15/1089-90, VASUNDHARA, VASUNDHARA (P.O.), Dt.
GHAZIABAD (U.P), PIN-201012
Website: www.auditflag.blogspot.com
Reference:
AIA/Circular-15/2018 Dated:
29th June 2018
To
Unit Secretaries,
Members & Spl. Invitees – NE &
Members of Women’s Committee
Dear Comrades,
NATIONAL CONVENTION CALLS FOR ONE DAY STRIKE ON
15TH NOVEMBER 2018
The
National Convention of Central Govt Employees held at Hyderabad on 10th
June 2018 under the banner of Confederation of Central Govt Employees and
Workers was inaugurated by Dr. Sanjeeva Reddy, President, INTUC. Com. Amarjeet
Kaur, General Secretary, AITUC in her hour long speech elaborated the policy
initiative of the present day government and its impact on the working
population and the people at large.
The
Convention was also addressed by Com A Sreekumar, Secretary General, All India
State Govt employees’ Federation. During his addressed Com A Sreekumar
announced that the State Govt employees across the country would also go on one
day strike on 15h November 2018.
The
Convention adopted the declaration (copy enclosed) along with a series of
phased agitational programmes culminating in a one day strike on 15th
November 2018.
Programme
of action adopted by the Convention is as given below:
I. 2018 July 1st to August 14th -
State/District level conventions.
2. 2018 August 15th to 31st -
Submission of memorandum to all MPs, MLAs, Chief Ministers etc. seeking their
intervention for settlement of demands. (Draft copy of the memorandum will be
exhibited in confederation website: www.confederationhq.blogspot.com after 31st
July 2018)
3. 21st August 2018 – Tuesday - Mass dharna
at all District headquarters.
4. 5th September 2018 – Wednesday - Mass
rally at New Delhi
5. 10th October 2018 – Wednesday - Serving of
strike notice at all levels with mass demonstrations.
6. 17th October 2018 – Wednesday - Raj Bhavan
March at all State Headquarters or March to an important Central Govt. office
situated in the state capital.
7. 3rd October to 10th November 2018 -
State/District wise Compaign programme of National leaders of confederation and
its affiliates. (separate circular will be issued mentioning places and name of
leaders)
8. 2nd November 2018 – Friday - Mass Hunger
Fast at all levels.
9. 15th
November 2018 – Thursday - Nationwide one day strike
The 10 point Charter of Demands
adopted by the Convention on the which the above campaigns and one strike would
be organised are:
1.
Scrap New Contributory Pension Scheme.
Restore old defined benefit Pension Scheme
to all employees.
2.
Settle
7th CPC related issues including increase in Minimum Pay and fitment formula, HRA arrears from 01-01-2016,
MACP Bench Mark, promotional hierarchy and date of effect from
01-01-2006, Option-I for pensioners and anomalies
arising out of implementation of 7th CPC recommendations.
3.
Fill up all vacant posts. Reintroduce
Regional Recruitment for Group B & C posts.
Withdraw orders for abolishing posts lying vacant for more than five years. Revive all posts abolished during
2001 to 2008 under Annual Direct Recruitment plan as per May 2001 orders
of former NDA Government.
4. (a)
Regularisation of Gramin Dak Sevaks and grant of Civil Servant
status. Implement remaining positive
recommendations of Kamalesh Chandra committee report.
(b) Regularise all casual and contract workers
including those appointed on or after
01-09-1993.
5.
Ensure equal pay for equal work for all.
Remove disparity in pay scales between Central
Secretariat Staff and similarly placed staff working in field units of various departments.
6.
Stop
closure of Govt. establishments and outsourcing. Withdraw closure orders of
Govt. of India Presses. Stop proposed move to close down salt department. Stop FDI and privatisation of Railways and
Defence department.
7. Implement 7th CPC wage revision and
pension revision of Autonomous body employees
and pensioners; Grant Bonus to Autonomous body employees pending from 2016-17
onwards.
8.
Remove 5% condition imposed on compassionate
appointment.
9.
Grant five time-bound promotions to all Group
B&C employees. Complete Cadre
Reviews in all departments within a time-frame.
10.
