SECRETRY GENERAL's SPEECH IN THE WEBINAR ORGANIZED BY KARNATAKA COC OF PENSIONERS ASSOCIATIONS
Published is the text
of the speech delivered by Com. K.K.N. Kutty, Secretary General, NCCPA at the
webinar organised by the co-ordination
committee of Pensioners Associations, Karnataka, Bangalore on 1st
October, 2020 to observe and commemorate the International day for elders.
COM.
PRESIDENT, MY DEARY COLLEAGUES, COMRADES AND FRIENDS.
It gives me
great happiness in associating myself with this gathering on this international
Elders day. International days are occasions to educate people on issues of
concern, to mobilise political will and resources to address global
problems. We are observing this day in the midst of a global catastrophe,
the covid 19 pandemic that threatens our very existence .
This year the
theme of the day itself centres around this issue. Healthy ageing. Aged population has certain peculiar
problems. It did not have a social
dimension a few decades back. The
earlier social set up in our country has undergone changes. So is the problems concerning the
ageing. Looking after the aged people
had not been considered as the responsibility of the society in those
days. The children considered it as the sacred duty
to look after them and attend to their every need.
Globalisation
did not only make changes in the way economic activities are organised in a country, though that is the major
thrust, but has also impacted the social
life. Many old social ethos, customs and
conventions have undergone vast changes.
And today few think that it is
their responsibility to take care of old people, despite cacophony of the
ancient culture and civilisation of our country.
As you all
know it was in 1982 the world attention was drawn to the problems connected
with ageing. International recognition
and response came after about a decade in 1990. The United Nation’s General Assembly adopted
a resolution to observe Ist October as
the international day for elders, when
the member countries will evaluate what they have done to the elder community
and chalk out what they must further
do in the coming years
NCCPA is
affiliated with TUI (Trade Union International Pensioners and Retirees) a unit
of the World Federation of Trade Unions.
To the best of my knowledge, NCCPA and two of its affiliates are those
from India associated with the world movement. TUI (P&R) was founded in
2014 and ever since then, it has been observing this day every year with larger and larger
participation of its members. This year
the observance has a little more importance in as much as 2020 happens to be
the 75th year of the UN existence and the 30th year of
the passing of the said resolution. The
milestones are important as the efforts put in during this period has yielded
impressive gains to the aged population of the world. This is also the year of nurses and midwife
and the decade 2020-30 is declared as decade of healthy ageing. Incidentally It
also happens to be the 75th year of the World Federation of Trade
Unions. The WFTU was founded 75 years
back, i.e. on 3rd October, 1945 in Paris, France. Its objective was and continues to be to
create a world sans exploitation and unite the working class to achieve that
objective.
The
international study has estimated that by 2050 the word will have 1.5 billion
old people most of them living in low or middle income Nations. Good number of
them will be inhabitants of East and South East Asia. By the end of 2020, the number of aged
people in the world is expected to be more than the number of children below
the age of 5. These figures indicate the
serious situation that might come about in the years to come.
The attitude
of many of the Governments in the world towards the aged persons, especially
after the globalisation scheme got accelerated in third world countries, is extremely
unhelpful despite they being party to the UN resolution. Any expenditure from the exchequer on aged
people are considered as wasteful and to be curtailed. It is reported in the media that in many
countries the corona affected aged people are not treated at all. Or they are
given the least importance.
Prior to the
collapse of the Soviet Union as a socialist country, and before the advent of
the globalisation process, even the capitalist countries had a good number of
welfare measures targeting the weaker segment of the society including the old
people. Though It was conceived as a cushion to absorb the nagging resentment
over the exploitative methods of the capitalist development, it had its
advantage to the society. Subsidies,
freee health care, food and shelter camps, unemployment allowance, concessional
public transport,a fair taxation system, market protection, Protectionof home industry, restriction over the extent of ownership of
land, etc.. Most of the countries had an affordable or free social security
system by virtue of which the old and the aged, the retired and the pensioners
benefitted immensely.
