Thursday 24 January 2019

SCRAP NEW CONTRIBUTORY PENSION SCHEME AND RESTORE OLD DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION SCHEME TO ALL EMPLOYEES & OFFICERS


Restoration of the Defined benefit pension scheme to all Central Government employees & Officers irrespective of the date of their entry into Government service is the paramount amongst all issues and demands of the Central Government employees & Officers. The struggle against the New contributory pension scheme introduced by the Government in 2004 must be incessant till the Government agrees to withdraw the same and restore the defined benefit pension scheme for all civil servants in the country.

The Contributory pension scheme was the product of the neo-liberal economic policies pursued by the successive Governments that came to rule since 1991. It was conceived, formulated and imposed at the instance of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank combine to ensure free flow of funds to the corporate entities to enable them to maximise profits.

AIDTOA, CCGGOO,CCGEW and no doubt the All India State Government Employees Federation & others realised right at the beginning its pernicious impact and demanded its withdrawal. The very purpose of the new scheme was not to arrest the financial outflow of the Government as has been made out both by the Government and the IMF but only to help the corporate to access easy funds. Never had been such a naked attempt in the past on the part of any Government to compel the employees to subscribe to a fund whose benefits to the subscriber were not defined.

In the beginning, a section of intellectuals in the society, the rulers, a predominant segment of the people’s representatives, the top echelons of the bureaucracy; even some trade union leaders and their organisations eulogised the scheme projecting the never-existant benefits to mislead the workers and the public at large. While presenting the proposal before the Parliament, the Government in fact misled the house to inform them over the benefits the Government might reap due to lesser financial outflow for meeting the pension entitlements of the Civil servants.

 When we opposed NPS, the then UPA Government stuck to its position and introduced the PFRDA bill in the Parliament and ultimately they could get it legislated with the support of the BJP which was in opposition then. In the background of the well reasoned submissions made by us and others the Government appointed Committees and Commissions to go into the matter, which had been loaded with self serving bureaucrats. Most of these commissions sang what the political masters wanted to hear except the one appointed by the 6th CPC. 

 Dr.Gayatri’s report was categorical that the Government will have to bear in fact additional financial burden for the next 35 to 40 years due to the introduction of the New Contributory pension scheme. The bureaucrats also began to realise the reality later. The employees, nay all subscribers, to their dismay found that the new Pension system is in fact a No pension system. The oft-repeated argument that it was necessary to arrest the accelerated financial outflow from the exchequer was established to be false in the face of Dr. Gayatri’s report.

 Crores of rupees from the State Treasury and the poor employees’ contributions went to enrich the corporate houses through the stock market and mutual funds. The young employees, who were recruited after 1.1.2004, who were compulsorily made to be the subscribers of the New Contributory Pension scheme found fault with not only Government but some of the leaders of the Trade Union movement of Central Govt. Employees. In sum, this is the present scenario.

 What All India DRDO Technical Officers Association declares is to fight against this new scheme. It is an uncompromising war to ensure that the present contributory pension scheme is scrapped lock stock and barrel and the erstwhile defined benefit pension scheme is brought back to cover all Government employees.

Monday 21 January 2019

Increase Minimum Pay and Fitment Formula

              After the continuous struggle by AIDTOA, CCGGOO, CCGEW and others including strikes from 2011 onwards, the then UPA Government was compelled to announce appointment of 7th Central Pay Commission. Gujarat State Government objected the decision of the UPA Government to appoint 7th CPC.  Shri. Narendra Modiji was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at that time.  After coming to power at the Centre in 2014, the NDA Govt. made deliberate attempt and intervention to delay and deny the legitimate demands of the Central Govt. employees and Pensioners including the demands relating to Minimum Pay, Fitment Formula, HRA from 01-01-2016, Option-I for pensioners etc.
            When NJCA, CCGGOO  decided to go on indefinite strike from 11th July, 2016 a Group of Cabinet Ministers including Shri. Rajnath Singh, Home Minister, Shri. Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister and the then Railway Minister Shri. Suresh Prabhu, gave categorical assurance on 30-06-2016 that Minimum Pay and Fitment formula will be increased and for that purpose a High Level Committee will be constituted.  Even after a lapse of 2½ years neither High Level Committee was constituted nor Minimum Pay and Fitment Formula is increased.
        The Finance Ministry in its Lok Sabha reply dated 11-12-2018, categorically stated as follows:
          “The fitment factor for the purpose of fixation of pay in the revised pay structure, based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission is 2.57  which is uniformly applicable to all categories of employees.  As the same is based on the specific and considered recommendations of the 7th CPC, no change ,thereon is envisaged”.
         Thus the NDA Government has betrayed 32 lakhs Central Govt. employees and 33 lakhs Central Govt. Civilian Pensioners.
         The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Bhupendra Nath Hazarika and Another Vs. State of Assam and others (reported in 2013(2)Sec.516) observed as follows, which is quoted by 7th CPC in its preface -
          “It should always be borne in mind that legitimate aspirations of the employees are not guillotined and a situation is not created where hopes end in despair.  Hope for everyone is gloriously precious and that a model employer should not convert it to be deceitful and treacherous......  A sense of calm sensibility and concerned sincerity should be reflected in every step.  An atmosphere of trust has to prevail and when the employees are absolutely sure that their trust shall not be betrayed and they shall be treated with dignified fairness, then only the concept of good governance can be concretized.  We say no more”.
        The NDA Government has “guillotined” our aspirations. Govt. has betrayed the employees and Pensioners and created an atmosphere where “Hopes ended in despair”.  Govt. converted our hope to be “deceitful and treacherous”, “Dignified Fairness”, “Calm sensibility” and “Concerned Sincerity”  in treating our case is lacking on the part of Government.  Hence we have no alternative but to fight back disastrous neo- liberal policies.

