FORMATION OF J.C.A., NATIONAL CONVENTION AND THEREAFTER
NATIONAL JOINT COUNCIL OF ACTION.
OF
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ORGANISATIONS
PARICIPATING IN JCM.
4.State Entry Road,
New Delhi. 110 001.
Dated: 11th December, 2014.
To
All
Participating orgnisations in the JCM.
Dear
Comrades,
The
Staff Side of the Standing Committee of JCM, National Council, met on 10th
December, 2014. It had long deliberations in finalisation of the declaration to
be placed for the consideration of the joint Convention scheduled to be held at
New Delhi on 11th. The draft declaration along with the charter of demands and
the proposed programme of Action was placed at the Convention. The Convention
adopted the declaration with minor amendments. We send herewith copies of the
Press Statement along with the copy of the Declaration.
As per
the decision of the Convention, National Joint Council of Action with the
following members have been constituted to spearhead the movement. The National
JCA will monitor the implementation of the programme of action. It has been
authorised by the convention to pre pone the programmes of action if such an
exigency arises.
1. Com. M. Raghavaiah: NFIR.
Chairman
2. Com. Shiv Gopal Mishra
AIRF. Conventor
3. Com. Rakhaldas Gupta AIRF.
Member
4. Com. Guman Singh NFIR .do.
5. Com. S.N. Pathak AIDEF .do.
6. Com. Sreekumar AIDEF .do.
7. Com. Ashok Singh INDWF .do.
8. Com. Srinivasan. INDWF .do
9. Com. K.KN. Kutty.
Confederation. .do.
10. Com. M. Krishnan.
Confederation. .do.
11. Com. Giriraj Singh. NFPE
.do.
12. Com.R.N.Parashar NFPE .do.
13. Com.T.N.Rahate FNPO ..do
14. Com D.Theagarajan FNPO
.do.
The
National JCA met formally at the AIRF Office
on
12th after the convention. The meeting took the following decisions. 2
(1)
The AiRF leaders in the State capitals will take the initiative to convene the
meeting of all JCM participating organisations and constitute the State
Committees and take steps to convene the State level Conventions.
(2)
The State Committees will intimate the names of the CG organisations who have
expressed willingness in the ensuing struggle.
(3)
The National JCM website will be used as the Website of the National JCA.
(4)
The Convenor, National JCA will place a copy of the letter to be sent to
organisations who are not participating in the JCM requesting their co-operation
and participation in the ensuing struggle.
(5)
The National JCM will have the authority to co-opt members in the National JCA
.
(6)
The National JCA will prepare the campaign leaflet explaining the demands.
(7)
The State JCA will take steps to translate the declaration and the Explanatory
Note on Demands in the respective vernacular and circulate amongst the mass of
the employees.
(8)
The expenses required to be spent for the convention, publication of Pamphlet
etc. will be borne by the participating organisations in a pre determined
ratio.
(9)
Apart from the State JCA, JCAs will also be formed in important Centres,
especially where the Defence workers are concentrated.
10.
The National JCA will issue circular letters as and when it is necessary and
the same will be place in the website of National Council JCM.
11.
The National JCA will communicate to the Government the declaration adopted at
the convention and seek settlement of the demands.
12.
Negotiation on the demands will be conducted by the National JCA.
13.
National JCA will meet again on 11th January, 2015 at New Delhi.
Copy
of the Explanatory Note on each of the demands included in the charter is sent
herewith.
With
greetings,
Yours
fraternally,
SHIV
GOPAL MISHRA.
Convenor.
NATIONAL JOINT COUNCIL OF ACTION.
OF
CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ORGANISATIONS
PARICIPATING
IN JCM.
P R E S S S T A T E M
E N T.
4.State Entry
Road,
New Delhi. 110 001.
Dated: 11th December, 2014.
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INCLUDING
RAILWAY AND DEFENCE WORKERS
DECIDES
TO ORGANISE INDEFINITE STRIKE
A National Convention of
Central Government Employees Organisations participating in the Joint
Consultative Machinery was held at New Delhi today (11.12.2014) at MPCU Shah
Auditorium, Civil Lines, New Delhi to deliberate upon the demands and problems
of Central Government Employees remained unsettled for several years. The Joint
Consultative Machinery conceived as a forum for negotiation of demands of
Central Government Employees in the wake of the indefinite strike action of
1960s has almost become defunct as its National Council which was to meet
thrice in a year has not met even once for the last four years. The wage
revision which was due in 2011 has not come about even though 7 CPC was set up
a few months back. The demand for Interim Relief, merger of DA with Pay which
normally accompanies the announcement of the pay commission were not granted by
the government, the demand for inclusion of Gramin Dak Sevaks within the
purview of 7th CPC was also rejected. Immediately on assumption of power, the
new government has declared a total ban on recruitment, 100 % FDI in Railways
and its privatisation, increasing FDI to 49% in Defence sector, closure of the
Printing Presses, Publication, Stationery and forms offices and Medical Store
Depots, corporatisation of Postal Services, amended the labour laws against the
interest of workers and many other anti-worker policies. The Convention has
adopted a declaration (copy enclosed) and decided upon various programmes of
action culminating in indefinite strike if settlement is not brought about on
the 10 point charter of demands adopted by the Convention. More than 800
delegates representing the two Federations in Railways (AIRF and NFIR), two
Federations in Defence (AIDEF and INDWF), two Federations in Postal Services
(NFPE and FNPO), Confederation of Central Govt Employees & Workers and many
other organisations participated in the Convention. The indefinite strike
decision and various other action programmes were approved by the Convention
unanimously. The Convention set up a 14 member National Joint Council of Action
with Shri M. Raghavaiah, General Secretary, National Federation of Indian
Railwaymen as its Chairman and Shri. Shivgopal Mishra, General Secretary, All
India Railwaymen Federation as Convener to spearhead the indefinite strike and
other action programmes. The convention was conducted by a Presidium consisting
of S/s Rakhaldas Gupta (AIRF), Guman Singh (NFIR), SN Pathak (AIDEF), KKN Kutty
(Confederation), Giriraj Singh (NFPE) and Ashok Singh (INDWF).
SHIVGOPAL
MISHRA
CONVENOR
Enclosure: Copy of Declaration
NATIONAL CONVENTION OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES’ ORGANISATIONS
PARTICIAPTING IN JCM
11TH DECEMBER 2014
NEW DELHI
The
National Convention of Central Government Employees organizations participating
in the JCM, being held at New Delhi on 11th December, 2014, adopted the
following declaration after detailed deliberations and discussions.
