Guwahati CMC of AIPRPA Calls for a Programme of Action on Postal Sectional Charter of Demands on Pensioners!

Guwahati Central Managing Committee's Clarion Call!

* 13.09.2019: Holding of Demonstration at Divisional / District level and submission of Memorandum to Honourable Prime Minister through respective SSPOs / SSRMs.

* 15.09.2019 to 30.09.2019: Meeting the Members of Parliament of our respective area and submission of our Memorandum to Prime Minister with a request for his / her intervention in Parliament and with the Government of India.

* 15.10.2019: Half a Day Dharna either in the fornoon or afternoon as per convenience at District / Divisional level.

* Copy of Memorandum and Copy of Sectional Charter of Demands are hereunder, which may be downloaded and signed by the State GS or by the District / Divisional Secretary to be handed over to the respective SSPOs / SSRMs for onward transmission to Honourable Prime Minister. All State / District / Divisional Secretaries may kindly use their letter pads for downloading the memorandum. 

* Only the Memorandum and Charter of Demands may be downloaded for submission.

_ K.Ragavendran General Secretary AIPRPA (CHQ)

Memorandum submitted to the Honorable Prime Minister by the Pensioners of Postal Department on the Sectional Charter of Demands of Pensioners for early solution.

No. AIPRPA/2019/Postal Pensioners Charter                                             Dated 15.08.2019       

Respected Sir,

We the Postal & RMS Pensioners of the Postal Department submit the following memorandum seeking your kind intervention and favourable direction to the authorities for a time bound implementation of existing orders on some issues and for favourable decision on some other issues:

1.  Speedy implementation of Department orders for including period of induction training for TBOP and BCR for Pensioners with appropriate refixation of pension without insisting for production of induction training orders from the pensioners.

The Department of Posts have already issued an order (44-2/2011-SPB.II Dated 05.05.2016 ) for treating the period of induction training undergone by the officials prior to 1986 for advancing the date of TBOP and BCR financial upgradation granted to them. The orders have already been implemented to several serving officials and some pensioners in different postal circles. However, a sizable section of Postal Pensioners are still left out. The stand taken by the authorities in different circles that the orders can be implemented to them only if they could produce the copy of their induction training order issued to them decades ago. Actually it is a tall claim to ask the senior citizens who retired may years back to produce the certificate of their induction training issued at least three or four decades back. The authorities based on the PPOs and other records available with the Department including the service files, gradation lists etc should suo-moto implement the orders to all Pensioners.

2.   Speedy and time bound implementation of Department orders for giving effect of Postman higher scale of pay of 3050-4590 w.e.f. 1.1.1996 and payment of arrears and refixation of pension by constituting a Cell with more DPA officials under a separate Accounts Officer.

The Department of Posts have already issued an order (DoP order No. Dated 23.05.2018) for granting the upgraded pay scale of 5^th CPC viz., 3050-4590 with effect from 1.1.1996 instead of 10.10.1997 ordered earlier. This order was issued in line with the Supreme Court orders for grant of upgraded pay to Postmen/Mail Guard Officials. The implementation of this order is taking much time as it involves a lot of calculations at the Head Post Offices and to pre-check at the Director or Accounts (Postal). In fact quite a large number of Postman and Mail Guard retirees are still not able to get the benefit out of this orders throughout the country. The constitution of a 10 Member Cell under an exclusive Accounts Officer in all Director of Postal Accounts offices and proper direction to all Head Post Offices from the DPA offices alone can speed up the implementation of orders within imaginable weeks or months. The abnormal delay is causing a situation where in some of the retired Pensioners of Postman and Mail Guard cadre are unable to see the implementation during their own life time.

3.       Extension of Pension Parity Orders to Compulsorily Retired Pensioners also.

The Government has after much tussle agreed to extend the benefit of Parity of Pension to all Pre-2006 Pensioners through Department of Pension order OM No.38/37/2016-P&PW(A) Dated 12.05.2017. However, the compulsorily retired pensioners are excluded from getting the benefit out of this order. The stand of the authorities / government to deny the extension of this benefit to compulsorily retired  pensioners is wrong. The compulsorily retired pensioners were already punished with forfeiture of their balance services. Their basic pension was fixed based on the then existing basic pay only. Usual revision under the formula prescribed by every pay commissions also are implemented to them without any difficulty. Therefore the orders dated 12.05.2017 that extends the refixation of pension as per the basic pay of the pensioners at the time of their retirement cannot be denied to the compulsorily retired pensioners. Therefore the stand taken by the DOPT needs correction and revision to grant the same benefit to all compulsorily retired pensioners also.