SCRAP NEW CONTRIBUTORY PENSION SCHEME (NPS) - RESTORE OPS

Everyone of us is aware that it is the previous NDA Government which introduced the NPS in 2003 through a Gazette Notification dated 22nd December 2003, to all new entrants recruited on or after 01-01-2004.  We are also aware that the UPA-II Government passed the PFRDA Bill in Parliament to legalise NPS, with the full support of opposition BJP MPs in 2013 and thereafter PFRDA Act came into effect from 18th September 2013.  AIDRDOTOA, CCGGOO, CCGEW, All India State Govt. Employees Federation (AISGEF) and others conducted series of agitational programmes against NPS from 2003 onwards.
7th Central Pay Commission headed by Shri. Ashok Kumar Mathur, Retired Justice of Supreme Court of India, in Para 1.24 of its Report made the following observations:
          “Almost a whole lot of Central Government employees appointed on or after 01-01-2004 were unhappy with the New Pension Scheme.  While National Pension System (NPS) did not form a part of our Terms of Reference; we have recorded the sentiments of the affected employees.  The Government should take a call and step into to look into their demands”. 
In Para 10.03.11, the 7th CPC again made the following comments:
          “The larger Federations and Staff Associations advocated scrapping of the NPS on the ground that it discriminate between two sets of Government employees.  Individuals covered under NPS have pleaded for reverting to Old Pension Scheme (OPS) on the grounds of uncertainty regarding the actual value of their future pension, on the face of market related risks.”
Naturally, in tune with the recommendations of 7th CPC, when the NDA Govt. decided to appoint a High Level Committee called “NPS Committee”, the Central Government employees, especially the younger generation, expected that their anxiety and concerns will be taken into account by the Central Government and NPS will be scraped and OPS will be restored.  But the final decision of the Government not to scrap NPS but only to increase the percentage of contribution by the Government from 10% to 14% was a great blow to the NPS employees.  Their hopes are shattered, “their legitimate aspirations are guillotined” and a situation is created where their “hopes ended in despair”.
Their hope faded further when Shri. Arun Jaitley, Finance Minister, in his letter dated 3rd January 2019 addressed to Shri. Nitin Gadkari, another Cabinet Minister in the NDA Government, justified the continuation of NPS as follows:
“NPS is expected to provide old age income security to subscribers besides providing capital for the social and economic development of the economy”. 
The final blow came when the NDA Government made its stand clear without any ambiguity in a reply dated 25-12-2018 given in Parliament stating that - “Representations have been received which inter-alia also include the demand that Government may revert to Old defined benefit pension system. However, due to the rising and unsustainable pension bill and competing claims on the fiscal, there is no proposal to replace the National Pension System (NPS) with Old Pension System (OPS) in respect of Central Govt. employees recruited on or after 01-01-2004”.
During the past 2-3 years many NPS  recruited employees and also aged dependents of deceased employees who got compassionate appointment after 01-01-2004 etc, retired from service after completing 10 to 13 years service.  Their Annuity Pension under NPS is Rs.700/- to Rs.2700/- maximum per month, thus confirming our apprehension that “NPS is nothing but No Pension System”.
Unlike the NDA Government at the Centre, certain State Governments understood the seriousness of the situation and they have declared that they want to scrap NPS.  (Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu during Jayaalalitha’s time, Karnataka and Kerala Governments).  Some of them appointed expert Review Committees to work out modalities for coming out of NPS.  From the stand taken by the above State Governments it can be seen that it is the political stand of the ruling party that matter.  At the centre, it is the political stand of the Political Party ruling the country which is crucial.