D E C L A R A T I O N
2. The
Central Government employees have a glorious past of struggles and sacrifices.
The first indefinite strike action in the independent India by employees and
workers of Central Civil Service was in the 1960s. The July 1960 strike was due
to the denial of the legitimate demand of the Central Government employees for
the grant of Minimum wage as per the norms laid down by the 15th ILC. Brutal
repression, unheard in the history of workers struggles, was unleashed by the
then Government of India to suppress the movement. It was in the wake of that
unprecedented strike action, the Government recognised the need to have a
negotiating machinery to look into the grievances of the Central Government
employees and set up the JCM.
3.
After the 1968 one day strike and the 1974 tumultuous indefinite strike by the
Railwaymen and others, the organisations participating in the JCM strived their
best to create a conducive and peaceful atmosphere to settle the demands and
grievances through discussions at the JCM. The continuous dialogue in the forum
of JCM helped immensely in avoiding confrontation, struggles and strike actions
as the discussions brought about settlement on issues, thanks no doubt to the
positive role and attitude of the Government in power then.
4.
Unlike the provincial Civil Service, 85% of the Central Government employees
are industrial or operational workers, covered by the Industrial disputes Act.
Peace and tranquillity in workplaces provided for increased production,
productivity and efficiency. The Railways, the defence production units, the
postal services and other industrial establishments and employees of
administrative
offices played a vital role in bringing about the significant turnaround in the
employer-employees relationship.
5.
However, the scenario underwent a vast change in the latter part of 1990s.
Government promulgated the new Recognition Rules making it necessary for the
Unions to seek fresh recognition. After the initial hiccups, the employees’
organisations abided by the Government directive and carried out all
stipulations and conditions required for the grant of recognition. Despite
that, the recognition has eluded some organisations while in the case of many
others Government took years to grant recognition. During this period, the JCM
was virtually closed down at the Departmental levels. The National Council
which as per its own constitution is to meet thrice in a year seldom met in the
last four years. Even when the Standing Committee or the Anomaly Committee met,
it was an exercise in procrastination. The Government unilaterally took various
decisions viz. closure of departments, outsourcing, banning recruitment and
creation of posts, untenable restriction on compassionate appointments;
referring the decisions of the Board of Arbitration to the Parliament for
rejection; introduction of large scale contractorisation and above all
withdrawal of the age old defined benefit pension scheme and introduction of a
defined contributory annuity scheme etc. In the process of this hegemonic
approach of the Government, the common employees lost confidence in fair play
and the efficacy of JCM as a forum to settle their demands. Consequently,
litigation is being resorted to by the common employees with high degree of
success. Despite four rounds of discussion in the National Anomaly Committee,
which was set up after the 6th CPC recommendations were implemented, no
settlement could be brought about on any issue. They found the situation
elsewhere not different and aligned themselves with the common trade union
movement of the country in fighting against the new economic policies.
6. The
workers in general and the Central Government employees in particular were and
continue to be the victims of severe economic offensive of the successive
Governments that came to power in the country since the new economic policies
were ushered in 1991. Systematic downsizing and outsourcing of Governmental
functions; closure of Government departments;; privatization of public
enterprises, amending labour laws to facilitate exploitation; lowering interest
rate, unbridled inflation, allowing the foreign and domestic monopoly capital
to loot and plunder the indigenous resources had been some of the visible
characteristics and impacts of the reforms undertaken.
7. The
liberalisation and globalisation policies of the successive Governments, which
came to power since 1991 and which received the backing and support of the
dominant opposition parties and elite in the society accentuated unemployment,
dismantled the Public Sector Undertakings, allowed unhindered entry of foreign
capital, destroyed the livelihood of the farmers and agricultural labourers;
raised the prices of all essential food items beyond the purchasing capacity of
the common people; granted huge tax concessions to corporate houses;; siphoned
off the poor man’s earnings into the hands of a few rich; These measures
ultimately drove the majority of Indians to be below the poverty levels. Indian
youths were driven to be beggars at the doorsteps of transnational corporations
of the developed Nations.
8. At
the General elections for the 16th Lok Sabha, the Indian Common men handed the
Indian National Congress, who led the UPA II regime the worst ever defeat in
its history. Those who came to power over the defeat of the century old party,
i.e. the NDA led by the Bharatiya Janata Party have no different approach on
policies or governance. They had in fact supported the UPA Government to
intensify the neo liberal policies. But for their solid support the PFRDA bill
could never have been passed by the UPA. The conglomeration of Corporate houses
and the corporate controlled media supported the BJP to the hilt in the
election process for they were certain that BJP shall be more pliant and
compliant to them. Through various policy pronouncements the new Government has
made its intentions clear and loud. A complete ban on recruitment in
Governmental organizations has been instituted; privatization of the Railways
and Defence is on the anvil; FDI has been allowed to have its entry into these
two vital sectors, which had been excluded due to public opinion by the UPA;
decided to corporatize the Postal Services; the New pension scheme will replace
all existing defined benefit pension dispensations; decided to close all
Government of India Printing Presses (including the publication, Stationery and
forms stores); handed over the functions of the Medical Depots to private
contractor firms rendering thousands of workers redundant and jobless;
withdrawn the guidelines regulating the prices of essential and life saving
medicines; proposed to reduce the number of
subsidized gas cylinders; announced the PPP model of infrastructure
development in Railways; declared further disinvestment of the profit making
PSUs and closure of all loss making enterprises; introduced legislation to
drastically amend the labour laws to harm the interest of workers especially in
small establishments; indicated to give further concessions to corporate houses
on taxation and to increase the indirect taxes to reduce fiscal deficit; made
legislation to increase the FDI in Insurance and effect further reforms in the
Banking Sector; dismantled the Planning Commission and above all has taken
tacit steps to disrupt the secular social fabric of the country.
9. It
is in the backdrop of this National scenario that the Central Government
employees must look up for settlement of their demands. The Central Government
employees had been active participants in the struggles and strike actions of
the Indian Working Class in the last two decades against the neo liberal policies.
