INCOMETAX PENSIONERS FEDERATION.

Manishinath Bhawan,

A/2/95 Rajouri Garden

New Delhi. 110 027.

website: itpfchq.blogspot.com.

email address: itpfchq@gmail.com.

Dated: 5th June, 2016.

Dear  Comrades,

We are sending herewith a copy of the NCCPA Circular letter along with its enclosures, which contains the details of the latest developments in the negotiation with the Government over the recommendations of the 7th CPC.  You will see therefrom that the NJCA has been constrained to tread the path of agitation since the Government has not come forward to settle the issues.  The most disturbing factor in so far as the pensioners are concerned is the Government's decision to reject the recommendation of the Commission providing Option No. 1 in the pension fitment formula.  We request our members to be in close touch with the ITEF and ITGOA  and their members who will be carrying out the directive of the NJCA in the coming days and do the best possible to make their programmes of action a grand success. 

With greetings,

Yours fraternally,
Sd/-
KKN Kutty
Secretary General.

Copy of NCCPA circular letter dated 5th June, 2016.

Dated: 5^th June, 2016.

Dear Comrades,

Ever since the 7^th CPC was set up, the JCM Staff Side had been striving to make a united common approach on all issues/demands of the Central Government employees before the Commission.  Having failed to elicit a  favourable response from the then Government on the question of grant of IR and DA merger, the National JCA came into being to spearhead the agitational programmes.  The Staff Side JCM could unite almost all organisations, especially those who were participating in the JCM.  They could make a memorandum, after detailed deliberations with all stake holders, which was accepted and endorsed by large number of Federations barring a few.  It is a fact, evidenced from the report itself, that the Staff Side memorandum could become the central document of consideration and discussion by the 7^th CPC.

In the matter of retirement benefits, the Staff Side authorised Late Com. S.K. Vyas to cause inter action with all Pensioners’ Associations and formulate a common view. Late Com. Vyas accomplished the task admirably well and the document he presented was deliberated upon by the Staff Side thoroughly and with certain minor modification was incorporated in the main memorandum itself.  Elaborate discussions with the Commission as a follow-up measure on issues both pertaining to the working employees and retired personnel were held  by the Staff Side JCM. 

The final recommendations of the 7^th CPC was far below the expectation and the Staff Side rightly came to the conclusion that the last minute intervention of the newly elected Central Government had a big role in effecting reversal of the pronounced stand of the 7^th CPC on various issues. The Commission’s report is beset with very many dissenting note, which  is indicative of the state of affairs in the Commission’s functioning.  It became clear that unless sanctions are generated, no satisfactory settlement on even core issues could be brought about. The National JCA acted swiftly and apart from organising various programmes of actions,  It submitted a charter of demands consisting 26 issues for effecting improvement in the recommendations of the Commission by the Government. The charter was the  product of the wide ranging discussions the staff side  held with various organisations of the working employees and the retired personnel. The said charter was then  subjected to discussion with the empowered committee set up by the Government under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary on 1.3.2016.

There had been no response from the Government after the said meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for nearly two months.  On 24^th the Convenor sought and obtained a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary in which the undersigned also took part.  The Cabinet Secretary was candid enough to inform the delegation that except a slight increase in the minimum wage, no other issues are likely to be modified.  He also informed the delegation that the Option No. 1 provided for as an alternative in the pension fitment formula, which many pensioners felt was a very positive recommendation, might not be accepted by the Government on the plea of the non availability of the relevant records and the consequent infeasibility and impracticability of implementation of the recommendation.  On his advice, the Staff Side met the Secretary Pension on 3^rd May, 2016.  The meeting was attended by the representatives of various Ministries.  Almost every one of them expressed the probable difficulties that would be encountered in the implementation of Option No. 1. due to the possible non-availability of the relevant records.  They also pleaded that quite a number of anomalies might arise if the recommendations were to be acted upon.  The official side also stated that some of the Pensioners organisations had written to them expressing the fear and anxiety over the anomalies that might arise on implementation of the recommendation of the Commission.  The following were those organisations who had made representation of the Pension department.