4.  Immediate implementation of orders of Pension Ministry dated 09.07.2019 for granting higher grade pay of 4600 as per the concordance table annexed to it for all Pre-2006 HSG-1 Pensioners.

The Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare has ordered vide its OM No.38/33/12_P&PW(A) dated 9.7.2019 for revision of pension w.e.f. 1.1.2006 of Pre-2006 pensioners who retired from the 5^th CPC scale of 6500-10500 or equivalent pay scale in the earlier pay commission periods. A concordance table is also annexed to the said order for facilitating quick fixation of pension to all such pre-2006 pensioners. However, the above orders need to be implemented early to all such pre-2006 pensioners in the Department of Posts.

5.   Extension of the benefit of grant of Notional increment and refixation of pension accordingly to all 30^th June retirees as per the judgment of Supreme Court in the case of Ayyamperumal.

The Government had filed a revision petition in the Supreme Court against the judgment of lower courts and also the SLP dismissal by the Apex Court in the case against Ayyamperumal who won the grant of notional increment as a 30^th June retiree. The practice of grant of increment only on 1^st July prevented him from getting his annual increment though he had performed duty for one whole year before his retirement on 30^th June. Ironically the Government is not coming forward to implement the judgment to all similarly placed pensioners who had retired on 30^th June. More over the Revision Petition was also preferred against Ayyamperumal. However, with the dismissal of revision petition also by the Supreme Court, the Government should come forward to grant the increment notionally for all 30^th June retirees and their pension refixed accordingly.

6.     Extend the benefit of MACP date of effect from 1.1.2006 as was done in the case of Defense Ministry officials and pensioners.

In lieu of the Supreme Court judgment which categorically said that MACP (Modified Assured Career Progression) is connected with the pay and not with the allowances, MACP should be given from 1.1.2006 and not from the later date of grant of allowances (1.9.2008). The stand of the Government that  implemented the judgment in the Defense Department and denying implementation in other Civilian Departments is against the spirit of judgment. This judgment is an IN RAM judgment and therefore the policy involved is extendable to all similarly placed civilian officials in all government departments. Many Pensioners had retired in between 1.1.2006 and 1.9.2008 without getting the benefit of MACP because of the stand of the Government. The Cabinet Secretary had in the recent meeting of JCM National Council held on 13.04.2019 had reportedly stated that all judgments where a finality has been reached will be extended to all similarly placed. We request that the date of effect of MACP should be 1.1.2006 on par with the Defense Ministry to all Civilian Employees and naturally the benefit has to be extended to all retired personnel also who retired from service during the period in between 1.1.2006 and 1.9.2008.

7.     Grant 3 MACPs without adjusting the elevation from lower grade to Postal Assistant achieved through competitive examination and not through in-situ promotion granted by the Department.

The basic difference between the officials of Postal Department and the officials of other Government Departments is ignored by the Government and the Authorities. All promotions are on the basis of qualifying examinations in all departments and by competitive examinations in Postal Department. The officials of other departments get the promotion in-situ basis when the vacancies arise and if not in time they get the MACP. In the Postal Department all exams are on competitive basis and limited to a particular number of vacancies. The officials enter in a competitive exam and get selected to the announced number only and certainly not on in-situ basis but by a change of cadre. Therefore the MACP shall be counted only from the date of such elevation to a different cadre through competitive exam. Many Courts have accepted this version and ordered accordingly. The present stand of the Government and the Authorities is preventing the officials of Postal Department only from getting their 3^rd MACP if they are Promotees. This stand is only discriminatory to the Promotee officials of Postal Department. We request that the stand of the Government / authorities be changed to give the MACP from the date of change of cadre through competitive exam in Postal Department as per the judgment of different courts including Rajasthan and Delhi High Courts.

8.      Refix the subscription rate to non-CGHS area pensioners joining CGHS on par with the rate of subscription existed at the time of their retirement instead of 7^th CPC higher rates.

The Postal Pensioners were precluded from joining CGHS unless they retired from CGHS covered areas. Thousands of non-CGHS area pensioners of Postal Department were not allowed to join CGHS by the orders of the Health Ministry of GOI. At the intervention of 7^th CPC and by the verdict of Kerala High Court, the Government had rescinded its position and allowing all non-CGHS pensioners also to join CGHS. The issue is that they are to pay the rate of subscription at the present rates implemented after 7^th CPC. These Postal Pensioners were prevented from joining CGHS not on their willingness but by the decision of the Government. Therefore now that the prohibition is removed, the pensioners shall be allowed to join CGHS by paying the rate of subscription on the basis of the rates existed at the time of their retirement. The rate of 7^th CPC shall not be forced on them.

