English version of HINDI speech by S C Maheswari Secy Genl BPS at Ambala on 9/12/2018 & at Saharanpur on 22.12.2018
Dignitaries on the Dais, Ladies & gentlemen,
Bharat Pensioners Samaj needs no
introduction to our affiliates, associates and members. It was founded way back
in 1955 by Justice (Retired) Shankar Saran of Allahabad High Court. It is
to-day is the largest All India Federation of Pensioners’ Associations
recognized by GOI M/O Personnel, PG & pensions and is also an associate
association of International Federation on Ageing (IFA).The organization has
connectivity with pensioners organizations located in far-flung remote areas of
the country and with grass-root level active pensioners through a
well-developed network of SMS, email, WhatsApp, website, blog, Facebook,
twitter, yahoo group and YouTube etc.
Over the decades BPS has been
instrumental in getting several benefits to Pensioners and Family Pensioners
pay commission to pay commission such as inclusion of pension & other
retirement benefits in the terms of reference of 4th CPC through an executive
order, 40% commutation, modified parity, calculation of gratuity on the basis
of Pay+ DA,30% of last pay as family pension, provision of FMA,40% fitment
factor in vth CPC & in vith CPC enhanced family pension for 10 yrs in case
of death in harness, Age related additional pension, pension to be 50% of last
pay, Common multiplication factor and pension parity in pension revision of pre
2016 pensioners/family pension and merging of postal dispensaries with CGHS in
7th cpc, provision of consultation & treatment at CGHS rates in
Rly empaneled hospitals in case of non-referred RELHS beneficiaries, launching
of CTSE Scheme for cashless treatment to Rly beneficiaries in case of
emergencies, Launching of pensioners portal, online grievance redressal system,
Aarpan Portal, Nivaran Portal, dissemination of latest information in real
time, Publication of hand books , compendiums and latest orders/circulars on
websites of different departments, extension of CSD canteen facility to Defence
Civilian Pensioners etc, etc . Bharat Pensioners Samaj continue to strive for
OROP for Civil Pensioners (As 9 Court cases are pending in different courts
issue is now subjudice ), extension of the benefits of Court judgments to all
similarly placed pensioners (Govt has informed that National litigation policy
is under review), Revision of pension of Pre 2016 Rly running staff ( issue is
under reexamination of Ministry of Rlys),Extension of benefit of 4600/ grade
pay instead of 4200 to those retired from pre revised scale of 6500-10500 (As
per latest information available to BPS, DOE has agreed to accept the demand orders
yet to be issued) extension of benefit of 7th CPC to all Autonomous bodies/PSU
pensioners ( Partial success is achieved in that 7th CPC benefits extended to
several boards though not from 1.1.2016 as demanded), benefit of up-gradation
to pensioners (UOI has obtained stay from S C), extension of benefit of Pay
Commission, increment, enhanced DA, gratuity etc. to those retired on 31/12
& 30th June {UOI has obtained a stay from S C}, Streamlining pension rules
with special reference to secondary family pensioners (Govt has informed that
they are in process of streamlining Rules) ,Merger of 33 postal dispensaries
with CGHS (demand has been finally accepted, orders are issued)
Pensioners and their families form a
significant proportion of the Indian voting population and are therefore in a
much better position than ever before of getting their voice heard in the halls
of power and of their just demands being met. The need for them all to speak in
one voice is thus paramount.
Ladies & gentlemen.
As pensioners we have only two main issues common
across Central/State Govt./ all ministries & departments including PSUs Autonomous
bodies, EPS 95 etc i.e. 1. Pension. 2. Healthcare. We simply desire that GOI should
implement in letter & spirit, Article 21,14 & 41 of the Indian
constitution taking care to extend benefit of court pronouncements in Nakara vs
UOI decided on 17.12.2018 and ii) Consumer Education & Research ... vs
Union Of India & Others decided on 27 January, 1995 and other CAT/HC/SC
judgements on pension/service matters which have attained legal finality., to
all similarly placed without pushing each one of them to courts to seek
redressal on the same issues and Pay commission’s recommendations. Though an
employee in the organized sector covered by the so-called non-contributory
pension scheme in fact contributes sufficiently during his years in service
towards his old age in three ways. i.e.
·
by tirelessly toiling for the development
of the country during the entire period of his productive years;
·
by accepting lower salaries; Salaries of
pensionable employees are by design kept at lower levels. In the context of
Civil Servants Pension payments, the principle guiding the fixation of the pay
package is one of intentionally spreading out the compensation over a long
period of time, whereby the wages paid out during the work tenure is kept low
by design and pension payments during the retirement phase compensate for the
low wages (This has come out in studies got conducted by the Central Pay
Commissions)
·
by foregoing every month with interest,
the matching contribution by employer to his Provident Fund.
Still requirement of more
funds if really needed can very well be met (i)if govt. ensures that food grain
in stores and in transit is not allowed to rot or wasted at any cost. In our
country food grain equal to human consumption of entire population is rendered unfit
for human consumption due to improper storage/vested interests and corruption. (ii)
loan waivers and freebees to get votes (i.e. pre-election era) is done from
party funds & not from public money. (iii) Corporates who are loan
defaulters are not helped not even through bankruptcy code and are made to
repay with interest. Instead of loan waiver to farmers which benefit a fraction
of them, remove middle man encourage them to directly market their products
through their own cooperatives, provide cheap but quality storage &transit
facilities nearer to their fields, install more food processing units.
Ladies
& gentlemen, we are not getting desired results as we do not speak in one
voice & do not stand united. Bharat Pensioners Samaj mission is to bring
57lac of CG pensioners, 80 lac state pensioners, 58 lac EPS-95 pensioners and
over 8 lac of PSUs/a autonomous body Pensioners together to ensure their
welfare with respect to Financial security, Healthcare & Social security.
As a step towards this goal, BPS & its MOU Partners AISCCON, AIFPA &
NFRP have come together to strive jointly & severally for the common
issues. We have also floated an open
invitation to all other organizations with similar thinking to join us in this
mission.
There
has been a vast change in the scenario over the last decade. Internet savvy
number of Pensioners & family Pensioners has gone up considerably. Now
Social media, digitization and mobile connectivity provides a very strong
platform through which Sr citizens and pensioners can make their presence felt.
We plan to high light our issues and build up agitation if required through
Twitter. In consultation with MOU partners it is proposed to start a joint IT
war room, modality of which will be formulated after discussion with MOU
partners. BPS is also in process to constitute a Think Tank. In coming days
with our dedicated team of office-bearers & staff, our endeavor will be to use
a mix of modern technology and tradition methods effectively for consolidating
our strength & to attain consensus on common issues to make our voice
heard. Every Pensioner has within him/her a library of intelligence, knowledge
& experience. Just Imagine the kind of connected intelligence and power
Pensioners can create through the network of just 1% of total pensioners . So, let us all work for
it.
Thank
you
Jai
hind
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