Monthly Bulletin-CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PENSIONERS’ FORUM, ANDHRA PRADESH

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PENSIONERS’ FORUM, ANDHRA PRADESH
D. Prabhakar Rao                  M. Somasekhar Rao                           Sk. Mahboob
   President                              General Secretary                                 Treasurer
     9490313416                                9949052609                                   9441278709

MONTHLY BULLETIN – AUG 2013
Modified parity case: The SLP filed in the Supreme Court by the Government of India against Delhi High Court judgment dated 29.4.2013 was dismissed.  Government’s orders for payment of arrears w.e.f 01-01-2006 to eligible pre 2006 pensioners and family pensioners are expected shortly. 
DA/DR : The additional installment of DA/DR for central government employees and pensioners due w.e.f., 1.7.2013 is 10%. 
23rd SCOVA meeting: Bharat Pensioners Samaj has submitted items for inclusion in the agenda for 23rd SCOVA meeting to be held in September 2013 (a copy is enclosed for information of members).
EPS 95: President of AISCCON and Secretary General of BPS jointly submitted a memorandum on 29.7.2013 to the Chairman, Petitions Committee of Rajya Sabha at New Delhi on the demands of EPS 95 pensioners.
Senior Citizens protest day on 16.8.2013: The All India Senior Citizens Confederation is observing protest day through out the country on 16th of this month to ventilate the grievances of senior citizens. Our members are requested to participate in the above meetings in large number.  Our members residing in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and neighboring areas are requested to join the protest day meeting being held on that day at 10 am in Lions Bhavan, near Paradise Circle, Secunderabad.
Advertisements for souvenir: The Reception Committee of 58th Annual Conference of BPS is bringing out a souvenir to mark the occasion.  The tariff for advertisement is as follows:
Back cover page in colour ……………………………….      Rs.15,000/-
Inside full page (black and white)   …………………….        Rs.10,000/-
inside half page (black and white) …………………………   Rs.  5,000/-
inside quarter page (black and white)             …………….     Rs.  3,000/-
Our members are requested to procure advertisements for the souvenir and pass them on  to our General Secretary for onward transmission to the reception committee. The tariff may be collected by way of crossed cheque/DD drawn in favour of ‘BPS 58th Annual Conference’.
Enhancement of amount of ex-gratia payable to pre 1986 CPF retirees and dependent family members of the deceased pre 1986 CPF employees – reg.

New rates of ex-gratia payable to pre 1986 CPF retirees and dependent family members of the deceased pre 1986 CPF employees w.e.f., 4.6.2013



Group A                …….                                  Rs.3000/-
Group B……              ..                                   Rs.1000/-
Group C …..                                                    Rs.  750/-
Group D …..                                                    Rs.  650/-
Widows and dependent children ….                Rs.  645/-

Dearness ex-gratia equal to 50% of the enhanced amount of ex-gratia and dearness relief as notified from to time on the sums of enhanced amounts of ex-gratia and dearness ex-gratia shall also be admissible to them. The terms and conditions for grant of ex-gratia and dearness relief will continue to be governed by the departments OM No.A/1/87 – PIC of 13.6.1986 and OM No. A5/52/97 – P&PW€ of 16.12.1997 and subsequent OMs issued in this regard. As laid down in the Ministry of Finance OM dated 28.11.1969, the ex-gratia payment is not admissible to (a) those who are dismissed/removed from service (b) those who resigned from service.

Simplification of pension process for permanently disabled children/siblings and dependent parents – instructions regarding:
Please refer to DOP&PW’s OM No.1/27/2011 – P&PW (E) dated 1.7.2011.  Details of these instructions will be given in our next month’s bulletin

AIFPA’s 34th Annual General body meeting on 19 &20.7.2013 at Chennai: Shri S.C. Maheshwari, Secretary General, Bharat Pensioners Samaj attended and addressed the 34th Annual meeting of the above federation at Chennai on 19.7.2013 as chief Guest.  BPS has entered into a memorandum of understanding with this federation for mutual cooperation and support.  Shri V. Narayana Swamy, MOS, Ministry of Personnel, PGs & Pension, Government of India addressed the above meeting on 20.7.2013.  He assured the meeting that SCOVA meetings in future will be conducted quarterly.  He said he would ensure disposal of pensioners’ representations within 15 days from the date of receipt.  He also told the gathering that Government of India was sympathetic to pensioners’ demands.

