Thursday, December 31, 2015
2016 New Year’s Pledge Urges United Struggle
BRUHASPATI SAMAL
Secretary, AIPEU, Gr.-C
Bhubaneswar
The clock is advancing relentlessly with its
tick-tock music as a new year starts and old one ends reminding us the same
customary attitude to contemplate all our agonies and ecstasies reviewing our
resolutions made in the beginning of the year and looking back on months gone by. While it’s no
wonder to recall all the happy times
that enriched our lives, realize the fondest dreams which made us recognized,
memorize the best rewards of our deepest
and finest feelings and great satisfactions, refresh and revitalize the
pleasures with people, material and personal successes on one hand, it becomes,
on the other also inevitable to weigh
our ignorance / mistakes to find out the hurdles for unachieved goals, to
examine the reasons for failures and to establish the deviations from our
promises and commitments so that we can greet the New Year with a stronger attitude and a better commitment
than ever.
In this context, it is a proud moment for all
of us to recollect the glorious journey of the Department of Posts from
traditional to digital along with the historic Postal/Central Govt. employees Trade
Union Movement through National Federation of Post & Telecom Employees
(NFPTE) alias National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE) which enters the
62nd year of its existence. During our long strenuous journey, we
have not only experienced the Divide and Rule Policy of the British Government
but also the administrative dilemma and miseries of Postal workers in
particular and Central Govt. employees in general even during post-independent
era without minimum wage, holidays, fixed duty hours, recreation, promotion,
bonus, advances, overtime allowance, retirement benefits etc., They were badly treated, severally
punished and personally abused. Corruption was rampant. The service of the
employees was hopelessly insecure.
The P
& T Trade Union Movement which was
initiated in the name of a Postal Club in Kolkatta GPO under the able
leadership and guidance of Babu Tarapad Mukherjee during 1905 became recognized
as National Federation of Post and Telegraph Employees
(NFPTE) on 24th November,
1954 after 50 years of
uncompromised struggles and sacrifices. Com. B N Ghosh,
popularly known as Dada Ghosh became the founder Secretary General of NFPTE.
Till it was bifurcated in February, 1986 to National Federation of Postal
Employees (NFPE) and National Federation of Telecom Employees (NFTE) consequent
upon separation of the Department to Department of Posts and Department of
Telecommunications, NFPTE continued its struggle to give its members the benefits they deserve
in spite of formation of Federation of National Postal Organizations (FNPO) in
1968 and Bhartiya Post and Telegraph Employees Federation (BPTEF) in 1977 by the
ruling party to weaken the movements reiterating the so called Divide and Rule
Policy of the British Govt. In spite of hurdles and attacks by the Govt., NFPE
has never looked back and is continuing its struggles as the biggest
constituent of Confederation of Central Govt. employees and Workers not only to
protect the interest of the postal and RMS employees in particular but also to
give justice to the entire working class in general.
It is needless to reiterate that the benefits
now we are enjoining as Central Govt. Employees are the gifts of the sacrifices
of the leaders and loyal workers of NFPTE / Confederation without caring for
brutal murders, mass scale arrests, termination, suspension and above all
de-recognition of our Federation by the administration / Govt. The story of
success and sacrifice of NFPTE/Confederation is too long to describe.
NFPE’s struggle movements in particular are
not just confined to pay or leave etc. In the name of transformation of India
Post, the problems of the postal employees have been multiplied during the last
two decades. With formulation of National Postal Policy, Strategic Plan,
Corporate Plan and introduction of Project Arrow and I T Modernization Project,
the employees are now treated in similar nature prevailed during
pre-independence era. With acute shortage of staff due to arbitrary abolition
of posts, increased working hours due to down-sizing, additional pressure due
unachievable targets for POSB, PLI/RPLI and business products, frequent system
problems due to improper software, inadequate professionals and outdated accessories,
compulsion of cent percent delivery in the absence of adequate staff and
support system, introduction of new products and services without proper
education and training to the employees and such other problems arising out of
computerization and modernization, the employees are suffering like anything. In
addition, corporatization/privatization of India Post through implementation of
Task Force report is still a peril like the sword of Damocles. Over Time duty
has already lost its concept due to non-revision of the allowance for more than
two decades. Contradictorily, the promotional avenues in postal department have
been twisted to be confused. The cadre restructuring proposal has been
unnecessarily delayed for last five years. The fates of 3 lakh Gramin Dak
Sewaks have remained unpredictable for decades together. Thus, we are still
demanding to fill up all vacant posts, creation of new posts, to stop corporatization
/ privatization / down-sizing, to give five promotions, to give status and
pension to GDS etc. The struggles have not yet ended.
