Bharat Pensioners Samaj reply to 7th CPC :
No. BPS/SG/2014/7CPC/2 Dated : 26.04.2014
Ms Meena
Agarwal,
Secretary GOI Seventh Central Pay Commission
New Delhi (Through : Joint Secretary GOI M/O Personnel,PG & Pensions-DOP &PW)
Madam,
Copy to Sh. Sanjay Kothari; Secretary GOI M/O Personnel,PG & Pensions-DOP&PW for favourable action at his level pl.
Copy to Secretary (Staff side JCM) for support & n/a at his level pl
Source: http://scm-bps.blogspot.in/2014/04/bharat-pensioners-samaj-reply-to-7th-cpc.html
Secretary GOI Seventh Central Pay Commission
New Delhi (Through : Joint Secretary GOI M/O Personnel,PG & Pensions-DOP &PW)
Madam,
Subject: 7th CPC QuestionnaireReference: D.O. No 7cpc/15/questionnaire dated 9th April 2014
‘Bharat Pensioners Samaj’. One of the
identified Pensioners’ Federation by GOI M/O Personnel, PG &
Pensions-DOP& PW and a stake holder. In its capacity as one of the oldest
& largest Pensioners Organization with over 550 Affiliated Associations,
submits hereunder its reply to the questionnaire issued vide your D.O. No
7cpc/15/questionnaire dated 9th April 2014.
As Pension is not independent of Salary. Salary structure also, is a matter of
concern to pensioners. However, Bharat Pensioners Samaj limits its answers to Question Nos 1.1, 1.2, 10.1
& 10.1.2 under the heads ‘Salary’ & ‘Pension’ .
Q.1.1 The consideration on which the
minimum and maximum salary in case of the lowest group ‘C’ functionary and the
maximum salary in case of a secretary level officer
may be determined and what should be the ratio between the two.
Ans. Socialistic structure of the country, constitutional
provisions for equality & reduction of vast inequality in income &
wealth between highest and lowest paid should be the main consideration for
fixing maximum & minimum
Salary. Rectifyin the inequality created by different multiplication
factors adopted by 6th CPC for arriving at Pay Bands & Pay Scales .The ratio between minimum &
maximum of Salary be brought down to 1: 9. Ensuring uniformly equal % rise in
Salary of all employees by adopting a common multiplication factor.
4th CPC had determined the ratio between
minimum & maximum of salary to be 10.7(Chapter 41 & 43). In accordance
with the basic fiber of a Socialistic State this ratio should have gone
reducing Pay Commission after Pay Commission. Even in capitalist countries like
America & Britain this ratio is 1: 3.3 &1:5 respectively In countries
with weaker economy like Philippines this is 1: 9.5. VI CPC adopted conversion
factor of 1.86 to arrive at the minimum of lowest pay Band, where as it adopted
a factor of 3.37 for arriving at the highest scale. This shredded the very
basic fiber of the Constitution of Indian Socialistic State by raising the
ratio between minimum & maximum of Salary to 1: 12.85. This negative and
socially regressive effect of the 6th Central Pay Commission has had the effect
of worsening wealth and income inequality not only between pre-and post-2006
retirees, but even within pre-2006 retirees wherein higher-ups got full parity
in Pension (Through modified parity).
Adoption of a ratio of 1:9 between minimum
& maximum paid will rectify to some extent the injustice done so far.
Defence Employee: As far as Armed forces are
concerned they do the supreme sacrifice for the country & must be the
highest paid. For them the ratio between lowest & highest paid must not be
more than 1:5.
Q.1.2 What should be the consideration
for determining salary for various levels of functions between the highest level
and the lowest level functionaries?
Ans. Equal % rise in Salary of all
employees should be the main consideration. Revise the highest salary first by adding to existing salary,
full DA+IR if any+ 50% fitment benefit . To meet talent attraction/retention
requirement the revised Salary so
arrived should be stepped up if required, to reasonably compare with Private and Public sectors. However,
while drawing a comparison, job security, powers enjoyed, retirement benefits,
facilities and Perks be taken into account. Divide the
revised maximum Salary by 9 to arrive at the
revised minimum Salary.
Divide the revised minimum
salary by the existing salary. The factor so arrived may be adopted as
common multiplication factor subject to the condition that the
revised salary of any employee is in no case will be
less than existing basic pay + full DA+IR if any + 50% fitment benefit.
Q. No 10.1 New pension Scheme i.e The
retirement benefits of all Central Government employees appointed on or after 1.1.2004 are
covered by the New Pension Scheme (NPS). What has been the experience of the NPS
in the last decade?