The collapse
of the soviet socialist system had its impact in as much as the capitalist
world began to consider these welfare measures as a drain over the resources of
the Government. Intense propaganda was
unleashed to the effect that the socialism is an impractical and utopian theory
and must be destroyed as quickly as possible. The ascendancy of the left ideals seen in the
freedom struggles of the many Asian and African Nations in the early part of
the 20thCentury started sliding down. The imperialist and despotic nations
thrived. The world became almost
unipolar. When the world was under the
hegemonic dispensation of the two super powers, India took the initiative to
have a non aligned block. India became
the first to desert it after it adopted the new economic policies. Indian
ruling class began to tilt and with an apology of there being no alternative
sided with the west initially tacitly and later unashamedly openly. The globalisation manta, the virtues of an
integrated economy, the abject surrender at WTO the selling away of public
sector undertakings, withdrawal of Government from all welfare activities;
diverting funds to projects that help the corporates to thrive and maximise
profit; unbridled corruption were some of the features, we saw in the two
decades that followed the grand declaration of Globalisation, Liberalisation
and Privatisation in 1991. When we meet
today, in the aftermath of the of the about turn of the economic policies of
free India, we see our rulers standing
in the shade of imperialist powers losing all self- respect of a sovereign
country, the emergence of which millions sacrificed their life.
I know many
of our friends who are participating in this webinar belong to India of those
yester-years. We dreamt a free and
egalitarian Indiabound together with the bond of friendship, bereft of poverty,
bereft of communal or religious segregation.
We have tirelessly worked for such a prosperous and peaceful India. We suffered deprivation to enable the
Government to look after the unfortunate and poor countrymen. Today we sit here apprehending whether the
pension we had earned deferring our wages would be available tomorrow. We are aware that those who were recruited in
our time, who worked with us may not get the pension for there is no guarantee
of return for their contributions to the pension fund.
The denial of
Dearness relief is just the harbinger of the things that are likely to emerge
in the days to come. Millions of workers
who toil in the field, in the construction sites, in projects in remote places do
not have any social security. Can you
imagine what type of old day life is waiting for them. The very resolution
passed by the UN general assembly to have a healthy ageing talks about the dire
need for such a pension. The Government and the society which consider the
pension as a wasteful expenditure , to have a social security scheme a drain on
the Nation’s economy seldom remembers that the infrastructure facilities the present
generation enjoys had been the product of the labour of those people whom they
want to deny the security at their old age. This is what we are to remember and
remind the society while observing the international day for the elders.
It is often
said that there is no ageing if you are concerned, convinced and
determined. We can fight the injustice
rather we must. Our erstwhile leaders
who dreamt of a free India, wanted our polity to be a democratic republic, they
wanted the citizens to abide by the law; they wanted no injustice is
perpetrated; they wanted every child who is born in India should feel proud
that he or she is born in this great country; Look around today; degeneration
of politics and politicians is understandable.
But what about the great institution called the judiciary. The needle of suspicion over its
impartibility, its ability to be just and reasonable has been pointed. The
moment the people lose confidence in this institution, anarchy will
follow.
Last year we
observed the international day for elders in an entirely different
atmosphere. Had I been an invitee to
that gathering we would have shared our bond of friendship through our
palms. Corona pandemic has changed
everything so drastically. The pandemic is spreading in our country without any
leaps and bounds Many States have no
public health care system or machinery to combat this dangerous situation. Wherever existed, it has been stretched
beyond its capability. In the post independent era, systematic efforts were
made to improve the public health care.
Primary and secondary level institutions were built Super-speciality and research centres came
up thereafter. In the post 1991 days,
we have systematically dismantled it paving way for the private entrepreneurs
to enter into this sensitive area. They
built luxurious hospitals. They could
successfully convert the human misery into a lucrative business. Together the health insurance companies came
They also made huge profit out of anxiety and agony of the people. They now
charge exorbitantly for covid treatment without any guarantee of recovery
whatsoever. The Government have
forgotten that there had been a social obligation clause when they allotted the
prime land in urban agglomerations to the private entrepreneurs. Many of them have enjoyed the tax rebates and
concessions.
The Central
Government health Scheme was the product of hard negotiations. Though it covered only a few cities,
initially it was considered a very good venture. The post 1991 policies saw it
dismantled. It was financially
squeezed. Its expansion was arrested on
the plea that the Pay Commission has suggested an Insurance scheme. Had that
institution been allowed to expand, it would have been of great help in this
pandemic day not only for the Central Govt. employees but even to the society
as a whole. They could have helped the meagre public health system in many
states to survive. If we are unable to
cope up with the spread of the pandemic and treat the patients properly,
without hesitation, we can assert that the single reason is the systematic
dismantling of the public health care institutions. My friend Com. Radhakrishna wanted me to
speak on CGHS elaborately. What I
suggest is an interactive session where specific questions could be raised and
replied. Without doubt one can say that the CGHS as an
institution conceived to take care of the health related problems of Central
Government employees; its days are numbered.
