you should intervene now, to correct these major errors in the assessment by the CO...writes D.Krishnan GS to Chairman LIC

Federation of Retired LIC Class I Officers' Associations

 Fedn. E circular DK-39                                                                  dt.9-09-2018

 Friends,

DR Arrears Payment ...... Letter to Chairman of LIC .

I thought it is time we directly brought in our LIC Chairman into the picture of our problems, on the Disbursement mess, of DR Arrears. So I have sent him by mail, and then by Speed Post, a message that is reproduced here.

Collections of 'Cost Recovery Levy' , right in the golden hour of payments being received, is  extremely important. And this is yet another Reminder to our Association Unit Leaderships, for we are highly dependent on the  amount we would be collecting now, for our onward movement.

Before gettiing on to the Message to Chairman, I would want to mention a very happy development, that is in the offing . Yes, Sri O P Vasisht, our resourceful Delhi member, has been able to bring about the idea of an Association Unit at Ahmadabad, under the leadership of Sri D B Shah. The formal inauguration, would follow, with over 50 members, to start with.  Sri O P Vasisht and Sri D B Shah deserve to be complimented for their tremendous initiative on this.

And now here is the Letter to Chairman:

 ================================================================

Dear Sri Sharmaji,

Our Pranams to you, as Chairman of one of the Flagship institutions, of the commanding heights of the Indian Economy.

Yes, Sir, I am now Gen Secretary of the Federation of  Retired LIC Class I Officers' Associations, in place of the legendary senior statesman, Sri G N Sridharan. This change happened in Dec 2017 .

I am addressing a communication to you for the first time, though we had so many issues that would have, in the normal course, made us think of your being involved, to bring about a solution. Perhaps the time has come now.

You should be aware, that we the Pensioners, have been knocking the doors of the judiciary, at different levels, over the last so many years, for a fair deal to us , on very basic aspects, governing our existence with self respect and Dignity.

The Delhi High Court came out with a judgment in April 2017 which denied us most of our Demands. Even so they did agree, that the Dearness Relief( DR) rate applied to retirees prior to August 1997 , was totally discriminatory, offending Art 14, and that   the Pre Aug 1997 retirees, should not be paid DR lesser than what is paid to  Post aug 1997 retirees. While the intent was right on this, the way the Court had worked out the Rates  fell short . So we went to Supreme Court, with an SLP, since our other major Demands too, like Revision in Pension,  had also not been met.

The Supreme Court while hearing the SLP, expected LIC, to first implement the DHC order  on  DR, to Pre Aug 1997 retirees. We were not averse to receiving what was being paid, though it did not satisfy our demand on this,  fully.

While giving a Direction to LIC, the Delhi High Court had held that,

 1. " ....... that payments made in terms of interim directions issued by the Supreme Court would not be refunded or returned to the corporation...."

and further 2.  " ......Arrears , if any, would be paid from the date when the first writ petition was filed, to all retired employees/ pensioners who would be entitled to benefit of this judgment"

and also 3. Dearness relief @ 0.17% of basic pension in paragraph 1 shall stand enhanced to 0.29% for amounts between Rs.2130/- to Rs.3850/-, the rate stipulated in paragraph 2. This was also not carried out correctly.

The specific purpose of my addressing this communication now , is to tell you that all the three Directions of the Delhi High Court, as currently ordered by the Supreme Court, to be complied with by LIC have been brazenly flouted, in spite of our reminding the CO Personnel Dept in advance.

The first writ petition filed was in Dec 1998 in the Rajasthan HC, and the LIC's payment now done, is from 2007, the date of the second petition filed in Delhi High Court, instead of from 1998. In fact the interim payment of 40% made in 2016, on the basis of SC directions, was calculated from 1997, the date from which the anomaly  arose.

 The other Direction of the Delhi H C  was, not to take back, the interim amount paid to the pensioners in 2016 . But the LIC has deducted the interim payment made, from the current Arrears payment to the pensioners. The pity is that the Interim Relief   in effect got recovered, with interest, to boot! What is even more  harsh is that the instructions for payment, without deduction of Interim Relief Amt, which was initially sent to the Zonal Offices, was later reversed as an after- thought, through separate instructions from CO.  

You will please understand the pathetic situation of the pensioners, who are already bedevilled by age and infirmity, after rendering their services to this Great Organization in their better days. We sincerely feel ,  you should intervene now, to correct these major errors in the assessment by the CO. I have already addressed Communications to the Directors Personnel, but there has been no movement so far.  Hence I thought I should directly bring you into this troubled picture, to have these  wrongs corrected.

With Kind Regards

D.Krishnan.

Gen Secretary, Federation of Retired LIC ClassI officers' Associations.

09-09-2018

Chennai.