Ans. Withdraw New Pension Scheme for
Govt. employees: for following reasons:
(i) Pension of Govt. employees is a deferred
and its absolute entitlement has been confirmed by Hon. Supreme Court while disposing of D.S.Nakara case.
(ii) wage paid out to them during the course of
work tenure is kept low by design, to cater for pension.
(iii) He /She forgoes with interest 8.33% of
govt. matching contribution to PF.
(iv) Pension is a social security measure &
cannot be subjected in anyway to Market risks.
(v) It does not guarantee minimum return &
thus lacks the basic fiber of Social Security Scheme
(vi) It is in no way better than the existing
Pension Scheme.
(vii) It does not provide guaranteed Family
Pension to dependents & disabled siblings which exist in present scheme,
even in case of spouse & dependent parents where death of the employee occur
in early years of service there is no adequate social security.
Q. 10.1.2 i.e. As for as pre 2004
appointees are concerned, what should be the principles that govern the
structure of pension and retirement benefits?
Ans. 1. Keeping in view the Socialistic
structure of the country, constitutional provisions
& to reduce vast inequality between have & have lots, it is proposed:
The Ratio between maximum & minimum of Pension be brought down to 9:1,
ensuring uniformly equal rise in Pension of all pensioners, irrespective of pre-
retiral status. By adopting a common multiplication factor for revision of
Pension. Subject to the condition that revised Pension
shall not in any case be less than 65% & family Pension 45% of the last Pay
in Pay Band i.e. Pay in Pay Band+ GP /Pay scale or of average of last 10 months
emoluments (Whichever is more beneficial). Raising of the ratio between minimum
& maximum pension to 1:12.85 by 6th CPC, instead of reducing it, was
unconstitutional.
7th pay commission is requested to first
workout the top most revised pension, divide it by 9
to arrive at the minimum revised pension & then
derive a uniform multiplication factor by dividing minimum
revised Pension by minimum
pre-revised Pension, with the condition that Pension
shall not in any case be less than 65% & family Pension 45% of the last Pay
in Pay Band i.e. Pay in Pay Band+ GP /Pay scale or of average of last 10 months
emoluments (Whichever is more beneficial) as was worked out & recommended by
TECS (Tata Economic Consultancy Services) consultant to Vth CPC (Para 127.9 Vol
III 5th CPC report). Also exactly same fitment benefit & revision formula
as given to working employees is allowed to pensioners .
2. One Rank one pension i.e persons
retired from same rank, same seniority & equal length of service should get
equal pension irrespective of date of retirement = full parity : ‘Justice must
be equal for all’, otherwise, it breeds contempt, discontentment, inefficiency,
corruption & finally the insurgency. We have seen it happening in Tribal
areas of N.E, Chhatishgarh, Jharkand, Orisa, MP etc. Vast inequality of income and wealth between
lowest & the highest paid, violation of Article 14 has already induced
contempt, discontent, inefficiency & corruption, in Civil services. Govt. granted One Rank One Pension (OROP) to
Armed forces, Judges granted it to themselves. Even a period of private practice
of lawyer judges, to be counted towards qualifying service. Higher Bureaucracy
got it through modified parity. All other Central Govt. Pensioners are
definitely not the 2nd grade citizens! One Rank One Pension to all retirees
is now a constitutional requirement to ensure equality.
3. Defence Pensioners: As far as
defence pensioners are concerned they do the supreme sacrifice for the country.
For them the ratio between highest & lowest paid must not be more than 1:5
and instead of being thrown out at an early age they must be transferred to
Paramilitary/Police force after active tenure in armed forces. Otherwise, if
these retired army personnel trained in all sort of weaponry are left uncared,
they may fall prey to undesirable anti -national outfits. In their case it is
also essential that retirees from uniformed cadre & civilian defence
Pensioners are treated at Par for all purpose.Civilian in Defence Services’
belongs to Defence Forces and as such their case should be considered under Para
2(b) of the terms of reference of 7th CPC along-with other personnel of the
Defence Forces.
4. Dearness relief : 100% neutralization
with automatic merger with Pension whenever it goes to 50% : The Pension of
Central Government Pensioners undergo revision only once in 10 years during
which period the pension structure gets seriously dis-aligned; 50% increase in
price takes place even in less than 5 years. This results in considerable
erosion of the financial position of the pensioner. DR does not adequately take
care of inflation at this level. Working employees are getting automatic relief
by way of 25% increase in their allowances with every 50% rise in Dearness
Allowance. As pensioners do not get any allowances, they feel discriminated
against. In order to strike a balance, DR may be automatically merged with
Pension whenever it goes to 50%.