They have marched to the Parliament house shoulder to shoulder with other
segments of the working people on several occasions and more recently on 5th
December, 2014 to register and demonstrate the emphatic protest and opposition
to the Government’s economic policies. They will be enthusiastic participants
in future struggles and strike actions chalked out by the united platform of
the Central Trade Unions in the country. While being part of the common
struggles of the working class, they will have to chalk out programmes to
ensure that the Ban on recruitment in Governmental institutions is lifted; the
decision to close down the Printing Presses and the Medical stores is
rescinded; growing contractorisation, privatization and outsourcing of the
Governmental functions are halted; the proposal to allow FDI and privatize the
Railways and Defence Establishments is nipped in the bud itself; the proposed
labour reforms are taken back; that the casual and contract labourers and GDS
are paid the minimum wage; a scheme drawn up for their regularisation within a
stipulated time frame and the social security measures presently available to
the workers in the form of defined benefit pension scheme is retained.
10.
They must simultaneously endeavour to ensure that the JCM functioning is
revived; periodicity of its meeting is increased to conform to the rules; the
meeting of the Councils at the Departmental level are convened; the unions are
recognized as per the rules; the National Anomaly Committee items are taken to
its logical end and the awards of the Board of Arbitration are implemented.
11.
Above all, they must strive immediately that the Government takes a decision on
the date of effect of the Wage revision as 1.1.2014; the ambit of the 7th
Central Pay Commission covers the most exploited segment of civil servants, i.e
the Gramin Dak Sewaks; that the wage structure of GDS is not allowed to be at
the whims and caprices of Postal bureaucrats; that the Central Government
employees are granted interim relief at the rate of 25% of their pay plus GP;
the Dearness allowance which stood at 100% of pay as on 1.1.2014 is merged to
become Dearness Pay and the 7th CPC adheres to its time frame of 18 months and
all the JCM participating organization are given sufficient opportunity to
present their case before the Commission.
12.
The Convention, on the basis of the discussions amongst the participating
organizations, formulates a charter of demands containing the following
important issues. The Convention also adopts the following programme of action
to culminate in an indefinite strike action if the demands are not negotiated
and settled.
13.
The Convention sets up a National Joint Council of action with the
representatives of the participating organizations to spearhead the movement.
The NJCA will prepare a detailed pamphlet to explain each of the demands in the
Charter and to circulate the same amongst the mass of the employees for an
intensive campaign. The NJCA at the National level will monitor the
implementation of the programme. The Convention authorised the National JCA to
pre-pone the entire programmes of action in case such a decision is warranted
due to an exigency. The Convention directs the participating Federations/ Unions
and Associations to form such Joint Committees in all States to ensure that the
programme of action is carried out in all States uniformly.
14.
The Convention calls upon all Central Governments employees and their Unions
and Federations to be active participants in all the programmes of action to bring
about a satisfactory settlement of the demands.
Charter of demands.
1.
Effect wage revision of Central Government employees from 1.12014 accepting the
memorandum of the staff side JCM; ensure 5-year wage revision in future; grant
interim relief and merger of 100% of DA. Ensure submission of the 7th CPC
report with the stipulated time frame of 18 months; include Grameen Dak Sewaks
within the ambit of the 7th CPC. Settle all anomalies of the 6th CPC.
2. No
privatisation, PPP or FDI in Railways and Defence Establishments and no
corporatisation of postal services;
3. No
Ban on recruitment/creation of post.
4.
Scrap PFRDA Act and re-introduce the defined benefit statutory pension scheme.
5. No
outsourcing; contractorisation, privatisation of governmental functions;
withdraw the proposed move to close down the Printing Presses; the publication,
form store and stationery departments and Medical Stores Depots; regularize the
existing daily rated/casual and contract workers and absorption of trained
apprentices;
6.
Revive the JCM functioning at all levels as an effective negotiating forum for
settlement of the demands of the CGEs.
7.
Remove the arbitrary ceiling on compassionate appointments.
8. No
labour reforms which are inimical to the interest of the workers.
9.
Remove the Bonus ceiling;
10.
Ensure five promotions in the service career.
PROGRAMME OF ACTION
1. Organize
State/District/Divisional level Joint convention to popularize the declaration
before February, 2015.
2. To
organize massive dharna/rally at all State Capital/major Defence centers
jointly by all the participating Unions in March, 2015.
3. To
organize campaign fortnight throughout the country in the first two weeks of
April, 2015.
4. To
organize Rally before the Parliament house in the month of April when the house
will be in budget session to declare the date for the commencement of the
indefinite strike action and the programme and date of serving strike notice.
Explanatory Note on Charter of Demands
Item No. 1-
1.
Effect wage revision of Central Government employees from 1.12014 accepting the
memorandum of the staff side JCM; ensure 5-year wage revision in future; grant
interim relief and merger of 100% of DA. Ensure submission of the 7th CPC
report with the stipulated time frame of 18 months; include Grameen Dak Sewaks
within the ambit of the 7th CPC. Settle all anomalies of the 6th CPC.
The
wage revision of the Central Government Emplo-
yees
had always been through the setting up of Pay
Commissions.
The 5th CPC had recommended that the DA must be merged with pay and treated as
pay for computing all allowances as and when the percentage of Dearness
compensation exceeds 50%. Accordingly even before the setting up of the 6th CPC
the DA to the extent of 50% was merged with pay. It is pertinent to mention
that even this benefit was denied to the Gramin Dak Sewak (GDS) of the Postal
Department. As on 1.1.2011, the Dearness compensation was 65%. The suggestion
for merger of DA was first mooted by the Gadgil Committee in the post 2nd Pay
Commission period. The 3rd CPC had recommended such merger when the Cost of
Living index crossed over 272 points i.e. 72 points over and above the base
index adopted for the pay revision. In other words, the recommendation of the
3rd CPC was to merge the DA when it crossed 36%. The Government in the National
Council JCM at the time of negotiation initially agreed to merge 60% DA and
later the whole of the DA before the 4th CPC was set up. The 5th CPC merged 98%
of DA with pay. The Staff Side of the National Council JCM in its meeting with
the Secretary, Personnel convened for the purpose of finalising the terms of
the reference of the 7th CPC did raise the issue of merger of DA with pay.