In addition, due to rapid migration of Post
Office to CBS Finacle and PLI McCamish in the absence of proper infrastructure,
the sufferings of the employees of Department of Posts beggar description
during 2015. The nature of fixed duty hours has now lost its concept. The
employees are receiving irregular orders always not to leave office without
permission of the CPC/CEPT. Till now we have 12109 CBS post offices all over
India which includes 804 HOs and 11305 SOs. Odisha Circle got its first CBS
post Office on 01.12.2014 in the name of Bhubaneswar GPO and during 2015 Odisha
Circle has migrated all its 35 HOs and 347 SOs as on date. In Bhubaneswar
Division, we have 32 CBS Post Offices including Bhubaneswar GPO as on date.
Similarly, during 2015, PLI McCamish roll out has been completed in 21 HOs of
Odisha Circle including Bhubaneswar GPO which was rolled out as first HO on
07.09.2015. The employees are regularly struggling for smooth connectivity,
proper hardware and adequate manpower to render proper services to the
customers. But all their efforts have fallen to the deaf ears of the
administration. Responsibility is seen to be
shifted from Department to Infosys, from Infosys to Sify or sometimes
from both to the Central Server / Data Centre etc. Due to no fault of the
officials, they are falling prey to the anger of the dissatisfied customers.
Above all, 2015 remained a year of suffering
for the postal employees in particular.
Adding salt to injury, the 7th CPC
submitted its report with most disappointing, retrograde and worst ever
recommendations to the Govt. on 19th November, 2015 restricting the
pay hike to 14.29% without any change in the annual increment and promotional
avenues even after a gap of 10 years and more importantly withdrawing all the
12 interest-free advances and 52 allowances and thus deceiving as many as 47
lakh Central Govt. employees and 52 lakh pensioners. The demands of the JCM
Staff Side to implement the recommendations from 01.01.2014, to fix the minimum
wage at Rs.26000/- with multiplying factor of 3.27, annual increment to 5%, 5
promotion during the entire service career, abolition of Grade Pay etc have
been squarely rejected by the Commission. No change has been recommended for Casual
Leave, Maternity Leave and Leave encashment. Rather, the Commission has
recommended to reduce the HRA from 30/20/10% to 24/16/8% and 20% less pay in
the 2nd year of Child Care Leave. Relating to our specific issues, the
commission finds no justification for enhancement of minimum educational
qualifications for Direct Recruits for Postal Assistants/Sorting Assistants
from Class XII to Graduation and the entry grade pay from GP 2400 to GP 2800
and also no justification for upgrading LSG, HSG-II & HSG-I. Similar is the
case of Postman, Mail Guard and MTS. The demand for separate cadre for S As / B
Es has been denied straightway. The issues relating to GDS remained untouched.
In protest against such retrograde measures
of 7th CPC, we have already hold protest demonstrations throughout
the country and JCM Staff Side has already submitted a notice to the Cabinet
Secretary with suggested modifications. If our demands are not settled amicably
through proper negotiation, the National Joint Council of Action comprising
Confederation, Railway and Defence Federation has already decided to go for
nationwide indefinite strike from 1st week of March, 2016. The
processing of Strike Ballot among the constituents of the NJCA will soon be on
move so as to complete by end of January, 2016.