Our General Secretary accompanied by Shri D. Subba Rao, Organizing Secretary and Shri DAN Sarma, MC member/BPS visited Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry on 14th and 15th of last month respectively and addressed largely attended meetings of Railway Pensioners there. He also visited Vijayawada on 21.7.2013 along with S/Sri D. Subba Rao and S. Rama Rao and addressed a meeting of railway pensioners there in old Raja Rajeswaripet.  At all the above places he exhorted them to participate in the 58th Annual Conference of BPS at Secunderabad on 17.11.2013 in good number and make it a success. 
In the monthly meeting of CG pensioners held at Malkajgiri on 27.7.2013 the untimely deaths of S/Shri V.P.R. Pillai, President/SCRMU and A. Ramulu, President, AP State Government Retired Employees Association were condoled.  The meeting was presided over by our President Shri D. Prabhakar Rao.

On 4.8.2013 our General Secretary joined the AP State Government Pensioners in their monthly meeting held in their Association’s office in Sultan Bazar, Hyderabad. in paying tributes to the sincere and dedicated services rendered by late A. Ramulu as President of State Pensioners Association.

Further to the donations promised/received for 58th Annual Conference of BPS as reported in our last month’s bulletin, the following donations have been received.

S.N.
Name
Amount
S.N.
Name
Amount
1
D.Venkateswarlu
1000
23
K. Viswanatham
1000
2
S.S. Swamy
1000
24
Krishna Rao
1000
3
K. Simhadri Rao
1000
25
G.J. John Wesley
 300
4
N.V.S.S.Prakasa Rao
2500
26
S. Ramulu
 300
5
S.Ch. Venkata Reddy
 500
27
G. Narsimha Rao
1000
6
T. M. Prasad
 300
28
D. Srirama Murthy
1000
7
P. Murali Rao
1000
29
Mirza Wazid Ali Baig
1000
8
P.V. Kurulkar
 500
30
B. Janardan
 500
9
K. Seshachary
1000
31
P. Devadanam
 500
10
K.L.K.Sastry
1000
32
S. Rama Swamy
 300
11
Y. Madhava Rao
 500
33
M. Veera Swamy
 500
12
M.V. Subrahmanyam
 500
34
K. Satyanarayana
 500
13
S.V. Seshagiri Rao
1000
35
N. Mallayya
 100
14
P. Narsimha Reddy
1000
36
N. Lakshminarayana
 200
15
N.S.V.R.K. Sarma
 500
37
D. Rosaiah
 100
16
R.V. Ramana Rao
 500
38
G. Yellaiah Iyliah
 100
17
T.S. Sastry
 500
39
S. Mastan Rao
 100
18
B. Gurudas
1000
40
B. Krishna Murthy
 100
19
T.M. Thomas
 500
41
A, Trinadha Rao
 500
20
V. Venkateswarlu
1000
42
R. Sayanna
1000
21
P. Chandrasena
1111
43
D.P. Shankar Rao
 500
22
K. Balaiah
1000
44
V. Ramalingam
1000
    


Office: H.No. 12-11-1411, Boudhanagar, Secunderabad – 500 061,
Ph. No. 040-27078848, Cell No. 9949052609
Agenda for 23rd SCOVA meeting

