Government filed an SLP before the Honourable
Supreme Court. The Madras High court
decision was in W.P. No. 15732 of 2017
datd 15.09.2017 and the SLP was in 22283 of 2018 dated 23.7.2018. The
question whether one has completed one year or not for the grant of increment
was the simple matter before the court. The fact that the Government’s
contention was not favoured by the court, which has been confirmed by the
highest judiciary in the country must have been sufficient reason to end this
controversy. This apart, the Government
had later issued instruction to the effect that in certain cases, even if the
Government servant does not complete one year but only six months, he would still be entitled to draw one increment. It is therefore, surprising as to why the Government
is dragging all similarly placed to the litigation, which is actually
unaffordable for the pensioners and the low paid employees. It is, therefore, demanded that the issue
should be brought to a finality by issuing necessary orders granting one
notional increment for all employees and pensioners who are similarly
placed.
10. Applicability
of the 7th CPC. Pay revision benefit for those retired on 31.12.2015.
The7th
CPC. Pay revision benefit was granted with effect from 1.1.2016. The question whether a person retired on
31.12.2015, whose date of birth was on 1.1.1956 will be entitled to the benefit
came in for the consideration of the Principal Bench of the Central
Administrative Tribunal. The Tribunal
basing their judgement on the observation of the Supreme Court in a similar
case came to the conclusion that such persons are entitled to the benefit. Since the judgement of the Tribunal is in
consonance with the dictum pronounced by the
Supreme Court, it is demanded that the Govt. implement the ratio laid
down by the Principal Bench of CAT in OA No 571/2017 dated 17.4.2018 to all
similarly placed persons
11. Pension to
be exempted from the purview of income taxation.
Pension
is treated as salary by the Income tax Act, whereas family pension is income from
other sources. The rationale of such
distinction is seldom understood by the
laymen. Pension is treated as deferred wage.
Deferred wage is always a losing proposition as it loses its value over the years. In many countries, pension is exempted
from taxation. Since the contribution to purchase an annuity
is treated as income and already taxed, will it not be the double taxation when
the annuity on receipt is again taxed. As the taxability or otherwise of an income is
to be determined by the Government, , we appeal that the meagre income of
pension maybe exempted from taxation.
12. Treating the
pensioner on par with the official on duty for guest house charges.
The Government presently charges pensioners at a higher rate who seek and get reservation at the
Government guest houses maintained by
the various departments of the Government compared to officials on duey.. There is separate rate for officials on duty,
outsiders, retired personnel etc. While
the Guest houses are primarily meant for persons on official duty, once it
could be allotted to a retired person, it is not correct to charge him more
than what the Government could collect from an official on duty, whose capacity
to pay is much higher than the pensioner.
It is, therefore, demanded that the retired persons, or pensioners, who
are allotted the guest house accommodation may be charged not more than what an
official on duty is supposed to pay.
13. Extending AFD-1 facilities like TV AC Fridge
Washing Machine Two & Four Wheelers etc to retired Defence Civilians and
Family Pensioners at par with Serving Defence Civilians
The restoration of CSD facilities to
retired Defence Civilians and their Family Pensioners was approved by the then
Defence Minister and the order was issued by MoD vide letter
F.No 8 (14)/2015-D (Mov) dated 31 Jul 2015 to CS Directorate, QMG Branch, Army HQ, New
Delhi with the clear directives that "It has been decided to extend the
CSD facilities to the retired Defence Civilian Employees also". It amply
indicates that there is no differentiation between Serving & Retired
Employees as far as entitlement of CSD facilities are concerned. But unfortunately,
while issuing thee Order by Dy Director/CS, CSD Directorate vide letter No
96301/Q/DDGCS (Policy) dated 12 Aug 2015, the civilian employees and retired personnel were debarred from
drawing AFD-1 items like TV Fridge AC Washing Machine Two Four Wheelers etc.,
inflicting a glaring injustice. Thereafter, Defence Civilian Pensioners
Welfare Associations as well as the individual Pensioners approached the
Ministry of Defence to set right the
anomalous situation. Upon co3nsideration of the injustice, MoD directed CS
Directorate to comply with the directives in the letter dated 31 July 2015 and
intimated the Associations as well as the Pensioners that "QMG has been
requested that all the retired Defence Civilians/Family Pensioners of retired
Defence Civilians may be treated at par with Serving Defence Civilians for
their entitlement of CSD AFD items". However, the issue of formal orders
authorising AFD1 items to Pensioners is still pending with CS Directorate which
need to be expedited.