As on today,
more than 3.5 crores of people are affected by Covid 19. And it is fast spreading. More than 10 lakhs people are in our own
country, of which slightly less than one lakh lost their life. The number of death is really alarming. The people have started talking about fate
and destiny instead of pinning any hope either over the medical system or the
Governmental efficacy, even though the health workers all over the world have
acquitted themselves creditably in combating the pandemic. There appears to be only a slight degree of
difference in so far as the attitude of the capitalist Governments are concerned
with perhaps the exception of Switzerland, New Zealand, South Korea etc.
The study
that was conducted over the impact of the covid on world economy as early as in
April, 2020 has stated that the disruption of supply chain of commodities due
to closure of factories or reduction in the workforce will decelerate the
growth by a whopping 32%. How far this
study was right could be seen from the fact that the India’s growth rate dipped
to minus 24% in the last quarter. Some of the conclusions of the study were:
(a)
The world will have to face a
severe economic crisis;
(b)
Delay of every month in
combating the covid pandemic either by preventive or curative remedies, the world
GDP will have a reduction of 2.5 to 3%
on an average
(c)
If the covid continues to
spread in the same rate for another 2-3 months, the world will witness the
greatest recession in the past two centuries.
India
specific situation is summed up as under:-
(i)
The supply chain disruption was
extreme in India, as the migrant workers fled from the work-spots in the
absence of any protection provided by the owner of the factories or the
concerned Governments;
(ii)
Demand reduction was of the
order of 30% during the lock down period;
(iii)
Goods movements in Port was
declined by 20% ;and in Railways by 30%
(iv)
Civil aviation sector alone
registered a loss of Rs. 40 Billion dollars.
(v)
Tourism industry became the
worst affected and reached its turnover to almost zero during the lock down
period.
(vi)
The farm goods were destroyed
due to the non availability of personnel to harvest to the extent of 37%.
(vii)
Of the 46 crores employed in
the country 42 crores were in informal
sector. Those who lost job in rural areas was 57% and in the urban agglomerations
80%
(viii)
India’s manufacturing sector is
predominantly in what is called the MSMEs. (Micro, small and medium
enterprises) 30% of the GDP is provided
by this sector. 50% of our industrial workers are in this sector. It is estimated that 40% of the Units will
be closed down permanently.
(ix)
Tourism, hotel, real estate,
financial services, Banks, metal industry, automobile, textile, electricity,
mining, food products, all have incurred heavy losses during the lock down period.
(x)
India will experience economic
recession worse than what happened in 1929-30
Before, I
talk of the micro issues, referred to by Com. Radhakrishna, in his welcome
address, let me mention a few facets of
the 20 Trillion pandemic package of the Prime Minister.
We are
witness to the global financial crisis of 2008.
It is now widely recognised that the unhindered use, abuse and misuse of
Bank instruments and derivatives triggered the said crisis. Profit at any cost is the single point
objective of the corporate existence. If
India could, despite the globalisation of its economy escaped from its terrific
fall out it was s due to the PSU banks..
Having recognised and having admitted that, our rulers consistently
between 2008-2020 pursued the policy of privatisation of the PSU banks. In the name of consolidation, the present
government has started amalgamation of various
banks thereby withdrawing their presence from the market systematically. The recessionary trend in the economy which
has started even before the pandemic made its entry, will now turn into a full-
fledged recession . It is not that our present day rulers are not awareof it.
The 20 Trillion package was
supposed to avert it. But when the
details were unfolded one could find
that 90% of the package was to help out
the corporates. To address a production
crisis some times, such stimulus package might be helpful. Even the rate of reduction of taxation
rates, especially for those in the manufacturing sector is considered a
panacea. But the present day scenario
or the oncoming crisis is basically the
offshoot of the supply chain disruption and low demand due to the obliteration
of wage earners from the society. The
remedial proposals ought to have been centred around the strengthening of the
purchasing power of the common people.
Hardly 10% of the package went in for that. The recent survey indicated that most of the covid
affected patients are from the lower rung of the society who are per force to
go in search of work as the alternative is penury. It was in fact a Hobson’s
choice between disease or destitution.
As mentioned earlier, the significant
cause as to why we could not
arrest the spread of the deadly disease is the weakened public health system
and the unhindered foray of private
players in an area which basically must have been service oriented and nor profit
motivated.