Though it was assured that the Government would take a final decision in the
matter, it was not referred to the 7th CPC, nor did they deem it fit to take an
executive decision. Despite the absence of any reference to the 7th CPC, the
staff side discussed the issue with the Chairman and other members in the Pay
commission. On the basis of the said discussion, a separate memorandum
detailing as to how the employees are entitled to the benefit of Interim Relief
and Merger of DA was submitted to the Commission. The Staff Side was informed
of the forwarding of the said memorandum by the Commission to the Government
for a decision at their end. The Government is, therefore, duty bound to take a
decision in the matter without further loss of time.
Interim
Relief
Most
of the earlier Commissions with the exception of Ist and 6th Central Pay
Commission had taken 2-3 years and sometimes more to finalise their
recommendations. The 6th CPC failed to appreciate the erosion in the real value
of wages that had taken place over the years due to inflation and rise in
prices of essential commodities and the inability especially of the employees
at the lower level to make the both ends meet with the available wages.
Every
Pay Commission which had recommended
Interim
Relief had made it amply clear that it was intended to provide some relief to
the employees pending a comprehensive determination of their salary structure
and other benefits. The relief granted was treated as sui generis (one of its
own kind, unique) and it was not taken into account for determining any
allowance or benefit. The Government did not initially refer the question of
Interim Relief to the 5th CPC but when the Staff Side submitted their
memorandum to the Commission on I.R., the Government had to amend the terms of
reference and refer the issue to the Commission for their decision. The
Commission’s recommendations in granting three installments of interim relief
establish the need for a relief in view of the erosion in the real value of
wages, the need to fill the widening gap in wages when compared to outside
rates and the fact that final recommendations of the Pay Commission are bound
to revise the wage structure and above all the need to provide some relief to
the employees who would retire before the Commission’s recommendations are
finally submitted to the Government and accepted by them. The need based
minimum wage computed on the basis of Dr Ackroyd formula as on 1.1.2014 will be
around Rs. 26,000 ( at the level of MTS) bringing about a gap of almost Rs
12000/-. As per the formula adopted by 5th CPC the minimum wage will work out
to 22857/- for an unskilled worker and at the level of MTS it would be Rs
28571/-. From the above it is seen that Central Government employees presently
have a very depressed salary structure. The final outcome of the deliberations
of the 7th CPC will become available only by 2016. It is, therefore, needed
that the employees have to be compensated in the form of Interim Relief. In our
opinion the Commission may, as has been done by the various earlier Pay
Commissions, recommend at least 25% of Pay in Pay Band plus Grade Pay as
Interim Relief subject to a minimum of Rs. 2000/-.
Date
of effect
The
need to revise the wages of Central Government employees every five years as is
the case with the employees of the Public Sector Undertaking has been
repeatedly raised by the Employees organisations. The 5th CPC fixed the tenure
at ten years. The 6th CPC kept a dignified silence on this vital question. Over
the five year period, normally the Dearness compensation crosses the 50% mark.
This is indicative of the fact that the erosion in the real value of wages has
become difficult for the employees to bear. The periodicity of wage revision
has to be five years. Since the Commission has come into existence in the year
2014, the recommendations of the Commission must be effective from 1.1.2014,
which will reduce the periodicity of wage revision from 10 years to 8 years.
We, therefore, demand that the 7th CPC must be asked to compute the wages on
the basis of the consumer price index as is obtaining on 1.1.2014.
Inclusion
of Grameen Dak Sewaks within the purview of the 7th CPC.
Grameen
Dak Sewaks constitutes the single largest chunk of the postal workforce.
Without them perhaps the rural postal system in the country will break down.
The dedicated service of the Grameen Dak Sewaks keeps the postal department
operational throughout the year. The system of Extra Departmental Agency was
introduced by the colonial British rulers to reduce the running expenses of the
postal system in the country. The exploitative system continued even after
independence. By excluding the Gramin Dak Sewaks from the purview of inquiry of
the Pay Commission, the Government wanted the system to continue as a means to
reduce the running expenses of the Postal Department. The exclusion is sought
to be made on the specious plea that the GDS are not Civil Servants. The
Government’s contention on this score had been the subject matter of judicial
scrutiny. The Honourable Supreme Court has held that the Extra Departmental
Agents are holders of Civil post. The 4th Central Pay Commission also held the
same view and asserted that their service conditions must be inquired into by
the Pay Commission. However, when the 5th CPC is constituted, Government
constituted a Committee under Justice Talwar to look into their case. The
Government did not implement many of the recommendations of the Talwar
Committee. It is in this context we plead that the Gramin Dak Sewaks must be
brought within the purview of the 7th Central Pay Commission and justice rendered
to them.
Settle
all anomaly items pending at the National Council JCM
The
6th CPC made a retrograde change in the pay structure of the Central Government
employees. It introduced the concept of Grade Pay and Pay Bands. There had been
no consultation with the employees while finalizing the said recommendations.
The system created enormous anomalies which had to be addressed by the
Government later. The Government on the plea of the Staff Side of the National
Council set up a joint committee to go into these anomalies. The Committee met
several times but could not resolve any issue through deliberations. These
issues are still pending unresolved. On a similar situation, the 6th CPC itself
has gone on record to state that it would not be possible for them to go into
the anomalies within the 18months provided to them to make recommendations. No
different is the case with the 7th CPC and the 7th CPC may also come up with
the above arguments for non settlement of anomaly. Moreover, none of them has
also been officially referred to the 7th CPC. It is, therefore, necessary that
the Government must look into the matter with a sense of urgency and ensure
that the anomalies are resolved urgently.
Item
No.2.
No
privatisation, PPP or FDI in Railways and Defence Establishments and no
corporatisation of postal services;
The
first Industrial Policy resolution of Free India was notified in 1948. The
defence production especially arms and ammunition, Atomic Energy and Railway
Transport were the three sectors where private entry was barred by the
Resolution for the sake of National Security and people’s welfare. In 1956, the
Government of India revised the resolution to bring in 17Sectors in the
exclusive realm of Government. In 1991, to usher in the LPG policies, Narasimha
Rao Government amended the resolution to de-reserve nine of the seventeen.
