a good step forward ....writes D.Krishnan

FEDERATION OF RETIRED LIC CLASS I OFFICERS' ASSOCIATIONS

Friends,                      

Meeting with MOS Finance today at 11 am

Happy to inform you that the Pre-arranged Meeting with the Honourable Minister of State for Finance Sri Anurag Singh Thakur, happened as scheduled at 11 am in the Minister's Office at North Block, in New Delhi. I am Reporting to you, following a fairly long chat over phone, with Sri N P Bali, our President, regarding the Meeting.

The People who had gone over in the Delegation, were Sri A L  Dhawan, Jalandhar, Sri S N Chhabra, Panchkula,,  Sri T C Chopra, Chandigarh , Sri N P Bali , our President, and Sri M P  Agnihothri, Hyderabad, of AIRIEF.

The Minister met the Delegation exactly as planned at 11 am, and was good enough to enquire about the general welfare of people who were represented by the 5 who met him. The Delegation then handed over the written representation to the Minister. The Minister unhurriedly, went through  the entire letter, and asked the members for their further observations, on the points made in the letter.

The Minister was first told about non-revision of Pension over the years, when actually, the in-service employees of LIC, were getting Revisions every 5 years, to match market realities, which again, were the same for retirees too. As part of making the point, the members of the Delegation mentioned to the Minister about a Resolution passed by the LIC Board in 2001, recommending up-gradation of Pension, and how to this day, it had not been responded to, by the Ministry.  The Minister, it appears, was apparently surprised about such a long delay, and promised the delegation that he would look into the reasons thereof.

It was explained to the Minister how the non-revision of Pensions had created wide distortions in the Pensions as between Earlier and Later Retirees.

Moving over to the aspect regarding Family Pension which mostly stood at 15% of last drawn pay, and how this had taken the widows of Retired Officers to levels of abject deprivation. It was explained to the Minister, that the Central Govt. Rules were at 30% in terms of Family Pension and our expectations were also at that level.

The point regarding Senior Retirees of 80 years and over, was also discussed. It was pointed out that the CCS rules provided for 5 yearly increases for such super seniors, and our seniors were also part of the same market conditions.

It is understood that the lead interlocutors were Sri N P Bali and Sri Agnihotri, though, all others too, chipped in with their inputs.  The Delegation , after spending about 25 minutes with the Minister, came out and felt very satisfied that the Minister had given them a very sympathetic hearing, and this meeting should go down effectively, as one that would have created a positive impact in the mind of the Minister, about our genuine needs.

Should the Ministry have internal discussions on our matters, the Minister is sure to be unprejudiced, and view the whole thing from a neutral, if not a committed perspective. So this has indeed been a good step forward, and our sincere thanks to the Seniors who managed this appointment with the Minister, and did such a good job of the opportunity.

With Fraternal Greetings,

D.Krishnan.  General Secretary