NCCPA WRITES TO UNION MINISTER DR.JITHEDRA SINGH ON ISSUES OF PENSIONERS
NATIONAL CO-ORDINATION COMMITTEE
OF PENSIONERS ASSOCIATIONS..
(Registered undder the T.U. Act.No.
RTU01/2021.Dated.7.01.2021
PAN NO AAEAN8586F
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)
Dr. Jitendra
Singh
Prime
Minister's Office
Minister of
State,
Ministry of
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Government of
India
New Delhi. 110 001
Dear Sir,
NCCPA/MOS/1001/2022
Dated:
18th March, 2022.
Sub: Grievances and
demands of the Pensioners –request for redressal- setting up of a mechanism to
have periodical interaction for the Pensioners Association with the
authorities. Regarding.
O0o
The National Co-ordination
Committee of Pensioners Association, an apex level organisations of various
regional and department wise pensioners Associations of Central Government
Pensioners, retirees of Banks, the BSNL
and various autonomous bodies under the
Government of India., had been raising issues pertaining to the grievances ,
problems and demands of Pensioners and retirees. In the case of the Bank retirees is that
their pensionary benefits are not revised periodically, their representatives are not being taken
into confidence when the wage negotiations are
held with the representatives of the working employees, which inter alia
includes the retirement benefits.
Similarly the retirees of BSNL, and the erstwhile pensioners of
Department of Telecom are being denied pension revision due from 01-01-2017,
unjustifiably linking the pension revision with bad financial condition of
BSNL whereas the entire liability of
pension and pensionary benefits to absorbed BSNL pensioners lies with the
central government. They are also
aggrieved of the fact that certain benefits like minimum pension, minimum
family pension provided for to the Central Government pensioners are not extended to them . This apart, the BSNL management has
arbitrarily curtailed the medical
benefits to the BSNL retirees and continue to harass the aged and ailing
pensioners by resorting to non-payment of even the reduced medical reimbursement bills and medical
allowance for the last four years. In
the case of autonomous organisations set up by the Government of India, the
rules and regulations concerning the service conditions of the Central
Government employees had been ipso facto made applicable to them. Still when the matter of pay revision is made
and the retirement benefits are revised it is not automatically extended to
them on one ground or the other. In the
case of Central Government Pensioners, the non settlement of issues raised by
this organisation as also by various other Associations and Federations of
Pensioners has given rise to discontent and anger. Though the Government went about setting up
the SCOVA to hear the grievances of the pensioners, the representation to that
from the all India organisations like NCCPA has been denied. Even in the matter of providing grant to the
Association from the exchequer, the procedure adopted is incomprehensible. It is felt by almost all Organisations of
the Pensioners that there must be certain transparent and enforceable norms to
select the representation in SCOVA .
The CGHS, as
you are aware was set up to comprehensively look into the health care matters
of both the working employees and pensioners of Central Government
Departments. It had been doing a great
service in earlier years and initially there were dispensaries and wellness
centres in about 28 Centres. No doubt
the number of such stations has been expanded recently and it is likely to
cross 100 . At the stations, where the CGHS dispensaries had been in place, for
the convenience of beneficiaries ,
reputed private hospitals had been empanelled for in-patient treatment. We regret to inform you Sir, that the CGHS
presently stand as a skeleton shadow of its glorious past. The Standing Committee of the Parliament
decades back had gone into the matter and suggested remedial measures. Some of these suggestions had been accepted
and acted upon. But many of their
recommendations had remained in the paper.
Presently the number of hospitals empanelled for in patient treatment
has come down drastically and even those recognised are of sub standard
reputation. There are certain
Cities, we have been told that not a
single private hospital stand recognised
as on date. Even the empanelled
hospitals refuses to treat the pensioners on the plea that the Government had
not been paying and clearing their earlier bills and had not been revising the rates of various procedures
periodically. Every aspect of the
functioning of the CGHS, even in the
matter of out-patient care has
deteriorated and the pensioners
are virtually in distress..
Exasperated
over the inordinate delay in remedying the problems and against blatant
discrimination some of the Pensioners had resorted to judicial intervention
with a heavy litigation cost. Even when
they succeed, the Government prefers appeal, to higher court and drag the
petitioner upto the level of Supreme Court
There are very many instances
where the court decisions are implemented only in the case of the
concerned petitioner and the similarly placed personnel treated differently. Despite the highest court dictum on several
occasions, the similarly placed personnel are dragged to the court at a very
high cost, which is unbearable. Those who cannot afford to go to the court, for
the sheer expenses involved, they are left high and dry. Two such cases viz (i)
the grant of notional increment for those who retired on 30th
June, and (ii) the date of effect of
MACP being 1.1.2006 ought to have given universal application. We find that in almost all cases, the financial implications had been
very insignificant. We may state the details of just one case to bring to your
kind notice that as to how this attitude hurts.
An army Jawan had to approach the Court, when the MACP was denied to
him on the ground that the scheme was made applicable by the Government only
with effect from September, 2008, whereas the pay scales and other allowances
came into being with effect from. 1.1.2006.