As I
mentioned initially, the convenor wanted me to address some of the issues he
had raised. The most important in my
opinion is the organisational state of affairs of NCCPA. NCCPA as the name suggests was meant to be an
apex organisation of all Pensioners Associations and Federations especially of
the Central Government employees. In its
Ratlam conference, decision was taken to open its doors to all organisations of
the pensioners and retirees. The idea to submit a common memorandum to
the 7thCPC by all Pensioners
Associations of the CGEs was mooted in the National Executive Committee
meeting. Due to the untiring efforts of
Late Com.S.K. Vyas, that attempt had a fair chance of success. But after the convention at Chennai and
preparation of a common memorandum, the
enthusiasm seems to have been faded out.
Many presented a reflection of a perceived superiority over others. To overcome this Com. Vyas suggested the
formation of a confederation under the name and style of BCPC. After his demise, both, the idea and the
organisation, he so assiduously created were abandoned. Quite a number of impediments had come up
thereafter. The registration of NCCPA as
a federal set up could not be brought about.
It was decided at the last meeting to seek registration under the Trade
Union Act. The decision was put to
practice. All papers were prepared and submitted.
Now it is pending for the reasons that in order to be registered as a
federation, it requires two Associations registered under the trade Union Act must be affiliated to the said federation. Steps have been taken in this direction and
we hope to fulfil this condition soon.
If any
organisation has to be effective and perceived to be so, it must have the
capacity to raise the issues of the members before the authorities and get them
resolved. The present Government has
taken the decision, it appears, to give
representation to only those small state level organisations in the SCOVA set
up. Since both the President and
Secretary General of NCCPA are members of the JCM National council and are its
standing committee members, many issues were taken up in that forum and
settlement brought about. That effort has
continued and quite a number of issues connected with the Covid 19 treatment of
CGEs could be got settled. Financially
also, the organisation cannot be said to be on a sound footing. The matter came up for discussion at our
Jaipur conference and it has been decided to double the rate of
subscription. NCCPA has been publishing
a journal, thanks to the help of our West Bengal comrades, and the same has
come out uninterrupted up to March, 2020. Consequent upon the Covid and the
close down of Post offices, Printing presses etc. it has now been
discontinued. Attempts are being made
to re-commence the publication. In the
meantime, the National Executive decided to bring out the journal in electronic
form . The first edition of that will be
released by 15th October, 2020.
As per the
decision of the last conference, we had prepared a document on health
insurance. This was subjected to one round of discussion. There had been certain suggestions and
certain reservation expressed by some comrades. Once this is ironed out it could be
presented to the JCM Staff side as the insurance scheme covers the working
employees also
Reduction of
Bank interest will no doubt cause depletion of the income of the
pensioners. The rate is fixed taking
into account various factors. Consequent
upon the reduction and the denial of Dearness relief the pensioners have been
put to hardship. This will have to be
taken up with a view to find out a separate dispensation for senior citizens.
Autonomous
organisations. On the basis of the
report of the Committee set up by the Government, the functioning and funding
of autonomous organisations have been re-evaluated by the Government. NCCPA will
take up the issue concerning pension with a view to protect the
entitlements of the pensioners to whom the new scheme should not be made
applicable During the discussion earlier
the Staff Side had demanded that the entitlement of the employees and
pensioners must not be depended upon the performance of the organisation. It is better, that the coffee board
pensioners Association takes the initiative to have a meeting of all autonomous
organisations’ leaders along with the National sect. of the NCCPA.
Privatisation
of many departments are on the anvil.
Normally the matter is discussed with the employee’s representatives in
so far as its impact on service conditions are concerned. In the matter of pension entitlement there
must be a specific clause in the agreement.
The denial of
DR has been objected by the NCCPA and all its affiliates. In fact we have spearheaded the programmatic
action as per the decision taken at the National Executive meeting. Thousands of E mail messages have been sent
to the Prime Minister and the same is continuing. We are in close contact with the serving
employees’ organisations. Whatever joint
decisions are taken, we will strive our best that it is implemented at all
centres.
I thank all
of you for the patient hearing. I am
grateful for the organisers for inviting me to this function to observe and
commemorate the international day for elders.
Millions of retired persons must have joined together to observe this
day throughout the world. Let us be together
in this endeavour that not a single elder person suffers in the world. Thank you once again.
K.K.N. KUTTY
Secretary
General, NCCPA.