Thus, the revolution has just begun which
needs the effort of every single individual for retaining the hard-earned
benefits we have achieved through our struggle movements. Human revolution, in
just a single individual can help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation
and further in the destiny of all human kind. So unfettered by narrow
nationalist or sectarian concerns, it should be considered that every
individual is equally empowered with inner brilliance of life and however small
the effort, every individual effort certainly makes a definite difference. The
thing is that everyone should be loyal to the voice of conscience that issues
forth from deep within. When
one is affected by wrath, his mind will not be correct, when one is affected by
fear, his mind will not be correct, when one is affected by fondness, his mind
will not be correct or when one is affected by worries and anxieties to any
extent, his mind will not be correct. When the mind is not present, we look but
we do not see, listen but we do not hear and eat but do not know the taste of
the food. As a result, we fail to serve whole-heartedly. No progress is
possible unless we have a mind free from anxiety and sufficient leisure for the
development of our higher nature.
Workers
are not beggars. So, to make ourselves free from all worries and anxieties, to
live with a status and to serve our nation whole heartedly on one hand and to
retain the hard-earned benefits already achieved through rigorous struggles and
sacrifices on the other, we have to go for united struggle only under one
umbrella which needs just a promise by every individual on the eve of this new
year. To be more active and more progressive, let’s
promise to be more militant and aggressive on our issues.
Together we can move the world. One, who
can’t be taught by reason, shall be taught by force. And our force is our
togetherness and unity. We have already proved it through our several rigorous
struggle programmes from pre-independence era till date. We have fought and
achieved. The glorious history of P & T Trade Union Movement tells us that
nothing can stop us. We can achieve all
our demands through our unity and agitation, through one platform and one
voice. We have just to carry forward our glorious traditions with additions of
new ideas that will suit our future needs with an eye to the current
transformation. And it is quite possible in the era of digital world. Just a
commitment is required. A
recall to our historic struggles in the past will definitely add to our future
success.
Let the New Year unite all under one
umbrella to fight for common causes and welfare of the society and bring peace
and prosperity for all.
Happy New Year, 2016.
Right to health is a human right: Himachal High Court
Giving the government six months’ time to seek
options, the bench said all central government pensioners residing in non-cghs
areas would be covered either by cs(ma) rules, 1944 or CGHS as per the option
they choose.
In a landmark judgment, the himachal pradesh high
court wednesday directed the central government to provide full medical
benefits, including reimbursements of medical emergencies, to employees
post-retirement.
A division bench comprising justices rajiv sharma
and sureshwar thakur passed the orders while dismissing an appeal filed by the
central government, challenging an order of the central administrative tribunal
(cat) in favour of shankar lal sharma who underwent heart surgery
post-retirment and incurred an expenditure of rs 1.80 lakh – which the
government declined to reimburse.
In a 101-page order handed down by justice sharma,
the court ruled that right to health is a human right and questioned as how
could the government, a principal employer, abdicate the responsibility of
taking care of the health of its retired employees.
Denial of reimbursements of medical expenses
amounts to violation of rights of the employee, the court added. The order
observed that “a socialist state, as the preamble depicts, is the basic
structure of the constitution of india “. “Similarly, the welfare state is the
basic feature of the constitution. There is a difference between basic
structure and basic features of the constitution. The action of the union of
india not to reimburse the medical bills to the respondent (shankar lal sharma)
and also not giving option to him and similarly situate persons residing in a
city not covered under cghs is illegal, arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory,
thus, violative of articles 14, 16 and 21 of the constitution of india.”
Using the legal maxim salus populi suprema lex
esto, the bench said “the health of the people should be supreme law.” The
order further reads: “a serving employee, who enjoys benefits under the cs(ma)
rules, 1944, cannot be left high and dry immediately after retirement for want
of medical care. His medical issues are required to be looked into with more
sensitivity, compassion and sympathy. His genuine requirements for medical
treatment cannot be permitted to be buried in the labyrinth of red tapism.
The court further held that it was the prime
responsibility of the state to protect the health and vigour of retired
government officials, this being their fundamental right under article 21, read
with articles 39(3), 41, 43, 48-a of the constitution.