Railways, Defence production, Atomic Energy continued to be barred to private
entrepreneurs. The NDA Government in which BJP was the predominant partner
further liberalised the resolution in 1999 but still retained the Defence
production, Atomic Energy and Railways within the exclusive Governmental
Sector. The Defence production went in for partial privatisation when the
Government allowed FDI to the extent of 26% whereby the foreign Arms
manufacturers were permitted access to the vital Defence sector, disregarding
the national security perspective. In all developed Nations, Arms manufacturing
is a business intended to make profit. In other words, war was and is business
to them and war related agony to be the market for profit. Defence production
for them was not only for the purpose of defence of the country but for waging
offensive wars also. What is now decided by the present Government is to make
Indian defence production on line with the international standards; i.e. attune
it to make profits through export for which war perception and hysteria has to
be created as a marketing technology.. Eventually this will lead to closure of
Department controlled Defence production units, unable to face the unscrupulous
competition from the Transnational Corporations driving thousands of workers to
poverty and penury. The present decision of the Government to increase FDI in
defence production to 49% will leave no room for the existing Defence
production unit to survive.
On
22nd August, 2014, the Mody Government amended the1991 Government of India’s
Industrial Policy Resolution replacing the words “Railway Transport” as
“Railway operations” . Simultaneously, they also announced the induction of
100% FDI in Railways including operation, construction, design and maintenance.
As is the general perception assiduously generated, Railways is not a loss
making entity in India. The profit after dividend in FY 2013-14 was Rs. 7942
Cr. And the dividend paid to Government was Rs. 7839 Cr. The social obligation
cost was of the order of Rs. 21.391 Cr. which the Government has not paid back
to Railways at all. In other words, the Railways in the year 2013-14 have made
a clean profit of Rs. 29333 Cr.
British
India made the first experimentation of private operations of Railways by
offering a guaranteed 5% return on investments. Neither the Railway net work
was expanded, nor were the Government or the customers benefitted. British
Government had to ultimately rescind its decision and took over the Railway
operations in 1924.
Neither
FDI nor the PPP will help the Railways. The DMRC had to ultimately take over
the Airport Express Line and run it, for the Reliance who undertook the
construction on PPP model found it not profitable. The induction of FDI and the
consequent privatisation of Railways will make Rail journey beyond the reach of
the poor people of India. In the bid to maximise profits, Railways will be
compelled to charge enormously for its services. The unprofitable lines will be
closed down. No social obligation will be undertaken by the Railways. Lakhs of
Railway workers will be compelled to seek employment elsewhere. Railway will
become a loss making enterprise in the days to come as is the case with the
Railways in most of the advanced capitalist countries of Europe. The present
decision of the Government to have 100% FDI in Railways, to say the least, is
an unpatriotic act in search of profit. The Government of the day has thrown a
challenge to working people of the country in general and Railway and Defence
workers in particular. We must accept the challenge; defeat the nefarious
design with determination and with a do or die attitude. We must not entertain
any doubt of our ultimate victory in this battle.
The
Task force set up by the Government under the chairmanship of Shri T.S.R.
Subramaniam, former Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India, has
recommended to convert the postal department into a corporation, perhaps on the
lines the Telecom was made into BSNL, VSNL and MTNL. The Company so formed will
have five subsidiary arms. The Corporatisation route may not bring about an
immediate reduction in the manpower, but eventually will. The entire social
obligations will be thrust upon the new company while the private players will
take the creamy part of the communication business as was done in the case of
Telecom. In the longer run, the Public Sector Company so formed would be made
to incur losses and public opinion generated for its closure. Let there be no
illusion; the Government’s decision is to privatise and make available the huge
infra structure built over centuries of operation and hand over the lucrative
business of Postal Banking and Postal Insurance.
Item
No. 3.
No Ban
on recruitment/creation of post.
In
1993, the Government of India introduced a total and blanket ban on creation of
posts. This was done with a view to reduce the manpower in the Governmental
establishments, for on implementation of the neo liberal economic policies, the
Government will be required to close down some of its activities and some
others to be off-loaded to the private domain. In 2001, the GOI issued
an executive instruction modifying the complete ban on recruitment that was in
vogue whereby various departments, if they so desire, resort to recruit
personnel to fill up the existing vacancies, provided they abolish 2/3rd of
such vacancies. In other words, the concerned heads of Departments will be
permitted to fill up 1/3rd of the vacancies provided they abolish the 2/3rd
vacancies permanently. Since it was impossible to carry on the functions
assigned to the Departments with large number of vacant posts, they had to
implement the above cited directive of the Department of personnel, which was
meant to arbitrarily reduce the manpower especially in Group C and D segments.
Though the directive was to be applied uniformly to all cadres where direct
entry is one of the mode of recruitment, not a single Group A. post was
abolished as most of the departments offered to do away with Group C and D
posts only. Since direct recruitment is seldom resorted to in Group B cadres,
the brunt of the burden of the above cited instruction had to be borne by the
Group C and D cadres in each department. The said directive remained operative
for nearly a decade i.e. upto 2010. Such abnormal and arbitrary abolition of
posts affected very adversely the functioning of many departments consequent
upon which the public at large suffered immeasurably, besides accentuating the
unemployment situation to alarming proportion. To cope up with the genuine
complaints of the public, most of the heads of Departments had to resort to
either to outsourcing of the functions or engaging contract workers. The Govt.
encouraged this endeavour by providing unlimited funds. In the circumstances,
it is imperative that the sanctioned Strength as on 1.01.2001 is restored and
the consequent vacancies filled up by a special drive for recruitment. The
Government has a time tested and scientific system of assessing the workload
and measuring the manpower requirement. This seems to have been presently
abandoned and the vacancies barring in a few cases are not being filled up.
Even though there had been phenomenal increase in the workload in each
department no new posts are created to cope up with the situation. The 6th CPC
dealing with the subject has recommended that such ban on creation of posts for
a long period is not desirable and the Departments should be empowered to
create the need based posts for its effective functioning. The commensurate
posts that are needed to cope up with the increasing workload must be
sanctioned and recruitment of personnel resorted to so that the assigned
functions of each department could be carried out effectively and efficiently.
The New Government immediately on assuming power has decided to re-introduce
the ban on recruitment and instructions were issued to all Departments under
the Government of India accordingly, dashing the hope of all young job
aspirants, who is reported to have voted overwhelmingly the NDA in the last
election.
Item
No.4.
Scrap
PFRDA Act and re-introduce the defined benefit statutory pension scheme.