1. SCOVA Agenda items should be discussed & decided in SCOVA meeting only at least in the presence of Secretary:
            Often the official side rules (especially in case of Rlys) that the items may be discussed separately with the concerned Ministry/Department. This gives a feeling that the official side is not really interested in solving Pensioners problems.
When Agenda items are segregated and remitted to the concerned Ministry/Departments well in advance, the representative officers from that Ministry/ Department should be in a position to give a firm reply on the Agenda items pertaining to them. And why all the items should not be discussed and decided in the SCOVA meeting at least in the presence of the Secretary. If need be amendment to the constitution of SCOVA may be considered.
2. New Pension Scheme (PFRDA) NPS:
                A comprehensive Guide line for quick & Time bound disposal of the settlement dues to eligible heirs of deceased employee covered under New Pension Scheme (PFRDA) need to be circulated through Pensioners Portal w/o delay. At present neither the employee nor their survivors or the pensioners’ organization are aware of the settlement procedure
3 .     Deprivation of all the central pay commission benefits in terms of pay revisions & Pensionary benefits to pensioners born on 1.1.1946/1938/1928 owing to their retirements on31.12.2005/1955/1985 :
The modified  FR56(a),  requires every one whose date of birth is the first of a month to retire from service on the afternoon of the last day of the preceding month on attaining the age of superannuation .As a result of this modification    pensioners born on 1.1.1946/1938/1928 are deprived of all the central pay commission benefits in terms of pay revisions & Pensionary benefits owing to their retirements on31.12.2005/1955/1985.  
This proviso singled out the Ist Jan. 1946/1938/1928-born pensioners for deprivation of  the  Pay Commission benefits. Such of the pensioners are made to suffer for no fault of theirs and are deprived  of EQUALITY of status and of opportunity. This violation of Article 14 of constitution need to be set right immediately.
4.   Disparity  in Pension fixation for Pre-2006 Pensioners:
 OM No 38/37/08-P&PW(A) 28/01/2013  has caused disparities within the Pre 2006 Homogenous group of pensioners, due to the application of different methods for calculation of minimum pension. For pre revised Scales S4 to S29 Minimum Pension has been arrived following the formula :50% of Pay in Pay Band +GP whereas for S 30,31,S 32 it has been calculated as 50% of the minimum of revised Scale .This has resulted in their minimum guaranteed pension going up by more than three times the pre revised minimum pension, whereas barring S24,percentage rise in minimum pension is much less for S4-23,S25-S29.
In order to ensure uniform treatment among single homogenous class of pre-2006 pensioners w.e.f. 1.1.2006 for revision of minimum guaranteed pension, to ensure equality, it is requested that on par with the scale based retirees, (i.e. those retired from S-30, S-31, S-32 prior to 1.1.2006), a uniform multiplication factor of at least 3 may be applied over 50% of bottom stage of pre-revised scale from which the pensioner had retired, for deriving guaranteed revised pension w.e.f. 1.1.2006.
5. Merger of5 Postal Dispensaries in Andhra Pradesh:
 While we are thankful for the Merger of 19 Postal Dispensaries in 12 Cities covered by CGHS with effect from 01.08.2013 It is requested that merger of 5 Postal Dispensaries in Andhra Pradesh i.e at Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Guntur and Nellore with CGHS at Hyderabad may be considered to mitigate the health care difficulties of Pensioners living in Non-CGHS areas.  Long distance factor may not come in the way as an hurdle in this age of advanced Information Technology. Internet Connectivity is available throughout the region.

6.  At Vijaywada  DOT pensioners are  availing Medical facilities from P&T Dispensary Vijayvada which is one of the 15 P&T dispensaries leftover after the merger of 19 dispensaries with CGHS. It caters to over 3500 beneficiaries, over 500 of whom are pensioners in the age group of 75yrs & above with chronic ailments. There are 2 contract Doctors. The 4 regular Doctors & two lab Technicians retired but vacancies not yet filled . Contract doctors locally purchase medicines on the basis of prescriptions obtained by beneficiaries from empanelled hospitals. However, Local purchase limit is only Rs3500 per year per card holder which is too little,with the result  most of other pensioners are not able to get all the medicines required for chronic ailments. The local purchase limit therefore, needs to be increased to CGHS level.

7.Sanction of Family pension to dependent widow/divorced daughters on their turn:
Nagpur Division of Central Railway is refusing to sanction family pension to Widowed/divorced daughters on the ground that the event occurred after the death of both parents. The orders issued on the subject so far do not lay down any such condition. Necessary clarification on the subject may be issued so that eligible claimant, are not harassed.