5. Additional old age Pension : 5%
upward enhancement in pension be granted every five years’ after the age of 60
years & upto 80 years & thereafter as per existing dispensation. As in
the present scenario of climatic changes, incidence of pesticides and rising
pollution, old age disabilities/diseases set in by the time an employee retires
and go on manifesting very fast, needing additional finances to take care of
these disabilities and diseases, especially as the cost of health care has gone
very high.
6. Pension to be net of Income Tax : The
purchase value of pension gets reduced day by day due to continuously high
inflation and steep rise in cost of food items and medical facilities.
Retired persons/Senior citizens do not enjoy fully public goods and services
provided by Government for citizens due to lack of mobility and many other
factors. Their ability to pay tax gets reduced from year to year after retirement due
to ever-increasing expenditure on food, medicines and other incidentals. Their
net worth at year end gets reduced considerably as compared to the beginning of
the year. Inflation, for a pensioner is much more than any tax. It erodes the
major part of the already inadequate pension. To enable pensioners, at the far
end of their lives, to live in minimum comfort and to cater for ever rising cost
of living, they may be spared from paying Income Tax.
7. Restoration of commuted value of Pension
in 12 years: Commutation value in respect of employee superannuating at the
age of 60 years between 1.1.1996 and 31.12.2005 and commuting a portion of
pension within a period of one year would be equal to 9.81 years Purchase. After
adding thereto a further period of two years for recovery of interest, in terms
of observation of Supreme Court in their judgment in writ petitions No 395-61 of
1983 decided in December 1986, it would be reasonable to restore commuted
portion of pension in 12 years instead of present 15 years. In case of persons
superannuating at the age of 60 years after 31.12.2005 and seeking commutation
within a year, numbers of purchase years have been further reduced to 8.194.
Also, the mortality rate of 60 plus Indians has considerably reduced ever since
Supreme Court judgment in 1986; the life expectancy stands at 76 years now. Therefore,
restoration of commuted value of Pension after 12 years is fully
justified.
8. The 6th Central Pay Commission’s
improved/new benefits, like full pension for 20 years of service/10yrs
service etc have been limited only to post-1.1.2006 retirees. This is in
violation of the letter and spirit of Hon’ble Apex Court judgment in Nakara
Case.
We appeal to the 7th CPC to extend the above
benefits to all pre-1.1.2006 retirees with monetary benefit from 1.1.2006 to do
them equal justice. And that new/improved benefits which 7th CPC may recommend,
too be made equally applicable to present & past pensioners
9. Medical facilities: “Health is not a
luxury” and “not be the sole possession of a privileged few”. It is a
Fundamental Right of all present & past Employees!
To ensure hassle free health care facility to
Pensioners/family pensioners, Smart Cards be issued irrespective of departments
to all Pensioners and their Dependents for cashless medical facilities
across the country. These smart cards should be valid in
- all Govt. hospitals
- all NABH accredited Multi Super Specialty hospitals across the country which have been allotted land at concessional rate or given any aid or concession by the Central or State govt.
- all CGHS, RELHS & ECHS empanelled hospitals across the country.
- Medical attendants. For reimbursement of bills for treatment & for hospitalization. No referral should be insisted in case of medical emergencies. For the purpose of reference for hospitalization & reimbursement of expenditure thereon in other than emergency cases Doctors/Medical officers working in different Central/State Govt. department dispensaries/health units should be recognized as Authorized medical attendant.
The enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of health is recognized as a fundamental right of all workers in terms
of Article 21 read with Article 39 for a 41, 43, 48A and all related Articles as
pronounced by the Supreme Court in Consumer Education and Research Center &
Others vs Union of India (AIR 1995 Supreme Court 922) The Supreme court has held
that the right to health to a worker is an integral facet of meaningful right to
life to have not only a meaningful existence but also robust health and vigor.
Therefore, the right to health, medical aid to protect the health and vigour of
a worker while in service or post retirement is a fundamental right-to make life
of a worker meaningful and purposeful with dignity of person. Thus health care
is not only a welfare measure but is a Fundamental Right.
We suggest that, all the pensioners,
irrespective of pre-retiral class and status, be treated as same category of
citizens and the same homogenous group. There should be no class or category
based discrimination and all must be provided Health care services
at par .
10. Hospital Regulatory Authority: To
ensure that the hospitals do not avoid providing reasonable care to smart card holders
and other poor citizens. A Hospital Regulatory Authority should be created to
bring all NABH-accredited hospitals and NABL-accredited diagnostic Labs under
its constant monitoring of quality, rates for different procedures & timely
bill
payments by Govt. agencies and Insurance companies. CGHS rates may be
revised keeping in mind the workability as per market conditions.
