FROM THE DESK OF OUR GEN.SECRETARY OF FEDERATION OF RETD.CLASS 1 OFFICERS ASSOCIATIONS.

E circular DK/5 31-12-2017

Friends,

It gives me great pleasure in Greeting all of you, in the Retired Class I officers' community and all LIC retirees, on the eve of the New Year 2018 being ushered in. My Very Best Wishes to all of you for a good turn of events for us. Though we are an ageing class , we still look up with optimism, to what the future can bring us. Only then will we keep the spirit of not giving up in all our endeavours as a class.

The case now in Supreme Court, does hold possibilities of positive outcome, though ,sadly, in the year 2017, our expectations were belied by the judgement of the Delhi HC. What I noticed there was, the courts go by technicalities of Rules, rather than by fairness and justice per se. While beautiful arguments were advanced by the 7th Pay commission, to recommend a fair raise for the Pensioners of Govt. Services, on grounds of maintaining their living standards against inflationary rise in cost of living, and enabling a comparative level with Retirees of later times, the same logic did not get the attention of the Court when we pleaded for Revision in Pension on similar grounds. The Court got stuck with our Pension Rules which did not apparently speak about Basic Pension being Revised. They also set it out that ours was not comparable with the 'Pay as you go' system in Central Govt. Pensions, as against our' Funded' Pension Scheme. So Courts interpret Rules more often, than see the glaring situations of anomaly in fairness overall. We cannot afford to let our efforts flag, and we will need to keep thinking of ways to fight for justice.

In the S C, earlier on, we were granted a 40% Interim Relief, arrears of which, calculated in a restrictive way, was given to the pre-97 Retirees as a one-time payment. More than the correctness in calculations and the quantum of money involved per se, what we had gained there, was an acceptance from the highest judicial Body in the country, that there indeed was a situation that needed correction. In the last Hearing in the SC when our Sr. Counsel raised the point that after the one-time Arrears payment, there had been no follow-up of the principle in the subsequent monthly payments of Pension, this seemed to get the acknowledgement of the judges, who showed a positive inclination on this matter. We in the Federation are now thinking seriously, of filing an Interlocutory Application (I A) specifically on the Interim Relief matter. We are also bringing in the starkly anomalous condition of Pensions of Officers Retired earlier vis-a-vis later to also press for Interim Relief for the post 97 Retirees.

A happy development in this context is the joining- in of our veteran leader, Sri G N Sridharan as the Chairman of the Legal Committee of the Federation. He was guiding the Legal matters as the Gen Secretary of the Federation till very recently. It was thought that we could not afford to miss out on the experience and expertise of such a stalwart leader, just over a technicality of position. So, he would now continue to handle Legal matters, and that would lend continued solidity to our efforts.

In the area of Mediclaim, the Corporation has raised the Compulsory limits of 3 lakhs-4 lakhs -& 6 lakhs to 5L- 6L & 10 lakhs respectively. This is a very positive development for all of us. We have written to the E D Personnel of C O, about re-opening the Option to raise the Family Floater Cover so that some of us could think of opting for the higher slabs of Family Floater Cover, whose time for exercising choice on the newly announced increased limits (20-40-50 lakhs) closed with the 30th of Nov. There would be a Premium- advantage due to the rise in the Compulsory Limits ,now, leading up to 10 lakhs , and that would enable fresh assessment of possibilities for raising the Family Floater cover limits for many of us.

There are possibilities now of some of our old friends ( units) , who had left us for some reasons earlier , re-joining the Federation fold once again. We all have a common goal of uplifting the lot of the Retired Officers and being vigilant about matters that involve our interests. It is but natural that smaller reasons give way to the superior concerns at some time. This may now be too early to discuss more on this. The year 2018 should bring us happy answers on this front too.

I thought I should keep all members posted on the latest position on matters concerning our class as we enter the New Year. As I sign off on this Message , there are just 20 minutes left of the year 2017.

Once again Wishing All of you a very Happy New Year. D.Krishnan Gen Secretary