A.     The Railway Senior Citizen Association, Chandigarh.

B.     The Karnataka Post and Telecommunication Pensioners Association, Bangalore.

C.     Bharath Pensioners Samaj. New Delhi.

D.     Atomic Energy Retirees Welfare Association, Mumbai.

E.      One Shri S.N. Gupta.

The thrust of the argument of the official side was that the implementation of the decision requires the records for verification and under the extant instruction on the retention of records, such verification might not be possible. 

               On behalf of the Staff Side, the following submissions were made.

(i)                It would be unfortunate and unethical if the Government rejects a recommendation on the ground of lack of records for verification.

(ii)              In every pay fixation formula evolved by the successive Pay Commissions, certain anomalies  had  arisen and the matter had been subsequently discussed at length and attempts made to resolve those anomalies.  For fear of anomaly,  never in the past a decision has been taken to reject the recommendation of the Pay commission.

(iii)             Even in the matter of pay fixation of the working  employees, anomalies might arise but that cannot give rise to the decision not to have any fitment formula at all.

(iv)             The Staff Side is prepared to consider any well thought out alternative without compromising the benefit the pensioners might get on implementation of the 7^th CPC recommendation, if it is advanced by the official side.  However, virtual negation of the recommendation is not acceptable to them.

(v)              ‘The Staff side may be provided with the copies of the representations received by the Pension departments from various pensioners’ organisations to enable it to study and suggest the ways and means to address the issue.

(vi)             The staff side added that Option No.1 is an alternative and the Commission has suggested that the revision initially must be on the basis of the second formulation i.e. application of the multiplication factor.  It is only in the case of those pensioners, who might be benefited by resorting to Option No.1. representation  will be received and  they will naturally  submit the  documents required for the purpose of verification.  The leftover would be small in number and can be addressed as to what course to be adopted later after discussions.

(vii)            The official side stated that in none of the representation received by them any alternative has been put forth. 

You will recall that the Option No.1. suggested by the 7^th CPC is the only positive recommendation and all other demands raised by the Pensioners Organisations jointly and the Staff Side JCM have been rejected by the Commission.   The Commission has not even suggested for a small rise in the FMA.  The insurance coverage suggested by them is vague and no suggestion to address the specific problems faced by the Government during their attempt to implement the earlier recommendation of the 6^th CPC  was made.  If the Government decides to reject the one and only positive recommendation of the 7^th CPC, the pensioners especially those retired prior to 2006 will stand bereft of any benefit.  This must also be looked into in the background of the Government accepting the demand of armed forces personnel for one rank one pension scheme.

It is in this background that the NJCA met on 3^rd June, 2016 evening.  We enclose herewith the copy of the communication issued by the convenor, Com. Shiv Gopal Mishra  conveying the decisions taken at the meeting.  You will see therefrom that the working employees would be serving the strike notice on 9^th June, 2016 by holding massive demonstration in front of all offices.  We appeal to our constituents to advise their units and branches and members to ensure that the Pensioners join in that demonstration at the respective work places.   The National JCA has also decided to organise a massive march to Parliament on 24^th June, 2016 at Delhi.  The Constituents must advise the pensioner comrades who are staying at Delhi and nearby places to join that rally on 24^th .   The NCCPA National Sectt. is scheduled to meet on 27^th June, 2016 at Delhi (AIRF librbary).  The SCOVA meeting is also scheduled to take place on that very date.  Therefore, the meeting will be scheduled for 3.30 PM on 27^th June, 2016 so that some of the comrades who are required to attend the SCOVA meeting will also be able to make their presence in the NCCPA meeting.  Further Course of action will be decided in the National Sectt. meeting.

               With greetings,

Yours fraternally,

sd/- 

K.K.N. Kutty,

Secretary General.

Copy of NjCA Circular letter dated 4^th June, 2016.

