DK 53 : Circular from Sri D.Krishnan, Gen.Secretary of Federation

FEDERATION OF RETIRED LIC CLASS I OFFICERS' ASSOCIATIONS     

President :    N.P. Bali 705, Sur, Veena Saaz, Thakur Complex, Kandivali (East), Mumbai - 400 101 Mob : 9820324213 Email Id - npbali@hotmail.com

General Secretary :    D Krishnan No.6/1, Sreshta Riverside Apartments, Wood Creek Road, Nandambakkam, Chennai - 600089 Tel : 9176635967 / 044 42850049. Email Id - dkrishnan1@gmail.com

 

Ecircular No.DK/53                             4-02-2019

JOINT MEETING OF THE LIC PENSIONERS ASSOCIATIONS

NANI  PALKHIVALA ARBITRATION CENTER CHENNAI - 2-2-2019

 

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Friends,

It has been some time since I was in contact the last time.  This is no doubt, a period of lull on our matters , as we await a confirmation on the Date for our next Hearing in the Supreme Court. Yes, there is a computer generated indication that it is on the 12th of Feb 2019.  We still don't have an affirmation from the Court sources that the date of 12th will finally hold. We also do not have an indication so far, if the Bench to Hear our case has been re- constituted, after Sri Madan Lokur , the lead- judge in our Bench, retired by the end of Dec 2018. We shall certainly keep you abreast of developments there, as they come up.

Meanwhile , something pretty Historic has indeed taken place. This relates to a question raised repeatedly by members in our Associations all over, as to why we, the six Petitioners in the LIC case, in SC now, do not make a joint effort, instead of standing apart, on disparate thrusts. We always thought, while the question was a legitimate one, the  practical side of it, was beset with issues of differences in identities and philosophies and even egos, and that , such coming together would be a far cry. But now, it has indeed taken its first steps to being a reality. Yes, on the 2nd of February, 2019, there was a day-long conclave of the Leaderships of 5 out of the 6 Petitioners  in the fray, at Chennai, which was  initiated basically by AIRIEF and given practical shape to, by our Federation.  The caption on the Folders of the members attending, read  "Joint Meeting Of LIC Pensioners' Associations", and all but Sri Asthana , the sixth petitioner, were there in attendance. Sri Asthana also was of a mind to attend, but for some logistical reasons , held back without making the journey.

It was an unbelievable scene , where the different groups merged their separate identities for a time, and shared their thoughts as if they were all part of one Group. There was no holding back in the manner the members came up with their own ways of looking at the Court Case, and how we could narrow down differences, in the way our separate cases were presented in Court , so as not to seem  disparate, but unified in thought and  thrust. A lot of clarity did emerge in the cross-sharing between the camps, and some understanding seemed to emerge as to what practical ways  could be adopted, that would make a mark on the Bench. One thing that came out was, the complexities or the nitty gritty  of our matters , where we had a lot to say with facts and figures, would make less of an impression,  than presenting  the same points from Legal , Technical and Constitutional aspects involved, constituting violations.  All  members were pretty clear that we must now , not lose time, in getting at the two basic demands of Uniform DR pattern for all retirees, and up-grade of Pensions, as against the LIC- held negative idea , of static Basic pay for life, mainly with the ultimate goal of protecting the value of our original Pension, which was getting eroded rapidly, due to inflation. The various factions detailed their main push in their SLPs, filed before the Supreme Court, as the first starting phase, in the discussions, and then moved on to discuss common ground for making our thrust more effective for better results.

The most interesting aspect of the Conclave was that none of the participants held on to a the group identity from where they came. They discussed openly, as one House, and furthermore, reached a stage when there was a strong suggestion, that we should give shape to a Confederation of the six Associations, so that we keep deriving the benefit of consultations and sharing, on a common platform, as a permanent and on-going feature. While no clear decision on this was taken in the Meeting itself, the idea is still very much present amongst the members, and should be taking shape as we go along. The point really was that this should not end up as a one-off exercise, and should pave the way for something more lasting.

So friends, what we had imagined,  as not practical, did finally happen, and some joint proposals were placed before the House which , it is hoped, will eventually lead to the Senior Counsels of the different Petitioners, almost speaking the same language in Court. It may be a reality, that Senior Counsels may not sit together in advance, to be briefed on our joint thinking, but out of our commonly shared ideas, if the separate Briefings, can practically result in a commonality of approach, the  purpose would still have been served, more or less. And that is where we are keenly interested-- to get to success in our endeavour.

 Changing track now, on the 26th Jan 2019, I again wrote to the ED (P) Sri Gupta about matters which were represented to them , and where , possibly they could move on without reference to Central Govt. These included the 4 broad mistakes in their Arrears Settlement for Pre-97 retirees,  on DHC Order, their lack of response to our suggestion on the 92-93 Retirees based on SC Order in MC Jain case, and general unresponsiveness to communications. I had also asked, following a message from the Grievance Cell of Central Govt, received by Sri Arunachalam of Chennai, whether there was a move, to allow percentage additions to Pensions, in stages , for those in age groups over 80. I had added a line that overall we are yet to see seriousness and earnestness on the part of CO in dealing with Pensioner matters. So that will be it for now. With Greetings

D.Krishnan

General Secretary