(a)
Stop attack on trade union rights. Ensure prompt functioning of various negotiating forums under the
JCM scheme at all levels.
(b)
Withdraw the draconian FR-56(j) and Rule 48 of CCS Pension Rules 1972.
All
the Units are requested to start conducting intensive campaign amongst the
membership on the issues such as NPS, contractorisation and privatisation as
also on issues related to 7 CPC, especially the betrayal of the central
government employees by the government.
All
the Units may also take lead in galvanising the local COCs so as to ensure
effective implementation of the above programmes culminating in one day strike
on 15th November 2018.
With
greetings,
Yours
fraternally
M. S. Raja
Secretary General
DECLARATION
1. This convention declares that
restoration of the Defined benefit pension scheme to all Central Government
employees irrespective of the date of their entry into Government service is
the paramount amongst all issues and demands of the Central Government
employees included in the annexed charter of demands. 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. The Confederation of Central Government employees and
workers and no doubt the All India State Government employees Federation
realised right at the beginning its pernicious impact and demanded its
withdrawal. In the declaration that was
adopted in the joint convention of the two organisations, it was clearly
pointed out that 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. Initially it was a lone voice emanated from
the joint platform of the Confederation of Central Govt. employees and the All
India State Govt. employees Federation against this ill -conceived proposal of
the Government of India- a lone voice for a right cause. Various programmes of
actions were chalked out and carried out under the auspices of the joint
platform of Confederation and AISGEF including a one day strike on 30th
October, 2007. However, 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 the Confederation
and AISGEF 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 comrades, 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
this convention declares is to fight against this new scheme – together or
alone - 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.
2. The wage revision of Central Government
employees is periodically effected through the system of setting up of Pay
Commissions. The 7th Central Pay
Commission came into existence after the Confederation conducted a series of
programme of action culminating in a one day strike on 12thDecember, 2012 and
two days strike on 13th and 14th February, 2014. The recommendations of the Commission was so
disappointing that all organisations participating in the JCM came together to
form a National Joint Count of Action to spearhead agitations. The NJCA decided to go on indefinite strike
from 11th July, 2016 onwards. What which
irked the employees was the way in which the Commission went ahead with
doctoring the formula for fixation of the Minimum wage and consequent fitment
proposition. While the proposed strike
action was gathering momentum, the Government opened its doors for
negotiations. To facilitate a negotiated
settlement, the NJCA accepted the proposal of the Government to set up a
Committee to go into the matter of Minimum wage and fitment formula and revise
the same within the course of four months.
However, as is the case with this Government, they refused to honour the
commitment which they made on 30th June, 2016, when the heat of the struggle
got dissipated. The Govt. has now gone
on record through a written answer to a question raised in the Parliament to
state that the revision of minimum wage and fitment formula was no more in
their agenda for consideration.
There
had been wide and varied criticism over the decision taken by the NJCA leaders
to defer the strike action scheduled to take place from 11.7.2016 onwards on
the basis of the “unmeant” assurance held out by the Government. Many of the allegations levelled emanated
from the trust deficit, the employees and pensioners had over the political
authority of the Government, the BJP. The surprisingly strident criticism was
due to the widely prevalent perception of the political players at the helm of
affairs of the country. They could not
have been possibly faulted, for chicanery
had been employed on quite a number of occasions earlier by the ruling
party. It was not that the NJCA
leadership was unaware of the character and characteristics of those in
governance but they had to be driven by the mass front compulsions. The present ruling coalition was fully aware
of the ground reality that was prevalent among the mass of the middle class
employees and tactically decided to defer decision on the vital demands of the
CGES to create an illusion amongst the common workers. They had been able to sustain that illusion,
mainly because of the in-cohesiveness amongst the various organizations of the
CGEs and the sheer unwillingness on the part of a few to tread the struggle
path.
Now
that the reality is revealed, the moot point is what must be the response. The
common multitude of the employees irrespective of the organizational allegiance
wants the issue to be confronted. In the
absence of any preparation for a tangible response, there is every possibility
of the matter facing a natural death The Government with their fine propaganda machinery has been
so far successful to create an impression that civil servants of the country
are better placed in terms of salary and allowances and the Government had done
well in accepting and implementing the suggestions of the 7th CPC. The employees’ organizations have not been
able to successfully combat or counter this palpably misguiding or
mal-propaganda based on untruth.