14. Payment
of FMA to Pensioners of the National Institute of Ayurveda and bring the r
employees of the institutes within the
ambit of CCS(MA)rules.
The National Institute of
Ayurveda was taken over by the Government of India, as per the agreement
reached between the two Governments. Viz. Govt. of India and Govt. of
Rajasthan. . One of the stipulations in
the terms of agreement was to the effect that “the employees transferred from
the State Government to the Institute,
shall not be placed in a less
advantageous position as compared to the
conditions of service under the State Government. Accordingly, the personnel retired from the Institute
were given pension under the CCS(Pension) Rules,1972. However, they have been denied the Fixed
Medical Allowance, which has no logic or reasoning. Similarly, the employees are not presently entitled for the application of CCS(MA) Rules. Which would have provided them the reimbursement medical
expenses incurred.. It is, therefore,
demanded that requisite orders may please be caused to be issued so that the
employees and pensioners of this Institute will have the benefit of FMA and
reimbursement of medical expenses as the case may be. The issue had been the
subject of litigation in the Central Administrative Tribunal, where the
judgement had been in favour of the employees.
Unfortunately, the Govt. has chosen to file an SLP which is now pending
for more than a year.
15. Reimburse
medical expenses of pensioners who are
not covered by the CGHS.
The Government has been denying
the reimbursement of medical expenses to the pensioners who are not covered by
the CGHS . The meagre amount of FMA is not sufficient to the expenses
especially when hospitalisation is needed.
The Staff Side had been demanding the extension of CCS(MA) Rules to the
pensioners, despite positive recommendation from the successive Pay
commissions. In the case of Union of Inia Vs. Prabhakar
Srishar Bapat the SLP filed by the Government has been dismissed and the
decision of the tribunal which is in favour of the employees has reached
finality. It is, therefore, demanded
that the orders may please be issued extending the benefit of CCS(MA) rules to
the pensioners.
16. Grant
of enhanced pension on completion of 79 years.
The Senior Penioners are
entitled for additional pension on attaining the age of 80 years. However, the Government had been granting the
enhanced pension only after completion of the 80 years. The matter went to the Courts and the Karnataka High Court’s decision was
in favour of the pensioner, who argued that he is entitled for the enhanced
pension on attaining the age of 80 I,e on the first day of the commencement of
his age of 80. WP.No. 18753/2011(SR) RG Desai vs. Principal
AG (A &E). and again in WP No. 105189/2014 – High Court of Karnataka. The petitioner in that case had to be paid
the arrears along with interest. It is,
therefore, demanded that the Govt. may issue suitable instruction to allow the
enhanced pension on the first day of the commencement of the age of 80 to all
civil pensioners without insisting each and every individual to approach the
court.
17. Modification
for grievance redressal mechanism.
In most of the cases, the
grievances from the pensioners, after registering the same is treated as closed
or disposed of, when a communication is sent to them stating that the concerned
department has been asked to do the needful in the matter. Sometimes, even the name of the concerned
departments are not mentioned. It is
requested that once the grievance is received and registered the same must not
only to be forwarded to the concerned department/Ministry but to ensure that
the nodal department gets a proper reply from the concerned department or
Ministry and the same is conveyed to the Pensioners.
18.
Increase
the number of empanelled hospitals so as
to have hospitals recognised in each revenue district .