11. Fixed Medical allowance (FMA): As is
recorded in Para 5 of the minutes of Committee of Secretaries (COS) held on
15.04.2010 (Reference Cabinet Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhavan No
502/2/3/2010-C.A.V Doc No. CD (C.A.V) 42/2010 Minutes of COS meeting dated
15.4.2010) which discussed enhancement of FMA. “CGHS card estimates for serving
Personnel: Since estimates are not available separately for pensioners M/O
Health & Family Welfare had assessed the total cost per card p.a. in
2007-2008 = Rs 16435 i.e. Rs.1369 per month for OPD”. Adding to it inflation,
the figure today is well over Rs 2000/- PM. Ministry of Labour & Employment,
Govt. of India vide its letter no. G-25012/2/2011-SSI dated 07.06.2013 has
already enhanced FMA to Rs 2000/- PM for EPFO beneficiaries. Thus, to help elderly
pensioners to look after their health, adequate raise in FMA will encourage a
good number of pensioners to opt out of OPD facility which will reduce
overcrowding in hospitals. OPD through Insurance will cost much more to the
Govt. As such the proposal for raising Fixed Medical allowance to Pensioners is
fully justified and is financially viable.
We suggest that FMA for all C.G. Pensioners be
raised to at least Rs 2000/- PM without any distance restriction linking it to
Dearness Relief for automatic further increase. We further suggest that FMA be
exempted from INCOME TAX. Fixed Medical Allowance (FMA) is a compensatory
allowance to reimburse the medical expenses. As Medical Reimbursement is not
taxable, FMA should also be exempted from Income Tax.
12.Grievance redressal Mechanism:
Pensioners/Family Pensioners are exploited, harassed and humiliated by their own
counterparts in chair, who at the sight of an old person adopt a wooden face and
indifferent attitude. Pensioners do not have representation even in Forums &
Committees wherein pension policies and connected matters are discussed. The
forum of Pension Adalat too is not of much avail as it meets only once a year
which is too long a period for an elderly nearer to his end. Moreover, these
Adalats deal with settlement claims only. SCOVA too meets only twice a year for
about 3 hours at each occasion. Moreover, the scope of SCOVA is limited to
feedback on Government policies. DOP&PW is perceived as a toothless
authority which lacks direct Service Delivery Capability. It has been striving
over the years to redress the Pensioners’ grievances through the ‘Sevottam’
model of the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public grievances; in
the absence of strict timeline with punitive clause it is, however, proving to
be a failure. Grievances are either not resolved for years or closed arbitrarily
without resolving correctly.
We therefore, appeal that for resolving
Pensioners complaints ,
A strict time line with punitive clause be
introduced in “Sevottam model”
(ii) Grievances are not allowed to be closed
without resolving.
(iii) SCOVA be upgraded to JCM level covering
all Pensioners by introducing suitable legislative amendment if required.
13. Representations in various committees
: As recommended vide Vth CPC report Vol III para 141.30 Pensioners’
representatives should be included in various committees & other For a of
Govt where issues relating to the welfare of pensioners are likely to be
discussed &debated :
Discussing, debating and deciding the matters /
Policies relating to Pensioners, with representatives other than those of
pensioners, is unfair & against the Rules of ‘Natural Justice’. At present
various Committees like National Anomaly Committee (NAC) and JCM (on Pensioner
matters), are there, wherein matters / policies relating to pensioners’ welfare
are discussed and decided, but they do not have pensioners’ representatives with
the result their viewpoints, hardships & anomalies are not properly
represented. As pensioners are a homogeneous class, there is an urgent need to
constitute separate Committees for pensioners wherein matters / policies /
anomalies relating to pensioners of all Groups, categories &departments may
be discussed.
14. Govt. should not indirectly pressurize
courts by appealing again & again to get judgments reversed in its favor
& must implement all court judgments in case of all similarly placed
persons. V CPC recommended in para 126.5 that any Court Judgment involving a
common policy matter of pay/pension to a group of employees/pensioners, should
be extended automatically to similarly placed employees/pensioners without
driving every affected individual to the Courts of law. This recommendation is
never followed by GOI, with the result Pensioners in the evening of their life,
are forced to approach the legal forums, seeking the same relief. This in turn,
bulges court
dockets. VII CPC to look into this matter once again and to issue suitable
guidelines as deem fit and necessary.
With regards
Truly Yours,
sd/
ER..S.C.Maheshwari,
Secy.Genl.
Bharat Pensioners Samaj
Mob:9868488199
Copy to Sh. Sanjay Kothari; Secretary GOI M/O Personnel,PG & Pensions-DOP&PW for favourable action at his level pl.
Copy to Secretary (Staff side JCM) for support & n/a at his level pl
Source: http://scm-bps.blogspot.in/2014/04/bharat-pensioners-samaj-reply-to-7th-cpc.html