The
defined benefit scheme of pension was introduced replacing the then existing
contributory system decades back. The Government decided to reconvert the same
into a contributory scheme on the specious plea that the outflow on pension had
been increasing year by year and is likely to cross the wage bill. By making it
contributory, the Government expenditure on this score is not likely to get
reduced for the next four decades because of the reason that as per the
announced scheme, the Government is to contribute the same amount to the fund
as the employees make. Coupled with this stipulation the Government is also duty
bound to make payment for the existing pensioners and for all Central
Government employees who were in service prior to 1.1.2004. The contribution
collected from the employees who are recruited after 1.1.2004 is to be managed
by a mutual fund operator for investment in the stock market. It is the
vagaries of the stock market which will then determine the quantum of pension
or in other words annuity, which would not be cost indexed. Before the
introduction of the new scheme and the PFRDA bill, the Government had set up a
committee under the chairmanship of Shri Bhattacharya, the then Chief Secretary
of the State of Karnataka. The bill was unfortunately drafted and presented to
the Parliament disregarding even the recommendation of the said committee to the
effect that the Govt. should consider introducing a hybrid system by which the
employees will have either a defined benefit pension or opt for a higher return
through stock exchange investments. Despite the non-passage of the bill and the
consequent absence of a valid law to support the Pension Regulatory authority,
the Govt. converted the existing pension scheme into a contributory one through
executive fiat and invested a percentage of the fund so generated from the
employees' contribution in the Stock market. India is a young country and the
expenditure on statutory pension has remained over a long period not more than
5% of GDP which the country/Government can afford to spend. The withdrawal of
PFRDA bill is required for the following solid reasons:
(a)
The new pension scheme is going to make social security in old age uncertain
and dependent on market forces.
(b)
The scheme has been compulsorily imposed on a section of employees and hence it
is discriminatory.
(c)
Such scheme had been a failure in many countries including Chile, UK and even
USA. In USA entire pension wealth has been wiped out leaving pensioners with no
pension. In Argentina the contributory scheme which was introduced at the
instance of IMF was replaced with the defined benefit pension scheme.
(d)
The PFRDA Bill has provisions empowering the Govt. and the Authority to cover
employees now left out and to amend the existing entitlements of pension
benefits.
(e) In
majority of the countries, "pay as you go" is the system of pension.
(f)
The contributory scheme does not give any guarantee for a minimum pension of
50% of the pay drawn at the time of retirement of the employee. Nor does it
provide for the protection of his family members in the form of family pension
in the event of death. The Supreme Court had declared pension as one of the
fundamental rights. The government should, therefore, retrace from its avowed
position, which is detrimental to the interest of the employees and ensure that
the employees recruited after 1.1.2004 is covered by the existing statutory
defined benefit scheme and rescind the PFRDA Act. The recent decision of the
Cabinet to allow FDI in pension fund operations has made the real intent of the
PFRDA Act unambiguously clear. The FDI will facilitate the mutual fund
operators to invest the funds outside India thereby making Indian Savings
available for development of a foreign country. It is now clear that the
decision behind the contributory pension scheme was the pressure imposed by
imperialist powers and more specifically IMF. It has, therefore, to be opposed
at all cost and with vehemence. The Govt. should not go ahead with its
intention of induction of FDI in pension fund companies.
Item
No. 5.
No
outsourcing; contractorisation, privatisation of governmental functions;
withdraw the proposed move to close down the Printing Presses; the publication,
form store and stationery departments and Medical Stores Depots; regularise the
existing daily rated/casual and contract workers and absorption of trained
apprentices;
To
overcome the difficulties emanating from the total ban on recruitment and
creation of posts and more specifically impacted by the 2001 executive fiat of
the Govt. of India in the matter, many departments had to resort to outsourcing
of its functions. Some were virtually closed down and a few others were
privatised or contractorised. The large scale outsourcing and contractorisation
of functions had a telling effect on the efficacy of the Government
departments. The delivery system was adversely affected and the public at large
suffered due to the inordinate delay it caused in getting the requisite
service. The financial outlay for outsourcing of functions of each department
increased enormously over the years. The quality of work suffered. In order to
ensure that the people do get a better and efficient service from the
Government departments and to raise the image of the Government employees in
the eyes of the common people, it is necessary that the present scheme of
outsourcing and contractorization of essential functions of the Government must
be abandoned. The practice of outsourcing and contractorisation is nothing but
a cruel exploitation of the alarming situation of unemployment. The system of
outsourcing of the functions seeks to informalise the workforce. The
contract/casual workers get not even one third of the salary of the regular
work force. They have no social security benefits like pension, provident fund
gratuity etc. The C.G. employees fought against the temporary service rules
which was in vogue in sixties and ensured that the recruitment to Government
service is permanent and the civil servants are not allowed to be fired at the
whim and fancy of their bosses. The outsourcing and contractorisation has paved
way for large scale entry of casual workers and has resulted in the reversal of
what all achieved in this direction through struggles in the past two decades.
Due to
the ban on creation of posts and recruitment of personnel that continued for a
very long period and the consequent strain on the existing workers, many
Departmental heads had to recruit personnel on daily rated basis or as casual
workers. Thus, almost 25% of the present work forces in Governmental
organizations are casual workers deployed to do the permanent and perennial
nature of jobs, contrary to the prohibition of such unfair labour practices by
the law of the land. In Fifties and Sixties, even the casual workers who had
been employed to do the casual and non perennial jobs used to get priority for
regular employment as and when vacancy for such permanent recruitment arises.
Thousands of persons are now recruited as casual workers and kept as such for
years together. As per the information now made available in the floor of the
Parliament, the number of contract workers engaged by various public sector
undertaking and Governmental organisations is more than 21,12 715. (Reply to
question in the Parliament) They are paid pittance of a salary with no benefits
like provident fund, dearness allowance, other compensatory allowances etc. In
order to ensure that they do not get the benefit of regularisation, these
workers are technically discharged for a few days to be employed afresh again.
The modus operandi differs from one department to another.
While
in some organisations, they are recruited through employment exchanges in
others the functions are contracted out. Not only the quality of work suffers
but it is also an inhuman exploitation of the workers given the serious
situation of unemployment that exists in the country. While the permanent
solution is to sanction the necessary posts and resort to regular recruitment,
the Government should evolve a scheme by which these casual/contingent/daily
rated/contract workers are made regular workers with all the concomitant benefits
available for regular Government employees. Pending finalisation of such a
scheme for regularisation, the non regular employees recruited for meeting the
exigencies of work must be paid pro-rata salary on par with the similarly
placed regular employees on the principle of equal pay for equal work.