Having
failed to get the support of the dominant organisations in the NJCA, the
Confederation, true to its ideology, called upon its members to organise a
series of programmes including
Parliament March, Mass dharna in front of Finance Minister’s office, human
chain at all centres, burning of HRA orders, Mass dharna at district and state
levels culminating in a one day strike.
The strike that took place on 16.03.2017 elicited the unprecedented
response of the largest number of its members.
The propaganda unleashed against the confederation, especially by those
who chose to keep silence over the dilly dallying tactics of the Government was
that the Confederation was acting upon mere perception as the Government has never stated that it
would not honour its commitment. The
present unambiguous statement laid on the table of the Parliament by the
Government in the matter makes the chicanery officially confirmed. Those who
prefer to choose silence even now must understand that their silence will only
strength the cloud of doubt that arose on 30th June, 2016.
What more excuses will come to the rescue of
those organisations is difficult to fathom.
The
Convention expresses the firm view that the employees must react in a very
serious manner to the despicable machinations of the Government.
3. The rate of unemployment in the country
has been on the increase ever since the new economic policies were sought to be
implemented. Not only no new industry
could be established, the maximization of profit mantra sapped all regular
employment opportunities in organized sector.
A sizeable segment of the jobs in the organized sector was in
formalised. The regular workers were
replaced by contract labour. In some of
the industries, the entire enterprise was contracted out, the management
retaining a very few supervisory or managerial positions. Presently in all big industrial undertakings
in the country, majority of the workforce are either contract workers or
workers engaged on daily rated basis.
The Government not only encouraged the anti-labour practices but also
adopted the same policy in the fully owned public Sector undertakings as also
in the Government Departments. There had
been very little job opportunities created during the last two and half decades
except in the Service Sector. Whatever
job opportunities were created in the so called special economic zones, the
denial of trade union rights to the workers ensured that they were no better
than contract workers. Governmental
Sector witnessed the return of casual and daily rated workers , a system which
was in vogue in the early 50s but was forced out through constant trade union
struggles. The VI-CPC had recommended the abolition of Gr. D. posts numbering
about 9.4 lakhs. In Para 3.7.7 the
commission has observed that:
"Increasingly
basic work relating to cleaning, sweeping, maintenance etc. is being
outsourced. This is a welcome trend that needs to be encouraged by bringing
about systematic changing in the existing scheme so that the employees in Govt.
are only utilized for requiring a certain levels of skills".
Majority
of the functions presently carried out by the Gr. D. employees across the board
is unskilled. What had actually been
done by the Commission is to abolish the unskilled functions in the
Governmental sector to pave way for more and more contractorisation of these
jobs while the existing employees (whose working strength has become less than
50% of the sanctioned strength) might be classified as Gr. C. and assigned to
do functions which are of skilled nature with lesser emoluments than what it
could have been even as per the V-CPC recommendations. In the days to come the unskilled nature of
jobs would be either outsourced or would be contractorised. Recruitment will hereafter become unavailable
in the Governmental sector for those who are in the lower strata of the society
who could not afford or who are not provided even the primary education even
though the universal primary education is stated to be the objective and goal
of a welfare Government. In fact they
are being punished as the Government abdicated its responsibility to provide
them the nascent requirement of primary education. The recommendation is therefore, a by-product
of the neo-liberal economic policies which we have been fighting against all
these years. As has been feared, the
Government has now decided to ensure that all unskilled jobs are to be
contractorised. The guidelines issued by
the Department of Personnel for the Mutlti-tasking staff makes it mandatory
that the future recruitees in government service must have a minimum
educational qualification of matriculation.
The recruitment will be done through the Staff Selection Commission. These personnel may not be deployed for the
unskilled jobs like sweeper, farash, Mali, watchmen etc. The Department of Personnel has already
advised all concerned to go in for contractorisation of these functions. The
workers so recruited by the contractors are not to have any job security as they
will be liable for termination without assigning any reason whatsoever. As per
the information now made available at the floor of the Parliament, the number
of contract workers engaged by various public sector undertaking and
Governmental organisations is 21,12 715.