Source : http://indianexpress.com
CONFEDERATION NEWS : NJCA PROGRAMME – 30.12.2015
NATIONWIDE DEMONSTRATIONS CONDUCTED
LAKHS OF EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATED
AN OUTBURST OF DISCONTENTMENT, ANGER AND PROTEST AGAINST THE MOST RETROGRADE RECOMMENDATIONS OF 7TH CPC
DECLARATION OF READINESS TO GO ON INDEFINITE STRIKE IF NDA GOVERNMENT REJECTS OUR DEMAND FOR MODIFICATIONS
MAKE THE NEXT PHASE OF AGITATION ALSO A THUNDERING SUCCESS.
CONDUCT THREE DAYS MASS DHARNA AT ALL CENTERS ON 19th, 20th & 21st JANUARY 2016
(M. Krishnan)
Secretary General
Confederation
India Post ATM inaugurated at Angul H O (Dhenkanal Division)
INAUGURATION BY SHRI SRINIVASH BEHERA ADM, ANGUL IN THE PRESENCE OF SHRI BISHNU MOHAN DASMAHAPATRA, SPOs, DHENKANAL DIVISION AND
SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR SETHI, POSTMASTER, ANGUL H O
SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR SETHI, POSTMASTER, ANGUL H O
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Cabinet may give go-ahead to labour ministry proposal of extending maternity leave to 26 weeks
The
Union Cabinet may soon give its go-ahead to a labour ministry proposal
to extend maternity leave to 26 weeks from 12 weeks. Mothers who use
surrogates to bear a child and women adopting a baby could also get 12
weeks of maternity leave.
Extending
maternity leave is in sync with benefits available to central
government employees and has been done to enable mothers breastfeed
their child for at least six months and help reduce high rates of child
malnutrition in the country, a senior government official told ET.
"We
have substantially enhanced benefits under the Maternity Act. This is
likely to be approved by the Cabinet soon, after which it will go to
Parliament as it requires amendment in the Act," the official told ET on
condition of anonymity. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, presently
entitles women to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.
According to the official, the amendment bill is unlikely to face
resistance in Parliament as the ministry has held consultations with
stakeholders for such sweeping changes that would benefit a large number
of working women.
Women with government jobs in India get a six-month maternity leave, as
per the Central Civil Service (Leave) Rules, 1972. The last circular in
this regard was issued in 2008, when it was increased from
four-and-a-half months.
The International Labour Organisation recommends a standard maternity
leave of 14 weeks or more, though it encourages member states to
increase it to at least 18 weeks. At 26 weeks, India is set to join a
league of 42 countries where maternity leave exceeds 18 weeks. It,
however, falls behind several East European, Central Asian and
Scandinavian countries, which have more generous paid maternity leave.
The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for
babies up to six months old, saying it reduces child mortality and has
proven health benefits that extend into adulthood. Yet, only 47% of
Indian mothers exclusively breastfeed for the first six months, compared
with 70% in neighbouring Nepal and 76% in Sri Lanka.
NOTICE FOR THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEETING OF CONFEDERATION
No.
CONF/NE/2016 Dated: 30-12-2015
MOST URGENT / IMPORTANT
NOTICE FOR THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE
MEETING OF CONFEDERATION
An urgent meeting of the National Executive of the Confederation
of Central Govt. Employees & Workers will be held at ITEF Head Quarters
(Rajouri Garden), New Delhi on 12-02-2016 (12th February 2016 - Friday). The
meeting shall commence at 10.30am and continue till close. National Secretariat
members, Chief Executives of the affiliated Organizations, General Secretaries
of all State level C-o-Cs and main Office bearers of the Women's Sub Committee
are requested to attend the meeting.
The following shall be the agenda of the meeting:
AGENDA:
1. 7th CPC related issues and proposed indefinite
strike by NJCA.
2. Two days All India Workshop of Confederation
at Dehradun (Uttarakhand) – Finalisation of dates & Programme.
3. All India Conference of Confederation &
All India Women Convention at Chennai (Tamilnadu) – Finalisation of dates.
4. Financial position of Confederation – Decision
for improvement.