At
present the Apprentices are trained under the Apprentice Act, 1961. Recently
the Government has amended the provisions of Apprentice Act 1961 thereby
empowering the employers to frame their own policies for recruitment, training,
retention, absorption of Apprentices. This will result in exploitation of
apprentices as casual workers. The apprentices once recruited and trained must
be absorbed as regular workers against the permanent posts.
The
Modi Government has decided to close down all the Printing Presses and
Stationary depots and form stores in the country. In fact, the UPA Government
too had taken such a decision. In the beginning the Government advanced the
non-profitability of the department as the primary reason for the closure.
Printing Technology had undergone vast strides in the last two decades. The
Department controlled Printing Presses had not undertaken any modernisation
programme at all for several years. In the case of Stationery Depots, the reason
advanced for the closure was that the Government had found no benefit in the
Centralised purchasing. In both the cases, the employees’ organisations had a
series of discussions with the Officials of the Printing and Stationery
Department as also with the then political authorities of the Government. They
could convince that if necessary steps are taken, the units could become
profitable enterprises and the managerial lapses must not be the reason for the
closure of an enterprise. After prolonged parleys, the decision to restructure
the printing presses was taken; stationery department was administratively made
a part of the Printing presses and capital was infused into the enterprise by
virtue of which new machinery was inducted and the modernisation process
commenced. Without causing any discussions, the Government has now announced
the closure of these enterprises again. The real intent appears to be the
utilisation of the large scale real estate available in the event of closure of
these Government organisations. Hundreds of workers will become jobless if this
is allowed. The Government must be compelled to rescind this decision.
In the
case of Medical depots, the Government has now decided to convert the
department into a different entity; i.e. a society. The main functions of the
Medical depots are to cater to the requirements of various Government run
hospitals and Dispensaries; provide vaccines to the different disease
eradication projects of the Government; to render emergency help to the areas affected
by the natural calamities. The expertise gained by this organisation over its
long standing functions has made it a unique enterprise. Government and
Government run hospitals and especially those who run various projects for
eradication of infectious or contagious diseases are to benefit from their
expertise. There has been no tangible reasons advanced for the conversion of
this enterprise into a privately run institution. In the event of the
Government’s move succeeding, the present employees will be compelled to seek
employment under a different dispensation with no protection to their wages,
allowances and benefits which they were getting as Government employees
hitherto. As in the case of Printing and Stationery, the decision to convert
the Government department into a private enterprise was earlier taken but on
reconsideration dropped. Without causing any discussions whatsoever, the
Government has resurrected the dropped proposal for conversion which will have
far reaching consequences to the employees as also to the organisations which
are presently engaged in various projects. The Government has to be compelled
to withdraw this decision.
Item
No. 6.
Revive
the JCM functioning at all levels as an effective negotiating forum for
settlement of the demands of the CGEs.
It was
in the wake of the indefinite strike action of 1960, the JCM was set up as a
negotiating forum to expedite settlement of demands and problems of employees.
On the pretext of the promulgation of the new CCS (RSA) Rules, most of the
departments suspended the operation of the Departmental Councils. Even after
complying with the requisite formalities, in many departments, Associations/ Federations
are yet to be recognized. Wherever the recognition process was completed and
orders issued granting recognition, no meetings of the Departmental Councils
are held. Inspite of raising the issue in the National Council on several
occasions by the Staff Side, nothing tangible has been done to ensure that the
councils are made functional.
The
National Council is, as per the scheme, to meet once in four months. It meets
after several years, the system of concluding on the agenda in the meeting in
which it is raised has been totally abandoned with the result that number of
issues have been kept pending for indefinite period of time. The
non-functioning of the Council and the consequent non- redressal of grievances
has led to agitations including strike action in many departments. The 6th CPC
recommendations were given effect to in September, 2008. The anomalies arising
therefrom (which is in large numbers) ought to have been settled as per the
agreement by Feb,. 2010. Barring one or two items, no settlement has been
brought about on a large num-
ber of
anomalies till date.
At the
time of the General Strike action on 28th Feb. 2012, the Joint Secretary
(Estt.) in the Department of Personnel wrote in her demi-official communication
addressed to all Secretaries of the Government of India as under, which is
contrary to facts but also misleading too.
"Joint
consultative machinery for Central Government employees is already functioning.
This scheme has been introduced with the object t of promoting harmonious
relations and of securing the greatest measure of co-operation between the
Government, in its capacity as employer and the general body of its employees
in matters of common concern, and with the object further of increasing the
efficiency of the public service. The JCM at different levels have been
discussing issues brought before it for consideration and either reaching
amicable settlement or referring the matter to the Board of Arbitration in
relation to pay and allowances, weekly hours of work and leave, wherever no
amicable settlement could be reached in relation to these items."
The
forum of Departmental Councils must be immediately revived in all Departments
and made effective as an instrument to settle the demands of the employees. The
periodicity in which the meeting of the National Council is to be held must be
adhered. The Department of Personnel, which is the nodal department for
ensuring the functioning of the negotiating machinery, must monitor the
functioning of the Departmental Councils of various Ministries and Departments
and a report placed in the National Council. The Cabinet Secretary, who is the
Chairman of the National Council, is required to ensure that the Council
meetings are convened once in four months and the issues raised therein settled
in a reasonable time frame.
Since
the grant of recognition to Service Association is a pre-requisite for the
effective functioning of the negotiating machinery, the Ministries must be
asked to process the application and take decision in the matter within a fixed
time frame as the recognition rules have come into existence in 1993 that is
about a decade back.
Item
No. 7
Remove
the arbitrary ceiling on compassionate appointments.
On the
plea of a Supreme Court directive, Govt. introduced a 5% ceiling on the
compassionate appointments. When the matter was taken up by the Staff Side in
the National Council the Government was unable to produce any such direction of
the Supreme Court. Despite that, the official side refused to withdraw the said
instructions limiting the appointments to 5% of the available vacancies. In one
of the National Council meetings, presided over by the Cabinet Secretary solemn
assurance was given to the Staff Side that the issue will be revisited in the
light of the discussion, but nothing happened thereafter. It is pertinent to
mention in this connection that the compassionate appointments in the Railways
continue to be operated without any such ceiling. In the Department of Posts
hundreds of candidates selected by Selection Committee were denied jobs. The
list of selected candidates was scrapped. These candidates approached the Court
and obtained a favourable order. But the Court directive was made applicable to
only those who approached the Court. The standing Committee on Department of
Personnel in one of their report has termed the scheme of Compassionate ground
appointments as a sacred assurance to a fresh entrant that if he dies in
harness, his family shall not be left in lurch. Such an assurance is being
breached by the provisions of limiting such appointments to 5% of vacancies.