All India DRDO Technical Officers' Association (AIDTOA) & CCGGOO appeal to all civilian Defence employees & Officers to extend support to the programme of actions of Struggle Committee of Defence Civilian Employees.

The Defence Industry is under serious threat. The Pension right of the Government employees is also under attack. The present Government with the sole intention of supporting the private corporate houses has decided to handover the strategic Defence Production and related activities like Research and Services etc. to these corporate houses mainly of Ambani's and Adani's etc. The present Government initially announced that 70% of the requirement of the Armed Forces are being imported and to replace the import, these products will be made in India in the name of "Make in India" by the private corporates and multinationals and for that purpose 100% FDI in Defence is permitted. Defence Technology is so complicated and it takes years together to develop modern Defence Technology and hence the few developed Countries for whom Defence Equipment selling is a major source of income is neither prepared to give technology nor to invest money in our country. 

Therefore, to show the outside World that the Government has implemented "Make in India"in Defence has done an historical mistake by offloading more than 275 products being manufactured in the 41 Ordnance Factories as "Non-Core". Due to this decision more than 25 Ordnance Factories are very badly effected. Former Defence Ministers Shri.George Fernandes, Shri Pranab Mukherjee and Shri.A.K.Antony have assured in the past that the work which can be done by the Ordnance Factories will not be privatised and for manufacturing any new products the first priority will be given to the Ordnance Factories. Even the Former Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar who was Defence Minister previously in the present Govt. has directed OFB to increase their production to Rs.20000 crore per year. Accordingly, during the year 2017-2018 the Ordnance Factories made a record production of Rs.17650 crore of Defence Equipments. However, in violation of this the present dispensation has reduced the workload of OFB for the current year to Rs.6500 crore and thereafter due to the agitations increased the same to Rs.11700 crore. The Government instead of increasing the target to Rs.19000 crore during 2018-2019 has reduced the target to Rs.11700 crore. The target for 2019-2020 is not known and what will happen to the future of 85000 Employees is a big question mark.

The Govt. has also taken a policy decision to close down Military Farms which were supplying pure milk to the Soldiers,Station Workshops under Army, Depots under the Army and to hand over the 8 Army Base Workshops which are giving second life to the Defence Equipments including the imported one to the Private Sector in the name of GOCO Model. The DRDO is being forced to hand over the newly developed technology to the private sector. Manpower in DRDO is considerably reduced. The DGQA which is playing a vital role in guaranteeing the Quality Equipments to the Indian Army is also being seriously attacked and Govt. wanted to hand over the Defence Quality Assurance activity to the Private Sector in the name of Third Party Inspection. The Military Engineering Service is also not spared. All the Construction and Maintenance Work are being completely outsourced. The strength of permanent employees are getting decreased and the number of Contract Workers are getting increased.Apprentices trained in Def. Establishments are denied employment opportunities.Even in strategic Naval Dockyards many jobs are outsourced.The contract labourers deployed in these Defence Units are exploited and our demand to regularise them is not being considered by the Govt.

Another major problem being faced by the Central Govt.Employees & Officers including Defence Civilian Employees & Officers is the draconian National Pension System (NPS).Previous NDA Govt.has introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme now called as NPS, for those employees who have joined service on or after 01.01.2004.The NPS has taken away the right of  Pension of the Govt.employees which the Hon'ble Supreme Court has guaranteed. When the NPS was introduced the Govt. assured that Pension from NPS will not be less than the Pension payable under the Defined Pension Scheme as provided in CCS (Pension) Rules,1972. However, the employees who are now retiring from the NPS are getting only a meager Pension of Rs.1,000/- to Rs.2,000/-, whereas the minimum Pension under the Defined Pension Scheme of CCS (Pension) Rules,1972 is Rs.9,000/-+DA. The Govt. is not prepared to scrap the NPS and to restore the Guaranteed Pension under the CCS (Pension) Rules,1972.

The Defence Industries are established and developed after independence for achieving self reliance in Defence. The skilled Workforce of these Industry are continuously struggling and striving to achieve this task. However, the Govt. instead of encouraging and strengthening these Industries is deliberately making these Industries sick and subsequently to liquidate the same. It is for the employees and also for the patiotic citizens of this Country to raise their voice against the decision of the present Govt. to dismantle the Defence Industry and to hand over the same to the private corporates whose sole aim is to earn profit and more profit.

Are these policies not against the national interest? Can the Defence of our Country depends upon the Private Corporates? Can Indian Army be imposed with a "Corporate Culture"whereby giving a free hand to the Army to procure what ever they want and from whereever they can. These are all issues which the Country has to debate both inside the Parliament and in Public.We should rise together and fight back against these retrograde policies of the Government.

Save Defence Industry                                                                Save the Nation