In
the background of the continuing ban on recruitment, many of the Government
organizations have resorted to outsourcing of their functions which are of
permanent and perennial nature to agencies on fixed rates. The very fact that the Government has made
available funds for the Departmental heads to resort to outsourcing establishes
the intention of the Government. The
functions being carried out by the Group C employees and the Group B Non
gazetted officials are liable to be outsourced. Once the outsourcing becomes hassle free,
there will be no likelihood of any fresh creation of posts in these
cadres. The large scale computerization
has helped the outsourcing as a feasible proposition.
The
Government has now issued instructions to abolish all posts which were lying
vacant for the past five years. Innumerable number of posts, in fact about 50%
of the sanctioned strength, are lying vacant for the simple reason that the
recruiting agency had not been able to provide the requisite number of
qualified/eligible candidates. This
again was a predetermined design. In a very short period of time, the
recruitment to Group C cadres and Group B cadres would be halted. Since there is no recruitment possible for
Group B Managerial posts, most of the Departments will be left with officers
recruited through the civil service examination and a few employees hired on
contract basis.
4. Another important issue is the atrocious
decision taken by the Government in the matter of pension revision, which has
affected adversely lakhs of Central Government Pensioners. In the memorandum, the contours of which were
finalized in a convention held at Chennai where the representative of almost
all pensioners’ organization took part, the point that was stressed with utmost
importance was the need to bring about parity in pension entitlements between
the past and present pensioners. During the oral evidence presented before the
7th Central Pay Commission, to whom the memorandum had been submitted, the
question of parity was thoroughly deliberated.
Though the representatives of the Pensioners Associations and
Federations did not make any concrete suggestion as to the methodology to
remove the existing disparity in the pension entitlements, they no doubt
presented the reasons and causes for such disparity. Taking into serious
consideration of the submissions of the Pensioners Associations/Federations and
more so what was submitted by the Staff Side of the JCM, the Commission
realizing the enormity of injustice being meted out to the senior pensioners,
made a suggestion which is now commonly known as the Option No. 1. The
Commission recommended to the Government two methodologies to be employed as
pension revision formula, option of which is left to the individual pensioner. He or she was entitled to choose either of
the option depending upon the financial benefit. The whole pensioner community considered this
recommendation of the 7th CPC as the best way of resolving the issue and bring
about parity between the past and present pensioners. There had been all-round criticism of the
overall recommendations of the 7th CPC from the employees but every single
individual employee or organization appreciated the formulation made by the
Commission in respect of Pensioners.
However,
at the instance of the Pension Department, the Government while accepting this
recommendation made a subjective clause.
The acceptance of the recommendation was subjected to the feasibility of
implementation for which the Government constituted a committee under the
Chairmanship of the Secretary Pension.
As it is natural, the Committee headed by the Pension Secretary found
the recommendation “infeasible” for the simple reason that in a few cases, the
relevant records would not be available with the Government. The Service records of an employee or
pensioner is supposed to be maintained by the Government. How can the individual pensioner be punished
for the mere fault of a Government department was the question the pensioners
and staff side raised before the Committee, which went unanswered. The Committee suggested another methodology
as the pension fitment formula. The
Pensioners representatives and the Staff Side of the JCM had no objection to
the said formula for that was to benefit some of the pensioners, including the
top echelons of the bureaucracy.
However, they requested that the Committee’s suggestion might be treated
as the third option to be applied whoever wants it or in whichever case the records
are not available. The suggestion made
by the staff side was rejected as also the Option No.1. It was pointed out that rejection of a claim
on the specious ground that the records are not available with the Government
is legally untenable. In all such
cases, the Government does have the option to obtain a solemn affidavit from
the claimant, a practice followed by the Governments throughout the world. The
irony is that such decision was taken by the Government whose Finance Minister
is a legal luminary. What is
established without an iota of ambiguity is the Government’s overdependence on
the self-seeking bureaucrats, who had an axe to grind in rejecting Option No. 1
and the utter insensitivity of the political authority towards the concern of
the common people even if they are senior citizens.