NJCA

Dear Comrades,

               We hope you must have gone through our communication dated 26.5.2016 detailing the brief discussions, we had with the Cabinet Secretary.  We had, as you are aware, done everything possible at our end to bring about a negotiated settlement on the charter of demands, we submitted to the Government immediately after the submission of the report by the 7^th Central Pay Commission. i.e. on 19^th November, 2015.  On 19^th May, 2016, we have crossed the six months period since the Commission submitted the report to the Government.   You are aware that the Commission had concluded their deliberations and prepared their report in Feb. 2015 itself but was delayed by the unwarranted intervention of the present Government.   Even on the first occasion when we met the authorities after the submission of the report by the 7^th CPC we had conveyed the anguish and anxiety of the employees over the delay especially in the background of the denial of the interim relief and merger of DA.  We had pointed out that unlike in the past the employees had not been granted any financial help in the  form of interim relief or DA merger even in the face of the unprecedented erosion of the real value of wage due to the high level of inflation in the economy.  We had then requested the Government the need to  take an expeditious decision over the recommendations of the 7^th CPC, at-least on the core issues pertaining to wage revision.

               In the absence of any formal meetings or fruitful negotiations which had been the practice at all earlier occasions,  the rumour mongers who represent none, had a field day.  The NJCA had been in constant touch with the authorities.  You will recall that at the request of the Cabinet Secretary, when we met him on Ist March, 2016, we deferred our decision to go on strike in April, 2016.  The empowered Committee set up by the government could have met the JCA leaders during the months of April and May and could have discussed the various pros and cons so that by the end of May, certain views could have emerged on all matters.

               It was in this background that the National JCA met on 3^rd at the Staff Side office.  The meeting considered the piquant situation that has emerged due to the wanton inaction on the part of the Government,  despite the NJCA agreeing to defer the strike action.   The meeting, therefore, came to the inescapable and inevitable conclusion unanimously that in the face of the nugatory attitude of the Government, we must adhere to our earlier decision to tread the path of struggle and serve the strike notice on 9^th June, 2016 to commence the indefinite strike action on 11^th July, 2016.  The meeting also decided to exhort the constituent organizations to mobilize their members without losing any time as the time available for preparation being very short  i.e. hardly a month.  I am also to convey to all of you the following decision taken at the meeting and appeal to you to create a vibrant situation throughout the country to convey the impression to all concerned that we  stand united with determination.

1.      Every Association/Federation/Union and all its units will serve the strike notice  on 9.6.2016 by holding massive demonstration at all work places.  The strike notice shall have the 11 point charter of demands (copy enclosed) and the respective organizations can include their department-specific demands as Part B of the charter of demands.

2.      The Constituents will plan and execute a massive mobilization campaign to cover each and every employee/worker in which all the National and State leaders must take part.

3.      The Unions/Federation/Associations will suspend immediately all ongoing negotiations with their departmental heads/authorities and concentrate on the mobilization campaign.

4.      On 24^th June, 2016, a massive united demonstration under the auspices of the NJCA will be held before the Parliament.  The constituent organizations will decide upon the quota for each State Unit and communicate the same so that the state units can take necessary steps to ensure that their members reach Delhi on 24^th.

5.      The NJCA (CHQ) will write to the leaders of all the Political parties as also the Central Trade Unions seeks their support and solidarity as also explaining as to why the NJCA had to take the extreme step of organizing the strike action.

6.      All the Constituent organizations and the State Units shall write such letters to the members of Parliament of their respective States and shall make efforts to meet them in person  to seek their support.

7.      All the State Units of the Constituent organizations either jointly or independently organize Press Conferences to cover the Print and Electronic media. 

8.      The NJCA(CHQ) will hold such a Press Conference at Delhi on 23^rd June, 2016 i.e. just one day prior to the mammoth demonstration planned before the Parliament.

