No. BPS/SG/2014/7CPC/2 Dated : 26.04.2014
Ms Meena Agarwal,
Secretary GOI Seventh Central Pay Commission
Through : Joint
Secretary GOI M/O Personnel,PG & Pensions-DOP &PW
Madam,
Subject: 7th CPC Questionnaire
Reference: 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 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 the 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
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