CHQ NEWS

MEDICAL ALLOWANCE, PENSION REVISION...

07/07

GENERAL SECRETARY IN NEW DELHI

Com. G Natarajan, our GS is in Delhi from Fourth July onwards. After attending the Delhi circle conference today he will return to Chennai. During these days GS met many officers in BSNL and DOT. Com. Anupam Kaul, AGS, Com. J S Dahiya, AGS, Com. R L Kapoor and others accompanied GS in these meetings.

Medical allowance:

As all know, in April last year, quarterly medical allowance was restored for pensioners, due to our persistent persuasion. First, it was allowed up to September 2017; then it was extended up to March 2018. Sufficient fund was not allotted by Corporate Office. Hence many pensioners have not yet received the allowance. After March 2018, neither allowance is granted nor vouchers are accepted. Filed offices do not know what to do.Corporate Office has not issued any order on it. From the talks GS had with Director (HR), GM (Admn), etc. it is understood that Corporate Office has not taken any decision whether the allowance should be continued or withdrawn after March 2018. It is unfortunate. It is told to GS that BSNL will take a decision very shortly.

Pension Revision:

GS and others met the member (Services) in DOT and discussed about pension revision. Detailed discussion took place with Director (Estt) on 6-7-2018 on it. It is understood that our demand for pension revision with VII CPC fitment benefit is being referred to Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare shortly. Along with our demand, DOT is pointing out that pension revision has taken place in the past after pay revision. It is a wrong notion. But, DoT is not willing to change its stand. Some other organizations too had such wrong notion and hence they demanded pension revision also with PRC fitment benefit. DoT took advantage of their demand.

Those organizations realized their blunder and changed their demand subsequently. Now they all want delinking pension revision from pay revision. It is good. But damage was already done. Linking our Pension Revision with Wage Revision in BSNL with III PRC recommendations is dangerous. Wage Negotiation Committee is recently constituted. We do not know when the negotiation on Pay Revision will start and finish. Final outcome is quite uncertain. Employees have bitter experiences. BSNL was formed in 2000. Even after 18 years, there is no pension scheme for the directly recruited BSNL employees. They are getting pittance as pension. (A lady retired in 2017 after 16 years of service is getting only Rs 1311 as pension. Her income is suddenly reduced from Rs 45000 to Rs 1311 per month!)

Against this background, linking of our Pension Revision with Pay Revision in BSNL is detrimental to all of us. It is high time for all organizations to understand the danger and move together. I hope better sense will prevail on all.

I find an improvement in the situation. Till this time DoT was silent on our demand. Deliberately DoT did not disclose their approach. Now something is known. GS is successful to find out the position. He could collect a copy of one letter written by Minister Shri Manoj Sinha to one MP on the pension revision. In that letter also it is indicated that pension revision will be taken up only after pay revision of serving staff.

As such, pension revision is not easy. We have to struggle a lot.

….. P S Ramankutty