Petition Before the PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES, LAW AND JUSTICE With reference to Bill No. 131 of 2011(The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011)

Petition

Before the PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES, LAW AND JUSTICE
With reference to Bill No. 131 of 2011(The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and
Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011)

Sir,
       While Bharat Pensioners Samaj, the oldest & the largest body of Indian Pensioners and a stake holder in DOP &PW Grievance redress mechanism, congratulates, the Government of India for introducing in
Lok Sabha the ‘Citizens Charter Bill 2011’, it beg to convey the dismay of the retirees in the country for excluding their matters from the definition of “Complaints”
       Sir, serving public servants have definite negotiating instruments/ channels for redress of their issues.
However, Pensioners have no other channel except the grievance redress mechanism of DOP &PW, which too is almost defunct, as toothless DOP &PW in the absence of sufficient powers is functioning like a Post Office. The concerned Ministries/Departments to whom DOP & PW forwards Pensioners Grievances, do not take these grievances seriously with the result that the complaints are not resolved even after a year or more. The greatest irony is:
       1. That Pensioners/Family Pensioners are exploited, harassed & humiliated by their own counterparts in
chair, who at the sight of an old person adopt a wooden face & indifferent attitude.
       2.Pensioners do not have any representation even in Forums & Committees wherein pension policies &
connected matters are discussed. The forum of Pension Adalat too is not of much avail as it meets only once a year & takes up only retirement benefit settlement claim cases. It does not consider healthcare and family Pension related grievances. Similarly, SCOVA too meets only once a year & the Forum is meant for feedback on Government policies.
       DOP & PW though lacks direct Service Delivery Capability yet has been striving over the years for
redress of Pensioners grievance through ‘Sevottam’ model of the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public grievances, treating them to be ‘internal clients’ which they are not. Since they are no more the part of
administration & their matters exclude administrative control activities. Most of their complaints arise due to
misinterpretation/ non implementation or incorrect implementation of Polices & Rules pertaining to them. Thus in terms of Sevottam model, retirees are the combination of the two i.e. internal & external clients and therefore are necessarily the service recipients of ‘Citizens’ Charter’.
       Bharat Pensioners Samaj therefore, appeal that the definition of ‘Complaint’ in Chapter 1 Para2(f) may be modified to read:
(f) “complaint” means a complaint filed by a citizen regarding any grievance relating to, or arising out of,
any failure in the delivery of goods or rendering of service pursuant to the Citizens Charter, or in the functioning of a public authority, or any violation of any law, policy, programme, order or scheme but does not include grievance relating to the service matters of a serving public servant.
       Sir, Bharat Pensioners Samaj shall be highly obliged if a persoonel hearing too is granted.

Shyam Sunder
Secretary General Bharat Pensioners Samaj
2/13A LGF (Back side),Jangpura-A
New Delhi-110014