The Central Administrative Tribunal found merit in his contention and
orders that he must be granted the benefit of MACP. The Government preferred appeal first to the
High Court and then to the Supreme
Court. The higher courts did not
interfere with the verdict of CAT.
Ultimately, the Government implemented the decision in his case but
refused to extend the benefit to the similarly placed personnel in the Army. As
the Army took strong objection, the Government later made it applicable to all similarly placed defence
personnel. The scheme is equally
applicable to the civil servants. The
Staff Side of the National Council JCM took up the matter with the
Government. However, the issue was not
settled. In an entirely different case,
where the plea was that the MACP must be effected on promotional hierarchy and
no on grade pay heirarchy, the
Government filed an affidavit stating that the scheme was in the nature of an
incentive and it was their prerogative to decide as to which date it must be
made effective. The Supreme Court upheld
this contention i.e. the prerogative of the Government. And on the basis of that all similarly placed
civilian employees are denied the benefit.
The question of violation of Art. 14 and 19 amounting to discrimination has not been
appreciated by the Government. The ratio
of the judgement in the case of Jawan is applicable only for a few persons, who
retired between 1.1.2006 and September, 2008.
Their number is very less and among among them, those who are entitled to MACP
benefit would be much less. What is the
type of message sought to be conveyed by the bureaucracy by such attitude to
the pensioner community must be pondered over
We leave it for your kind consideration. In any case promotion cannot be
considered an incentive scheme and it cannot bear a different date of
application that the date of pay scale revision. In our understanding of the matter what the
honourable Supreme Court has upheld was the prerogative of the Government and
not the applicable of that prerogative in an arbitrary manner.
During the covid
days, the dearness relief for certain period was denied to the Pensioners. In fact the pensioners were the worst victims
of the pandemic. In the initial days,
there had been no vaccine and no curative medicines. Most of the people
affected by the pandemic were those beyond 50 or 60. At some point of time, there had been no
space in the Government Hospitals as it was overcrowded by patients due to the
pandemic. The pensioners had to perforce
get treatment from the private hospitals which had been exorbitantly
costly. Since the charges were heavy, no
reimbursement of the expenses was possible and given. When vaccination was introduced, CGHS
dispensaries were left out from being an
authorised institution. The freezing of
Dearness relief in the given situation was not objected to in the national interest but the
denial of it permanently is altogether a
different matter. The continued denial of DR arrears for 18 months has no
justification. The resource mobilisation
capacity of the Government has gone up as could be seen from the revenue
collection figures presented by the honourable Finance Minister.
The JCM National
Council, in the past had taken up various problems of the pensioners and had
been finding resolutions. However, the
functioning of the council has gone awry and the scheme has almost been
dismantled. Very few meetings take place.
There is no adherence to the stipulated periodicity. The items
introduced in the meeting is stipulated to be decided then and there or at the
ost at the next meeting. Presently, the
issues are allowed to be procrastinated without any end for years
together. The facility available for the
employees to approach the Arbitration Board as per the scheme is thus
effectively circumvented. Even if those
Board of Arbitration decides the case in favour of the employees or pensioners,
the Government move the Parliament with a resolution to reject those awards
under the special dispensation of the Parliament. Fifteen such cases are pending. And presently there is no bench of the
Arbitration Board as no case is being referred to it having not reached any
disagreement in the recent past in any of the councils. There had been two Committees set up by the
National Council viz. One headed by the Secretary Pension and the other,
Secretary Health. The problems and issues
pertaining to the Pensioners had been referred to these two committees. There had been no meetings of these committees
in the recent past. At the instance of
this organisation and many other
pensioners Associations, the Staff side of the National Council had taken up
issues before these two committees but could not be resolved as the committees
were not meeting at all. In the annexure
to this letter, we have catalogued the items taken up before the Council and
consequently before these two committee by the Staff Side National Council, which have either not come up for discussion
at all or remained undecided for years together. Two members nominated by the Staff Side of
the National Council had been members of
the SCOVA. However in the newly
constituted SCOVA their names have been removed. Their presence and pleadings had
helped the Government to appreciate the issue in all its aspects and take a
fair and justified decision. That has
now been done away with.
Our fervent
appeal to you in the circumstances is to explore the possibilities of setting
up a mechanism whereby the problems of the Pensioners , especially Central
Government pensioners, could be periodically discussed with the authorities and
resolved. Such a mechanism can be
replicated in the case of Bank retirees and the other PSU pensioners,
especially the BSNL. For the sake of
uniformity of approach, it would be better that the machinery looks into the
problems of all pensioners retired from the Central Public Sector Undertaking,
Banks, autonomous bodies and Central Government employees.
Incidentally we may
solicit your kind attention to the 110th report of the Parliamentary
Standing Committee. It is a very
comprehensive report. The report has touched
upon almost all aspects of the life and living conditions of the Pensioners and the impediments they are per force to
face. Some of the significant recommendations made by them are:
I. Grant
of Additional Pension of 5% at 65 years, 10% at 70 and 15% at 75 instead
of the present 20% at 80 years.