5. Wage revision of Grameen Dak Sewaks is a
classic example of this Government’s attitude towards workers, especially those
in the lower rung of the hierarchy .Grameen Dak Sewaks, formerly known as the
Extra Departmental Agents is the innovative exploitative system evolved by the
British Colonial rulers to spread the postal communication to rural India.
Appointed as agents who were authorised to use the Postal seal as a mark of
official status were entitled either for a commission or a honorarium. The Government that came into existence in
free India found the system convenient and cheap and decided to continue. Through incessant struggles, the Postal
workers tried to end this unsavoury system of employment and they had been
quite successful in raising their status and emoluments. Through a series of struggles organised
mostly under the leadership of the National Federation of Post and Telecom
Employees and later under the banner of the National Federation of Postal
Employees, the Gramin Dak Sewaks marched ahead.
The very word Grameen Dak Sewaks was in recognition of the demand that
the British system must come to an end.
Despite near total unanimity over the need to end this system once and
for all across the political system, none has dared so far to raise them on par
with the organised segment of the working class. They are still considered as casual workers
having no benefit of the regular postal employees and are denied the retirement
benefits. It was the Talwar Committee which really went into the hopeless
living and working conditions of the GDS and made recommendations which if
accepted would have changed the scenario.
Many of their recommendations, which were meant to raise the standard of
living of the employees, were not acted upon at all. In the wake of the setting up of the 7th
CPC, the Confederation of CGE and workers demanded the Commission to treat the
GDS on par with the regular Government Servants. The Commission Chairman, Shri Ashok Mathur, a
retired Supreme Court Judge however, did not agree. Had he been able to take a
decision on this vital question of their status their case for wage revision
could have been covered by the 7th CPC itself. The Government then appointed
the Kamalesh Chandra Committee to look into their issues and demands. Retired
as a postal bureaucrat, Shri Kamalesh Chandra was fully aware of the
exploitative system. No doubt many of the recommendations of Kamalesh Chandra
Committee was in favour of the GDS employees and if accepted will improve the service
conditions. The Committee did not
address the issue of status under the garb that the same was under the judicial
scrutiny. The report was in the consideration of the Government for the past 18
months.
The
indefinite strike action of all GDS Unions which commenced on 22nd May, 2018
asking the Government to take a final decision on the recommendation of the
Kamalesh Chandra Committee with the full
support and even participation of the regular Postal employees, elicited solidarity
action from all sections of the working class in the country, especially from
the Central Govt. Employees. The
Government dragged the strike for 16 glorious days. Despite their best efforts, the Government or
the Postal Department could not break the unity of the Unions and Associations
of the GDS employees throughout the long 16 days strike period. The arrogance
on the part of the political authority was the one and only reason that the matter was allowed to be delayed for
more than 18 months. The glorious strike
of the GDS Employees which went on 16 days has the total participation of the
GDS employees and the Government thoroughly failed in all their attempts to
break that solid unity. Ultimately the
Government has to come down and approve the major recommendations regarding
wage rise of the GDS. The GDS Unions deserve the accolade from all for
organising such a great strike action.
6. The attached charter of demands includes
many other issues which are pending settlement for many years. They include inter alia, the removal of the
ceiling on compassionate appointments; regularisation of casual, contract and
daily rated workers, filling up of vacant posts; equal pay for equal work;
rescinding the decision to close down the Printing presses; five promotions in
the service career; recognition of Unions/federations; regular functioning of
the JCM; removal of the provisions of Rule 56.J; grant of wage /pension
revision benefits to employees of autonomous bodies etc. etc.
The
Convention declares that the employees who are members of the organisations
affiliated to the Confederation will embark upon a series of programmes of
action detailed hereunder culminating in a one day strike action on 15th
November, 2018, on which date, the All India State Government employees will also
be on a day’s strike in pursuance of their charter of demands. As it is the desire of the participants of this Convention that the
strike action must have the largest possible participation of the workers in
the country, the National Secretariat of
the Confederation is directed to take steps to synchronise the date of action
with similar action organised by the Unions/Federations under the auspices of
the Central Trade Unions.
****