The number of CGHS beneficiaries
has increased significantly after the
opening up wellness centres and dispensaries in many parts of the country. The Number of CGHS centres are likely to be
raised to 100 in the coming days. There
are very few empanelled hospitals and even those which are recognised are
unfortunately, sub standard. There
should be an element of compulsory clause in the licencing procedures whereby
the hospitals must have the obligation to treat the Central Government
employees and pensioners on the basis of the rate stipulated by the Govt. of
India. Govt. must also in turn fix the
rate for various facilities taking into account the quality of such services,
the location of the hospital and the concessions obtained by the hospitals from the Govt. of India State Governments, Municipal
Corporations or Panchayats. A comprehensive scheme may be evolved and
implemented so that the CGHS beneficiaries will not be either compelled to
avail a substandard quality of treatment or denial of the facility itself. The tendering system presently in vogue has prooved to be
defective and has resulted in not having any hospital recognised by the Government in certain important
towns/cities of India
19.
Lack
of staff in dispensaries taken over from the Postal Department.
When the Postal Dispensaries
were converted as CGHS dispensaries, the beneficiaries experienced the problem
of insufficient staff in many of these
centres. The unexpected number of patients rushing to these dispensaries
created additional difficulties masking it impossible for the existing staff to
cater to the requirements of all visitors.
In the discussions, that was held more than two years back the health
Ministry officials had informed the staff side that they had requested the
Postal Department to retain their staff in these dispensaries for a period of at
least one year by which time alternate arrangements could be made. The level of complaints emanating from many
such dispensaries especially from the State of Andhra Pradesh, where five such
dispensaries had been taken over, it is clear that nothing tangible had been
done to ease the problem. It is,
therefore, requested that immediate stapes may please be taken to provide
sufficient technical and non- technical staff are provided to these
dispensaries.
20.
CGHS
entitlement of pensioners retired from the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. And
Andaman Nicobar Islands
On the plea that they are not
Central Government employees the CGHS authorities have been denying membership
for the pensioners who had served these two Union territory
administration. As both the territories
were under the administrative control of the Union Home Ministry and the
pension is drawn from the consolidated fund of India how can the CGHS
authorities could come to such a conclusion is incomprehensible In the case of
Pensioners of almost all autonomous bodies set up by the Government of
India they are granted the facilities of
CGHS, though one could make a fine distinction between them and other civil
servants. The fact that the Central
Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam had delivered a judgement in favour of the
pensioners of the two Union territories, should have ended the
controversy. Since the impasse stil continues, we request that necessary orders
may be issued advising the CGHS authorities to enrol the pensioners o the two
Union territories as beneficiaries after obtaining the requisite lump sum
payment.
21.
CGHS
related problems of Kerala Region
The following problems in the functioning of the CGHS in Kerala
Region are stated to be acute. It is
requested that necessary instructions may be issued to sort out these matters
to the Additional Director, CGHS. Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram.
(i)
Non
availability of essential medicine;
(ii)
Denial
of membership for 10/15 years to the new applicants.
(iii)
Delay
in the reimbursement of medical expenses.
22.
To
publish details of vishakha Committee members.
The Government has set up the
Vishakha Committees as an independent appealing agency of the complaints ion
the nature of attack on women employees. This will no doubt embolden them to
raise complaints which in the normal course of hierarchical set up is
difficult. However, seldom the names and
other details viz phone No mailing addressees
e mail id etc are not immediately known or available. It is, therefore, requested that their names
and such other details must be exhibited in all Government offices .
23.
To
specify time frame for the completion of disciplinary cases in the case of
pensioners.
It is often seen that at the fag-
end of the career of an employee he is served with charge sheet making
allegations, which are said to have taken place years back. Some of the notified reasons for the delay in
the initiation of the proceedings would appear to be genuine, whereas in most
of the cases, such delays used to be on flimsy grounds. The proceedings, later on are allowed to
linger on denying certain benefits to the pensioner for a very long time. There are cases, where such proceedings are
dragged on for years, say even for more than 10 years. In certain cases, it is noticed that even
after the finalisation of the proceedings, the final order is allowed to be
kept pending. In the case of Officers,
the delay is comparatively larger as the consultation with the vigilance, UPSC
and other agencies are required and every step conceived to avoid miscarriage
of justice is used for elongating the delay.
It is, therefore, requested that the Govt. must fix a time frame by
which the finality must reach to each such proceedings. If in any case for any reason, the finality
of the proceedings is per force to be prolonged, the charged officials must be
treated as exonerated and all the consequential benefits granted to him. If ultimately he is awarded punishment and
recovery becomes necessary, an undertaking from the concerned individual may be
obtained before the funds are released to him.