II. Regarding
medical facilities to the pensioners, the Committee has recommended;
(1)
Enhancement of Fixed Monthly Medical Allowance to Rs.3000 from the present
Rs.1000.
(2) To start CGHS Wellness Centre at every
district.
(3) To
implement Supreme Court judgement on reimbursement of medical bills for indoor
treatment in Non- empanelled hospitals of CGHS.
(4) To include Pensioners in CSMA rules.
Having been found merit in the contention
and presentations made by the Pensioner community the said committee of eminent person who were not
only sterling experts in their own field of activities but the representatives of the people at
large, we are certain that the Govt.
will provide serious consideration to their opinions, suggestions and
recommendations and direct the concerned
officials to act upon them .
In fine, we
appeal to your good self to consider our pleas enumerated hereunder urgently and ensure that speedy resolutions
thereof are brought about.
1.
To consider a permanent
mechanism by virtue of which the representative of all India body of Pensioners
are selected and participate in the discussion on the basis of a well thought
plan as is the case with the JCM.
2.
To evolve a transparent policy
to recognise the Pensioners Association and make rules thereof.
3.
To take immediate steps to
accept and implement the recommendations of the Standing Committee of
Parliament cited in the preceding paragraph.
4.
To kindly take steps to revamp
the CGHS to ensure minimum facilities viz. Dispensaries are open, sufficient
number of doctors and staff are posted wherever the beneficiary number is more
than. 1000. (b) all medicines are available in the dispensary or the wellness
centre (c) some permanent arrangement by virtue of which the required medcines
could not be dispensed to the beneficiary
resorting to local purchas; , Atleast minimum 5 hospitals are recognised
in each city depending upon the population
of that city and three super specialty hospitals required for those
suffering from such diseases. Ensures that the payment due to the recognised
hospitals are made within three months of the raising of the bill to enable the
concerned hospitals to treat the suffering pensioners.
5.
To ensure that the court
decisions which are in favour of the Pensioners are not appealed against, the
pensioners are not dragged to higher courts and the decisions are universally
acted upon making the ratio applicable to all similarly placed personnel.
6.
Enhance pension at the rate of 10% on completion of
every five years as a pensioner.
7.
Settle the family pension in
respect of the widowed wife of the deceased pensioner within a stipulated time frame.
8.
To ensure that the CCS(CCA)
rules cannot be invoked in the case of retired persons
9.
The Indian Bankers Association
is directed to cause discussion of the pension revision in respect of the
retired bank worker
10.
Immediate intervention for
pension revision of absorbed BSNL pensioners with 15% fitment recommended by
the 3rd PRC from 01-01-2017, delinking wage revision. The BSNL
management is advised to take immediate steps to restore the curtailed medical
facilities and clear all pending medical bills and medical allowance to BSNL pensioners immediately.
11.
Pending the setting up of a permanent negotiating machinery, the
Secretary Pension may be asked to hold
discussions with the NCCPA representatives to settle the pension related issues
indicated in the annexure to this letter.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully
K.K.N.
KUTTY
Secretary
General.
Encl: Annexure.
ANNXURE.
Issues taken up but pending resolution.
1.
Pension revision in the case of
personnel compulsorily retired based upon the Basic pay at the time of their
such retirement.
2.
Restoration of the commuted
portion of pension after 12 years
3.
Grant of Notional increment for
those who retired on 30th June.
4.
Applicability of 7thcpc pay revision benefit for those retired on 31.12.2015.
5.
Treating pensioner for guest
house facility on par with officials on duty.
6.
Reimbursement of medical
expenses of pensioners not covered by CGHS.
7.
To fix a time frame for
completion of disciplinary proceedings pending in the case of pensioners.
8.
To exempt disability pension of
war heros to be exempted from payment of income tax.
9.
To make divorcee daughter to be
eligible for family pension.
10.
Introduction of health insurance scheme
11.
To establish
dispensaries/wellness centres at the new stations sanctioned by the Govt.
12.
Ward entitlement of CGHS
beneficiaries.
13.
Increasing the fixed medical
allowance.
14.
Payment of FMA to the
pensioners of National Institute of Ayurveda
15.
To empanel hospitals in each
revenue districts in the country.
16.
Strengthen dispensaries taken
over from the Postal department by deploying sufficient staff.
17.
Ignore the competitive
examination based promotion from the MACP scheme.
18.
Extend CGHS facilities to the
pensioners at Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
19.
Resolve the problems concerning
the non-availability of essential medicines,
delay in the reimbursement of the bills submitted to the authorities
20.
To extend online consultation facility
to all Stations.
21.
To make the date of effect of
MACP as 1.1.2006 as per the court direction.
22.
To exempt pension from the
purview of income taxation
23.
Grant of advanced pension on
completion of 65 years as detailed in the memorandum to 7th CPC.
24.
To monitor and ensure that the
grievance of individual pensioners is attended to by the concerned
department/ministry.
25.
Grant the arrears of Dearness
relief of 18 months,
26.
Restore the facilities of Air
and Rail travel granted to senior citizens but withdrawn during corvid period.
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