Silence...silence...some very important news from GS. " Top Most .............................."

RETIRED   LIC   CLASS   I   OFFICERS’   ASSOCIATION – CHENNAI

(Affiliated  to Federation of Retd. Class I Officers’  Associations)

President G.N. Sridharan (9841072951) 7/4, II cross St., Karpagam gardens, Chennai-600020

Vice-Presidents M.Arunachalam (9840869768) P.A.Sivakumaran (9444079062)

Secretary V.R.Krishnan (9840932943)

Jt. Secretaries  S. Mythili (9840089067) M.D.Gunasekaran (9940311696)

Treasurer T.S.Asok Kumar (9444440319)

Dear Friends,

I am giving you a gist of two circulars from the Federation for  information.

With Greetings

V.R.Krishnan, Secretary

A.     Some solace to the pre-86 retirees and the connected family pensioners

Our Court matters are still in the snooze mode and there is nothing concrete to report. However, there is a good news for the Pre 1986 retirees and the family pensioners of the pre 1986 retirees. They are a very few in number. LIC central Office has issued a circular,   raising their ad hoc Monthly cash  Medical Benefit  from 1000/- to 2000/-! Their basic pension is Rs350/- plus DA. For the surviving Family Pensioners, the Benefit would be 50%. The short Circular of CO is reproduced here for your knowledge:

FOLLOWS IS A COMMERCIAL BREAK. 
COURTESY: www.hindupedia.com

what is charity ? Read the story .click HERE.

  




THIS ABOVE PICTURE IS NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO WHAT IS SAID ABOVE.
POSSIBLY THIS COULD BE OBITER DICTA. 
IGNORE THIS AND
READ FURTHER 
REGARDING OUR 
EVER GREEN CASE.
***********************************************************8Now circular continues:...........

Our General Secretary, Shri D.krishnan,  has also addressed a letter to our new Chairman of LIC, Sri M R Kumar, pointing out to areas where Decisions could be taken by him without a reference to any higher Authority. Top most amongst these is the case of the 92-93 Retirees, where he could directly apply the logic of the M C Jain case where the Supreme Court had decided in favour of Sri M C Jain.

The other points touched upon  relate to,

i. Paying Pension duly on the 1st of the month, without any date extension, due to the 1st being a Holiday of any sort, and

ii. The aspects of Monthly  Cash Allowance towards Domiciliary Treatment expenses, and

iii. Re-imbursement for Yearly Full Medical Check-up for the Retiree Officers.

            He had also written to Chairman,  about our pending Case in SC for Pension Revision, reminding him about LIC's own initiatives of 2001 recommending Revision of Pension to the Ministry of Finance. i.e., pointing  out that the principle of Revision of Pension has been accepted already by the Finance Ministry, which is clearly borne out by the Circular issued recently in the case of the RBI Retirees.

He had also referred in positive terms, in the letter, to the initiatives being now taken by the LIC CO regarding increasing the percentage of Family Pension from 15% to 30%, and the move to give the stage increases of Pension, as in the case of Central Govt. retirees, for those in the age band of 80 and over in the LIC. He had also mentioned that we have been raising some of these matters directly with the Central Govt. too.

While there has been a lot of bustle about Pension Revision in recent times, though the concept was being consistently denied by establishments, for a  long time, the  granting of such Revision in Pension for the RBI retirees, by the Central Govt. recently, was the high/turning point  of it all. Now to add to the picture comes information,  that the Allahabad Bank Retirees Welfare Society, has directly gone to the Supreme Court  on 15-03-2019, under Article -32 of the Constitution, with Prayer to direct Union of India to sanction Updating Pension and improvement in Family Pension.

            Giving reasons as to why direct to SC,  they have said, their membership consists of members from all over India, and they cannot go to different HCs, and that being of old age, the petitioners cannot afford the time spent, and the cost, in the litigation, before different forums. They also state that the issue involved in the present case is a direct violation of the Fundamental Rights of Pensioners as Guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India., which is amenable  to the writ jurisdiction of the SC under Article 32 of the Constitution. Let us  watch with interest how this matter moves up.

Here are two bits of information that might add to the flavour of the season:

a) The recent Madras Judgement in ONGC Pension case involving a
'cut-off' date states as: "every humble citizen becomes vulnerable and  exposed to harsh realities of life. Life always revolves around hope and for pensioners adequate pension is the only hope left in their remaining part of life. Without that hope, the final phase of
existence becomes too mundane. Therefore, the right to receive
adequate pension is implicit within the framework of the Constitution, particularly in terms of Article 21 of the Constitution of India,”      Wewill find out whether the order gives us any clue in the context of pending cases.

b) Sources indicate that the notification for one more pension option
(OMPO) will come out in a few days, certain formalities having been
completed.

B.      Mediclaim Policy for 2019-20

We had discussed the practical aspects of difficulty in the Mediclaim Insurance Cover for all Retirees, in our earlier Circular , and the kinds of problems brought to our notice by our Ernakulam Association friends, to the Federation. Now , here comes the Circular from the CO of LIC informing us of the Renewal of the Policy with the New India Assurance Co , effective for the year 2019-20. There seems to be no discernible change in any of the conditions.  Our Federation’s  report to them on this might not have reached them,  before this matter was finalised.

The same terms and conditions governing the  Rule regarding Room Rent , inclusive of Nursing charges, and the method of subjecting reduction in claim on Treatment charges by the proportion of the excess of Room charges, where claimed  over the allowable limit, is all still there.  Let us see what can be done on this , by raising it with the CO. Meanwhile here is the Circular of the CO  reproduced for the benefit of all as attachment

With Greetings from  D.Krishnan – federation General Secretary