5. Issues relating to the affiliated
Organizations.
6. Any other item with permission of the Chair.
(M. Krishnan)
Secretary General
To
1.
All National Secretariat Members.
2.
Chief Executives of all affiliated Organizations.
3.
General Secretaries of State C-o-Cs.
4.
Main office bearers of Women's Sub Committee (Not Committee members)
Babus on foreign jaunts need to spell out outcome of such tours
NEW DELHI: Government officials undertaking foreign trips will have to
clearly spell out the outcome of such tours. All those who undertook
official foreign visits since 2013-14 need to submit details of the
outcome of such tours in the next few days.
The move comes against the backdrop of persistent feeling in many
quarters that the trips, ostensibly for gaining experience and insights,
often turn into pleasure jaunts. There have been cases of officials
traveling abroad in numbers more than necessary, stretching the duration
of stay and visiting and stopping at places irrelevant to the stated
purpose of the trip.
In keeping with the new work culture, the NDA government has created a website under its Software Management Information System for uploading details of foreign tours and visits by officials. Ministries and departments have set a December-end deadline for its officials to upload details on this portal.
In keeping with the new work culture, the NDA government has created a website under its Software Management Information System for uploading details of foreign tours and visits by officials. Ministries and departments have set a December-end deadline for its officials to upload details on this portal.
Moreover, every ministry and department has been directed to prepare a
"rolling plan" for future foreign visits to be undertaken by officials.
"The idea behind the rolling plan is to submit the proposed trips of
officials in the next quarter. This can be updated and amended.
Government wants foreign trips by officials on government expenditure to
be result-oriented," said a senior government official.
According to sources, cabinet secretary P K Sinha recently called a meeting to ensure that officials and departments comply with the decision.
"In certain cases, it's difficult to get the details of foreign visits by officials, who have already gone back to the states or are retired. But the message has gone to one and all to provide the outcomes of their visits since they must be keeping some details. We are also trying to get the records kept in departments so that some details can be uploaded," said a government source.
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Labour ministry may soon move cabinet note on labour code on wage and Small Factories Act
ET Bureau | 30 Dec, 2015, 07.05PM IST
Labour ministry may soon move a cabinet note on
labour code on wage and the Small Factories Act after an inter-ministerial
committee on labour headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley broadly endorsed
the proposals.
"There is no in-principle objection to the two bills that we discussed today," a senior labour ministry official told ET after the inter-ministerial committee meeting on Wednesday.
"The idea was to get views of larger audience before we finalise it. Once approved by the Cabinet the two legislations would be laid in Parliament in the next session," the official added.
The meeting, chaired by finance minister Arun Jaitley, was convened following directions from the Prime Minister's Office that the two important legislations be finalised at the inter-ministerial level before taking it to the Cabinet for approval.
"Labour ministry made an initial presentation on the two bills. More meetings could be held on this if need be," Jaitley said.
While the wage code bill aims to amalgamate four
labour laws related to wages and lay out a common definition for wages, the
Small Factories Bill seeks to exempt units employing less than 40 workers from
14 labour laws.
Other than Jaitley, power minister Piyush Goyal, labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya and minister of state for home Jitender Singh attended the meeting.
The committee was set up in May this year after trade unions alleged that the government was unilaterally going ahead with changes in the labour laws that they said were anti-worker.
The Small Factories (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Bill, 2014, would mainly combine provisions of various labour laws applicable to small factories, facilitating ease of compliance and reporting. The bill also proposes that very small factories employing not more than five workers would be exempt from the compliance burden related to shifts, attendance and late attendance, responsibility to issue appointment letters and provisions on unfair labour practices.
The draft legislation proposes payment of wages through bank accounts and continuing provisions of social security without dilution. It also has a provision for compounding of offences, except for those resulting in death and serious body injury.
Under the code on wages, the labour ministry plans to streamline the definition of wages by amalgamating four wage-related statutes. These include the Minimum Wage Act, 1948, the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
At present, there are about half a dozen definitions of wages in various acts across the Centre and states, which employers have to grapple with.
Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
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