9.     Maintain with full complement of Para-medical staff and general assistance staff in all CGHS wellness centres converted by merger of erstwhile Postal Dispensaries - Install Additional Director CGHS office in every newly formed State.

The GOI has merged all existing Postal Dispensaries numbering 33 with CGHS and converted them as CGHS wellness centres recently. The maintenance of them also shifted to Health Ministry since 1.4.2019. The irony is that many of those converted CGHS Centres are functioning without adequate para-medical staff like nurses, pharmacists, lab-technicians and without assistant staff. Earlier the DoP was using casual para-medical staff but they were simply sent away without recruitment for alternative staff. Due to this reason, many such wellness centres are unable to distribute medicines prescribed by the doctors or attend to other necessities by the para-medical staff.  The enrollment of beneficiaries in to CGHS also got delayed due to absence of supporting clerical staff in these CGHS Wellness centres as mostly those staff were returned back to Postal Department from where they were deputed earlier for Postal Dispensaries. We request that until due recruitment process is undertaken, necessary essential para medical staff may be drawn through employment exchanges on casual basis. We request that these problems be immediately attended to so that the problems of sick pensioners are sorted out.

In addition every newly formed State like the State of Andhrapradesh, an office of Additional Director CGHS shall be established there. As a rule the CGHS wellness centres in a State shall be under the control of the Additional Director of CGHS or Assistant Director of CGHS office situated within that State only. More over no empanelled hospitals and diagnostic centres are identified and notified in all the 33 cities where the Postal Dispensaries are merged with CGHS causing great hardships to beneficiaries. This needs immediate attention. Similarly Advisory Committees including the nominees of Pensioners Associations shall be constituted in all above 33 centres.

10.  Arrange sending of LP Medicines to Pensioners through Speed Post without asking them to come again to collect the medicines as is being done for Members of Parliament.

Presently many important routine medicines are not stockpiled adequately in CGHS wellness centres. Invariably all the beneficiaries are forced to come back after three-four days to collect some medicines under Local Purchase. This method is causing the hardship to pensioners to visit twice the CGHS Centres in a month from distant places at their advanced age. Incidentally, we heard that such LP medicines are sent by Speed Post to Honourable Members and Ex-Members of Parliament. We are unable to understand as to why the same method should not be used in the case of Pensioners also by sending the LP medicines by Speed Post to prevent them from undertaking arduous journey twice to the CGHS Centres.

 Encl: Annexure of Charter of Demands

Yours faithfully,

State General Secretary / District / Divisional Secretary 

__________________________ State / District / Division.

__________________________ State. 

Annexure

Postal Pensioners Charter of Demands

1.     Speedy implementation of Department orders for including period of induction training for TBOP and BCR for Pensioners with appropriate refixation of pension without insisting for production of induction training orders from the pensioners.

2.     Speedy and time bound implementation of Department orders for giving effect of Postman higher scale of pay of 3050-4590 w.e.f. 1.1.1996 and payment of arrears and refixation of pension by constituting a Cell with more DPA officials under a separate Accounts Officer.

3.       Extension of Pension Parity Orders to Compulsorily Retired Pensioners also.

4.    Immediate implementation of orders of Pension Ministry dated 09.07.2019 for granting higher grade pay of 4600 as per the concordance table annexed to it for all Pre-2006 HSG-1 Pensioners.

5.  Extension of the benefit of grant of Notional increment and refixation of pension accordingly to all 30^th June retirees as per the judgment of Supreme Court in the case of Ayyamperumal.

6.   Extend the benefit of MACP date of effect from 1.1.2006 as was done in the case of Defense Ministry officials and pensioners.

7.    Grant 3 MACPs without adjusting the elevation from lower grade to Postal Assistant achieved through competitive examination and not through in-situ promotion granted by the Department.

8.     Refix the subscription rate to non-CGHS area pensioners joining CGHS on par with the rate of subscription existed at the time of their retirement instead of 7^th CPC higher rates.

9.    Maintain with full complement of Para-medical staff and general assistance staff in all CGHS wellness centres converted by merger of erstwhile Postal Dispensaries. - Install Additional Director CGHS office in every newly formed State.

10.   Arrange sending of LP Medicines to Pensioners through Speed Post without asking them to come again to collect the medicines as is being done for Members of Parliament.