Brief Note on JCM National Council Standing
Committee Meeting held on 9th October 2015
at New Delhi.
Dear Comrades,
The Standing Committee of the JCM National Council met on 9th October,
2015. As you are aware, earlier, the National JCA had decided to defer
the strike action and organize a massive Dharna programme at Jantar Mantar on
19th November, 2015 to register its strongest protest over the
Government’s engineered delay in the submission of the 7th CPC
Report. Later, the Finance Ministry has issued a statement asking
the 7th CPC to factor into its report the fiscal concern of the
Government, which was an unwarranted interference in the independent
functioning of the Commission and to pressurize the Commission not to recommend
wage rise on the basis of a sound and scientific formulation.
The Staff side on receipt of the invitation to have the meeting
on 9thOctober, decided to respond and convey to the Government their
strong resentment over the virtual dilution of the negotiating forum as also
the above concerns. In the meeting the Staff side was informed that
the Secretary Personnel would be meeting the Standing Committee soon and the
meeting on 9th was in fact only a prelude to understand each other’s
points of views. It was in the background the meeting was held on 9th October,
2015.
The leader and
Secretary, Staff Side conveyed the unanimous decision of the National JCA as
under to the Government.
(a) The Standing
Committee, as per procedure evolved, must be chaired by the Secretary
Personnel.
(b)
The
JCM Machinery’s functioning should not be diluted.
(c)
The
promised meeting of the National Council has not taken place so far.
(d)
The
minutes of the last two meetings of the National Anomaly Committee have not
been formally issued.
(e)
‘The
Official side Secretary must convene a meeting of the Staff Side to iron out
any difference in the draft minutes.’
(f)
Normally
meetings are held after circulation of the ATS. This has not been done.
(g)
The
Official Side must convey the anguish of the employees over the delay in the
submission of the report by the 7th CPC which they rightly feel
has been engineered by the Government. They also pointed out that they
are constrained to believe that the Govt. was unnecessarily interfering in the
functioning of the Pay Commission.
We give hereunder a brief resume of the discussions held on the
agenda items.
After the initial remarks made by the Staff Side all issues in
the charter of demands were discussed. There had been however, no final
settlement on any issue as the meeting itself was not convened for that purpose.
The Staff Side stated that even the promises held out in the last meeting that
the Departmental Council meeting would be held soon was not honoured.
On the question of Pay revision related issues, viz. Interim
relief, DA merger, inclusion of GDS etc. elaborate discussions were held.
It has come out clearly that on all these issues, the Finance Ministry has
taken an nugatory Stand, even though the arguments put forth were extremely
untenable. It was pointed out by the Staff Side that the Interim relief
and DA merger was denied on the specious plea of submission of the report in
the stipulated time. Having extended the time, the Govt. ought to have
considered the grant of these two demands. There had been a very
elaborate discussion on the question of inclusion of the GDS within the purview
of the 7th CPC. The Postal Department’s representatives
narrated the efforts made by them to the Government for conceding this
demands. The Finance Ministry has stood firm and objected to the demand
being agreed to. The Staff Side has, in the given situation of the 7th CPC
having finalised its report, requested the Government to refer the matter to a
Judicial Committee headed by the present Chairman, 7th CPC as
he has now been fully apprised of the functioning of various ministries and
Departments of the Government through the interaction with the Staff and
official sides. No commitment was however made by the
Government to the above suggestion.
On the question of induction of FDI in Railways, Corporatisation
of Postal Department and Defence organisations, the representative of the
Railway Ministry stated that they are constantly discussing the issues with the
Railway Federations and was exploring the possibility of reaching an
agreement. In the case of corporatisation of the Postal Department, it
was stated that the recommendations made by the Committee was discussed with
the Federations and it has been agreed that except induction of certain
professionals at the managerial level to fine tune the functioning of the
Department in the changed scenario, the Federations have been assured that no
structural changes would be made without consulting them. However, in the
case of Defence, no discussions with the Federations have been held so far.
PFRDA. The Staff Side pointed out the present scenario in
the Government offices, where the number of employees and officers who are
outside the ambit of the statutory pension scheme has grown and have reached in
certain organisations to the extent of 25 to 30%. These employees are
extremely concerned of the new scheme and their anguish has been expressed in
many forms. The Unions would be compelled to take drastic action if the
Government refuses to heed to their plea to effect a relook or revisit on the
matter. The representatives of the Railways pointed out that the
Honourable Minister for Railways was convinced of the situation and that was
the reason why he had written to the Finance Ministry that in the given
situation of the Railway functioning, the new scheme would not only jeopardize
the interest of the Railway men but also of the Railway Industry itself.
On the specific question raised by the Staff side in the last
meeting in respect of resolving the issues of Medical Store Deport and the
Printing and Stationery department, the Staff Side stated that only the
meeting of the Medical Store Depot was held and the issues have been resolved
to some extent. The Printing and Stationery Department has now sent a
communication to the Staff Side fixing the meeting on 15th October
2015. The general issues emanating from the policy of outsourcing and
contractorisation was also discussed at length.
JCM functioning had been the central point of discussions.
The Staff Side has pointed out that unless the Government makes up its mind
that the machinery should be put on operation, no industrial peace would come
in the functioning of the various departments of the Govt. of India. The
Staff side asked the Department of personnel to collect the information of the
number of cases litigated in the courts by the Government employees in 1991 and
2015 and make a comparison to know the seriousness of the problem.
On compassionate ground appointments question, it was
stated by the Staff Side that despite advancing no cogent argument by the
official side for retaining the 5% ceiling, the Department of personnel
does not want to make a relook into the matter. The Staff Side pointed
out that large number of applications was pending in various Departments, and
the concerned department would not be able to clear them even after 20 years
for want of the requisite vacancies. They also pointed out that the
decision of the Government to impose the 5% ceiling was amounting to a cruelty
imposed on the family members of the Government servants who dies in harness.
The Labour Ministry representative was present at the meeting.
The meeting did not discuss the merits and demerits of the labour reforms as
the Trade Unions in the country has rightly concluded that it has been
conceived to favour the corporate houses and to take away the existing
privileges of the workers. The point at issue, however, at the meeting
was as to why the Labour Ministry did not cause a consultation with the
Industrial Federations in the Government of India, for whom the Industrial
Disputes Act is applicable. The Labour Ministry has assured to convene a
meeting of the representatives of such organisations soon.
The Labour Ministry representative also stated that the
government has agreed to raise the bonus ceiling but it would not be
appropriate for him to make a mention of the quantum as the Cabinet is yet to give
its clearance. The Government would be able to take a decision in the
matter only after the Bihar elections are over.
The Staff Side explained the background of the demand for five
promotions. The reaction of the official side was that the matter must be
appropriately discussed only after the 7th CPC report is made available.
**********
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