This condition, therefore, must be done away with.
Item
No. 8.
No
labour reforms which are inimical to the interest of the workers.
We
reproduce hereunder the extract from the Declaration of the National convention
of Workers held at New Delhi on 15th September, 2014 in the wake of the amendments
effected by the Rajasthan State Governments to the Labour Laws and the proposed
amendments contained in the bill introduced in the Parliament by the Government
of India on Factories Act, Labour Laws and Apprentices Act.
“Most
of the amendments sought to be done will have serious negative impact on the
working conditions including trade union rights of the workers and the
employees. It is unfortunate that in spite of the assurances given by the
Labour Minister that Central Trade Unions will be consulted; these amendments
in Labour Laws are being pushed through without any consultations with them.
The amendments passed by Rajasthan Assembly on 31st July, 2014, in Industrial
Disputes Act, Factories Act, Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act and
Apprenticeship Act will make hire and fire much easier for the employers and
will result in rampant casualisation of employment. Liberalising the provisions
of Factories Act will imperil the safety ast work place in small and medium
scale enterprises and will push majority of factories out of its coverage.
Similarly raising the threshold employment ceiling of 20 to 50 workers for
registration of contractors will enable the Principal employer and contractor
to become unaccountable for service conditions of the workers in a large number
of enterprises. It is unfortunate that the Govt. being model employer deploys
the largest number of contract workers and thereby depriving them of the
security of job, wage and social security benefits. The amendment bills already
introduced in Parliament by the Central Govt. on Factories Act, Labour Laws
(Exemption from furnishing returns and maintaining registers for certain
establishments Act and Apprentices Act are also designed to bring about such
changes which will adversely affect the service conditions of the workers
throwing overwhelming majority of them out of the coverage of all basic labour
laws. The Factories Act amendment bill introduced in Lok Sabha on 7th August,
2014 further liberalises the coverage of factories under the Act as amendment
proposed in definition of factories (Section 2m) authorises States to fix
number of workers for coverage under the Act. This will legitimise amendment
already passed by Rajasthan Assembly on 31st July, 2014. The Central Govt. is
also considering amendments in Minimum wages Act and Industrial Disputes Act.
The amendment to Apprenticeship Act will pave the way for replacement of the
contract/casual/temporary workers and even regular workers by comparatively low
paid apprentices. Moreover, these amendments will straightaway empower and
encourage the State Governments to bring about pro-employer changes in labour
laws as per the Rajasthan model. The process of amendments in Labour laws is
also aimed to do away with tripartite consultation mechanism.
In
essence, all moves of amendments in the labour laws, both by the Central
Government and by the Govt. in Rajasthan are aimed at empowering the employers
to retrench/layoff workers or declare closure/shut down at will and also resort
to mass scale contractorisation. These are also designed to push out more than
seventy per cent of the industrial and service establishments in the country
and their workers out of the purview of almost all labour laws, thereby
allowing the employers as free hand to further squeeze and exploit the
workers.”
Item
No. 9.
Remove
the Bonus ceiling;
Barring
the Railways, Defence production units and Postal Department, Bonus is paid to
the Central Government employees on adhoc basis. The 30 days adhoc bonus is the
maximum that is provided to them. The 4th and 5th Central Pay Commissions had
recommended the introduction of productivity linked bonus scheme to all
Departments as is presently the case in the three Departments mentioned above.
Even the scheme of PLB is not uniform in as much as the Postal Department
introduced an artificial ceiling of 60 days on the entitled number of days of
bonus whereas no such ceiling exist either in the Railways or in the Defence
Production organisations. The Government is yet to implement the above reco-mmendations
of 4th & 5th CPCs even though several rounds of discussions on the subject
were held. There is no reason whatsoever, as to why this reco-mmendation could
not be implemented. There had been no rise in the adhoc bonus for past a decade
even though there had been considerable amount of increase in the case of PLB
over the years. The Department of Personnel and Expenditure may be advised to
finalise the PLB scheme without further delay for those who are in receipt of
adhoc bonus. Even though Bonus Act is said to have no application or relevance
to the Productivity linked Bonus or adhoc bonus, the provisions of the said Act
is employed to deny the entitled bonus to the Government employees on the basis
of their emo-luments. The bonus entitlement in both the cases is restricted to
the computation based on the notional emoluments of Rs.3500. Presently even a
casual worker is entitled to get a monthly wage of more than Rs. 3500. The
minimum wage as on 1.1.2006 determined by the 6th CPC in respect of Central
Government employees is Rs. 7000. By artificially linking the restriction of
emoluments stipulated by the Bonus Act, the employees are denied their
legitimate entitlement of Bonus. The Bonus entitlement must be computed on the
basis of the actual emoluments of an employee.
Item
No. 10
Ensure
five promotions in the service career.
For
the efficient functioning of an institution, the primary pre-requisite is to
have a contended workforce. It is not only the emoluments, perks and privileges
that motivate an employee to give his best. They are no doubt important. But
what is more important is to provide them a systematic career progression. The
present system of career progression available in the All India Services and
the organised group A Civil services attracts large number of young, talented
and educated persons to compete in the All India Civil Service Examination. No
different was the career progression scheme available in the subordinate
services in the past. Persons who were recruited to subordinate services were
able to climb to Managerial positions over a period of time. The situation
underwent vast changes in the last two decades. In most of the Departments,
stagnation has come to stay. It takes decades to be promoted to the next higher
grade in the hierarchy. It was the recognition of the lack of promotional
avenue in the subordinate services that made the 5th CPC to recommend a time
bound two career progression scheme. However, this has not gone to address the
inherent problem of de-motivation that has crept in due to the high level of
stagnation. In most of the Departments, the exercise of cadre review which was
considered important was not carried out. Any attempt in this regard was
restricted to Group A services. The discontent amongst the employees in the
matter is of high magnitude today. It is, therefore, necessary that every
Department is asked to undertake to bring about a cadre composition and
recruitment pattern in such a manner that an employee once recruited is to have
five hierarchical promotions in his career as is presently the position in the
All India Services and in the organised Group A services.