9.      The Constituent organizations will get in touch with the Associations/Federations of the retired personnel both at the All India and State levels to seek out their support for the strike action and enlist their participation in all demonstrative programmes organized by the working employees in support of the strike.  The Pensioners organizations may be informed of the Government decision to reject the recommendation of the 7^th CPC to provide Option No. 1 to the Pensioners as an alternative pension fitment formula.

10.   The constituents will also seek the participation of those organizations in their respective Departments  who are not associated with the NJCA being not participants in the JCM Scheme.

We appeal to all constituents and through them each and every member of the Central Government employees’ community to take all out efforts to make this historic decision an all time memorable event, which must go into the history as the largest participated strike action of the Central Government employees and workers. We must consider this as a really historic moment provided to us by the harsh turn of events and as an opportunity to reassert our strength, unity and determination not only to win laurels today but to function as an effective bargaining entity for years to come. 

We are fully aware of the enormous task ahead and equally aware of the possible response, a brutal Government might take in the circumstances.  Without minimizing the impact of such a retaliatory action on the part of the Government (from our experience in the past) we  know that no power on earth will be able to subdue  our unity and determination and we shall march forward well realizing that the ultimate victory in all struggles belong to the working class. 

With greetings,

Yours fraternally,

Shiv Gopal Mishra.

Convener

PRESS STATEMENT.

4.06.2016

The National Joint Council of Action of Central Government Employees organizations participating in the Joint Consultative Machinery i.e. the workers and employees of the Railways, Defence, Postal and all other Central Government departments, has decided to serve the strike notice for an indefinite strike action commencing from 11^th July, 2016 on 9^th June, 2016.  The strike notices will be served by all the Constituents separately on their respective heads of the Departments on the stipulated date of 9^th June, 2016.   The strike has become inevitable due to the nugatory attitude of the Government over the charter of demands submitted more than six months back and despite deferring the strike action earlied decided to be organized in the month of April, 2016 at the instance of the Government. 

The 7^th CPC submitted its report to the Government on 19^th November, 2015 even though the Commission had concluded their deliberations as early as in Feb. 2015.  The delay in the submission of the report itself was caused by the unwarranted intervention of the Government.  It is now more than six months that the report is with the Government and the empowered committee set up by the government had neither come to any conclusion thereon nor has it caused any meaningful negotiation with the leaders of the Central Government organizations so far  Exasperated over this highly nugatory attitude of the Government and the delay, the NJCA which met yesterday had to take this decision to go on indefinite strike from 11^th July, 2016 onwards.  The list of demands on which the strike action is organized is enclosed.  We also enclose a copy of our communication, we have sent to our constituents, which explains the circumstances and issues.

We shall be grateful if the Press Statement is covered by your esteemed daily. 

Shiv Gopal Mishra,

Convener.

Charter of Demands

1.     Settle the issues raised by the NJCA on the recommendations of the 7 CPC sent to Cabinet Secretary vide letter dated 10^th December 2015.

2.     Remove the injustice done in the assignment of pay scales to technical/safety categories etc. in Railways& Defence, different categories in other Central Govt establishments by the 7 CPC.

3.     Scrap the PFRDA Act and NPS and grant Pension/family Pension to all CG employees under CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 & Railways Pension Rules, 1993.

4.     i) No privatization/outsourcing/contractorisation of governmental functions.

ii) Treat GDS as Civil Servants and extend proportional benefit on pension and allowances to the GDS.

5.     No FDI in Railways & Defence; No corporatization of Defence Production Units and Postal Department.

6.     Fill up all vacant posts in the government departments, lift the ban on creation of posts; regularize the casual/contract workers.

7.     Remove ceiling on compassionate ground appointments.

8.     Extend the benefit of Bonus Act,1965 amendment on enhancement of payment ceiling to the adhoc Bonus/PLB of Central Government employees with effect from the Financial year 2014-15.

9.     Ensure Five promotions in the service career of an employee.

10.  Do not amend Labour Laws in the name of Labour Reforms which will take away the existing benefits to the workers.

11.  Revive JCM functioning at all levels.