8.RELHS facilities to Rly Pensioners:
(A)      Minister of Railways in his  Budget speech in parliament on 26.02.2013 vide Para48 iv promised extending the treatment facility in case of medical emergency to 
RELHS beneficiaries to all cities where hospitals are empanelled either with CGHS or with Railways. Declaration in budget speech is commitment to Parliament thus warrants time bound action for implementation. So far there is no visible action in this regard. The Nodal Minister is requested to seek status report & disclose it to all concerned.
(B)Smart Card facility to RELHS beneficiaries :
Though instruction in this regard were issued vide Boards letter  Nos 2007/H/28/1/RELHS/Smart card dated 18.07.2012& 27.8.2012 But the said orders have not been implemented even after more than a year. So much so,  even  the smart cards which were already issued against a cost by N.Rly in NCR   have not been renewed. Action to issue Smart card & signing of  MOU with CGHS/ECHS empanelled hospitals is dismal.RELHS beneficiaries are being deprived of legitimate facility. Nodal Ministry  requested  to take up the matter.
 (C)  RELHS facilities to Rly.family pensioners, other than spouse {i.e Widowed / Divorced / Unmarried dependent daughters of Rly. Pensioners when they become Family Pensioner):
Though in view of Rly Board’s letter No 2013/H/16/1/Misc dated 09.01.2013 & No 2003/H/28/1/RELHS dated 16.3.2009 All family pensioners are entitled to join RELHS but as the new RELHS cards are issued by the personnel branch (and not the Medical branch) they go by manual provision & as per the eligibility criteria prescribed vide Para 612 (2) iii of Indian Railway Medical Manual 2000 only the spouse family Pensioner is eligible to join RELHS Thus unless the eligibility criteria laid down in IRMM is amended  Family pensioners other than the spouse will remain deprived of RELHS facilities. Inspite  of the issue being raised from different Forums like  SCOVA. Directorate General Railway Board has not taken adequate steps by way of amendment to IRMM, to ensure that facility is made available to all Family Pensioners & their dependent Kids

9. Dedicated day to meet Rly. Pensioners:
There are almost 12 lac of Rly. Pensioners who have specific problems relating to Indian Rly Pension Rules & Rly’s department of health.  It is therefore, desirable that on the lines of DOP & PW initiative. A system to meet pensioners & their Associations on a dedicated day is introduced on Railways right from Sub Divisional level to Rly Board level

10 : A JE Gr. II retired from CPWD from scale Rs.1400-2300 is drawing min. pension Rs.6750 w.e.f. 1.1.2006, whereas, a similarly placed JE II retired from Railways is getting min pension Rs.5585  ( copy of RTI Reply from CPWD enclosed – A1)
Retd. JE Gr. II  from CPWD  Basic pension Rs.6750 + Rs.5400 DR = Rs. 12150
Retd. JE Gr. II  from  Rlys.    Basic Pension Rs.5585 + Rs 4468 DR = Rs. 10053
                                                                                                                 ---------
   Railway Pensioner getting less pension evey month                          Rs.  2097
                                                                                                                      ---------
Same is the case in respect of other categories also. This sort of degrading and downgrading of Railway Pensioners vis-Ă -vis other Central Govt. Pensioners is to be put an end.

V PC – Summary of Recommendations para 37 (a)  reads “ Diploma holders in Engineering generally entered  service in the pay scale of Rs.1400-2300 or below. All of them have been brought up to the pre-revised scale of Rs.1600-2660.”.  This Recommendation is applicable to all CG Pensioners, including Railway Pensioners.

 11: In the case of Mistries ( Feeder Post) retired from scale Rs. 1400-2300, from Jagadhri Workshops of Northern Railway, min. pension in VI PC is fixed as Rs.6750, applying PB2 , based on Punjab & Haryana H.C. orders, whereas in the case of JEs Gr. II ( Promotional post) retired from scale Rs.1400-2300 min. pension is fixed as Rs.5585 based on PB 1.  This anomaly of a “Supervised” getting more pension than the “Supervised” is to be set right. Para 126.5 of V PC Recommendations  deal with extending judicial decisions in matters of a general nature to all similarly placed employees

 12: Benefit of upgraded scale Rs.67000-79000, introduced subsequently in place of already implemented PB 4+GP Rs. 12000, for S30 grade in the pre-revised scale of  Rs. 22400-24500  is extended to pre 2006 retired S30 grade officers ( Addl. Secy. level etc) and min. pension re-revised as Rs.33500 w.e.f. 1.1.2006. But, benefit of upgraded grade pay Rs.4600, introduced subsequently in place of already implemented GP Rs. 4200, for S12 grade in pre-revised scale of Rs.6500-10500, is not extended to pre 2006 pensioners retired from S12 grade. This is an anomaly, in that one yardstick is applied for Group  ‘A’ cadre and another yardstick applied to Group ‘C’ cadre. This discriminatory treatment between Group ‘A’ and Group ‘C’ Pensioners need to be corrected.

S.C. Maheshwari


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