24.
Disability
pension of war heroes to be exempted from Income tax.
Presently the pension received
by war heroes who have voluntarily retired is taxed It is stated that only in the case of
personnel who had retired on superannuation are eligible for exemption. The disability pension itself denotes that it
is given taking into consideration of a peculiar situation the person concerned
had undergone. There appears to be a
lack of appreciation in the matter. It
is requested that clarificatory orders may be issued exempting the disability
pension from taxation.
25.
To
change the rules of resale of apartments
constructed by CGEWHO.
The CGEWHO is established under
the Ministry of Urban development to construct dwelling houses for the benefit
of Central Government employees. No
doubt they have constructed quality apartments for a reasonable price. The houses or apartments purchased from the
CGEWHO by an employee cannot be sold for a particular lock in period. This is so stipulated to ensure that the
facility is not only availed but enjoyed by the Central Govt. Employees. Lock in period in respect of apartments
constructed years back has been ended and many of such houses are being sold to
private parties. It drastically changes
the co-relation of forces in the residential welfare associations and some of
them undertake thorough change over of
the flats creating problems and difficulties to others, It is therefore, requested that the CGEWHO
must incorporate a stipulation to the effect that the flats, apartments, houses
purchased from them even after the lock-in period could only be sold to other
Central/State Government employees or employees of the Public Sector
undertaking or autonomous bodies.
26.
On
line consultation facility in CGHS to be extended to other Cities.
The facility of on- line
consultation introduced in the city of New Delhi by the CGHS has been very
helpful especially during the covid days.
Many Senior Pensioners, who are beneficiaries of CGHS are
unable to travel to the wellness centres or dispensaries to have consultation
with the Doctor. This apart, more often
the ailments the beneficiaries suffer
used to be simple enough requiring medication.
It is, therefore requested that the scheme may be extended to other CGHS
cities.
27. Rescind the
order in O.M. No. 1/1/2020-EII(B) dated23.4.2020
In
the wake of the corona covid 19 pandemic, the Government of India issued the
above cited O.M. whereby it was decided to not only freeze the payment of
Dearness allowance/relief due to the employee/pensionerss from 1.1.2020 to
1.7.2021 but also to deny the payment of
arrears for 18 months. Virtually, the
Government decided not to pay the DA/DR to the employees and pensioners on the
specious plea that funds re required for facing the situation created by the
pandemic. The Staff side had conveyed
the resentment of the employees and pensioners in the matter to the Government
immediately thereafter, There had been
no consultation with the staff side while taking such an important
decision. It is a moot question whether
such a unilateral decision is tenable or desirable, especially when the Staff
Side had always co0operated with the Govt. in all contingencies in the
past. It is also pertinent to mention
that the employees and even pensioners responded to the call given by the Prime
Minister for contribution and most of them contributed a day’s salary or
pension to the P.M. relief fund. The
denial of of DA was an unprecedented step and could have very well avoided by
the Govt. Both the employees and pensioners are presently in the grip of
financial difficulties and the recently announced bail-out package of the
Government has predominantly benefited a particular segment of the
society. In view of the above, it is
requested that the orders cited may kindly be rescinded and the employees and
pensioners be paid the DA/DR already accrued to them
28.
Restoration of facilities and concession withdrawn by Railways to Senior
Citizens.
The
Railways in the background of Corona
Pandemic decided to withdraw the facilities and certain privileges conferred
upon the Senior Citizens of the country. The rationale behind such drastic decision is
not known. In fact many of the
concessions provided for the senior citizens were through announcements made in
the floor of the Parliament. It does not
appear to be right to unilaterally withdraw the said concessions by the
Railways. No doubt, Railways were given
the power to fix the tariffs and special surging rates but whether such
delegation of power would include the withdrawal certain concessions the
legislature thought it necessary to confer upon
a segment of the citizens is not
known Whether it is legally or ethically
right being besides the point, the staff side is of the firm opinion that
the Railways ought not have withdrawn
the facilities to the Senior Citizens for reducing the expenditure or
increasing the profit . It is,
therefore, requested that the facilities withdrawn may be restored.
O0o
