Saturday 20 August 2011

CONFEDERETION CHARTER OF DEMANDS
EXPLANATORY NOTE

1. Stop price rise and strengthen the PDS.
The Economic crisis in nineties caused by theindiscriminate borrowings indulged in by the then Government of Indiafrom the world bodies like IMF World Bank etc. and the adherence totheir conditionalities created a conducive climate for the proponentsand champions of market economy to advocate the globalization path ofeconomic development. The State began to withdraw itself from varioussectors and the least governance was considered as the virtue andsynonym for good Government. In other words, the Government withdrewitself from the concept of welfare State governance and opted forfaster economic development through privatization, liberalization andglobalization. The agony and misery of common multitude, theconsequence of adoption of market economy was considered by the rulersas the price to be paid in the process. The various subsidiesprovided to ensure that the essential commodities needed for humanexistence is made available to the common people was treated asprofligacy and concerted efforts were made to cut them drasticallythrough budgetary proposals. The media, both print and electronic,which had gone into the hands of large corporate houses propagated theliberalization and globalization policies to the hilt and inside theParliament various legislations were moved and enacted by the rulingclass ably supported by almost all opposition parties, barring ofcourse the Left parties.


The Working class organizations except those affiliated toINTUC and BMS realizing the dangerous impact of the neo-liberaleconomic policies organized resistance through strike and otherdemonstrative actions. Between the period 1991 and 2010, thesponsoring committee of Central Trade Unions along with the differentFederations of employees organized strike actions on 13 occasionswhich indeed made deleterious impact over the pace with which theIndian ruling class wanted to usher in these policies. Not only thecommon people, but also the intellectual and the middle classes had toadmit, albeit reluctantly, that but for the consistent opposition ofthe left parties and the working class organizations, the globalfinancial crisis that engulfed the American and European Continentsand many other parts of the world would have destroyed the Indianeconomy. To tide over disastrous ripples it created in the IndianEconomy, the Government had to make outflow of crores of rupees in thename of bail-out packages to Indian Industry and corporate entities.Once the crisis blew over, the Government went back to its good oldways of implementing these discredited policies with a vengeance.

The unbridled accumulation of wealth in a few hands, thecardinal consequence of the capitalist economic development bringabout a pyramidal society giving no room for the poor people at thebase even to eke out an existence. This aspect became more and morepronounced over the years and reached a stage that it becameimpossible for anybody who is supposed to be representing the workersto continue to ignore this phenomenon. Those organizations which hadtaken a contradictory stand against the sponsoring committee had tocome together to voice their concern against the marginalization ofthe working people. Both BMS and INTUC had to join in the concertedefforts of the workers to oppose, if not the policies, at least themanifestation of it, i.e the escalation of prices of essentialcommodities. The inflationary impact in the economy created by thepursuance of the neo-liberal economic policies rather engineered wasconceived to effect transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Itreached an intolerable stage in as much as its incremental rate fromquarter to quarter was in two digits .Never in the past has itassumed the dimension of today with the result that all oppositionpolitical parties in the country had to rally round inside and outsidethe Parliament to denounce the Government of inaction and the5thAugust, 2010 Nationwide bandh became total and resonant.In the immediate years after independence, in order toensure food security to the people of India, the Indian ruling classunder pressure created the universal public distribution system forfood articles. It became an effective instrument in the years tocontain the artificial rise of market prices of essential commoditiesespecially in the face of hoarding and black market operations ofunscrupulous traders. The sweep and range of commodities madeavailable through these outlets, known as ration shops in the commonparlance even though beset with innumerable problems connected withleakages and corruption, was the most effective welfare measure of theGovernment of India, which in no small degree arrested and stopped thestarvation death in rural India. The advent of neo liberal economicpolicies ensured that this singular welfare measure of universalpublic distribution system was discarded.Both inside and outside Parliament our Present day rulersadvocated that the higher prices are inevitable given the shortfall indomestic production and due to prevailing higher prices of rice,wheat, pulses and edible oil in international market. Far from truththe statement of under production was, as the production offood-grains in 2006-07 in our country was 9.3 cr. tonnes, 9.6 croresin 2007-08 and 9.9 crores in 2008-09 despite the fact that ourinvestment in agricultural sector in the last ten years was less than2% of the GDP and constantly year after year the Government had beenwithdrawing subsidy to the farm sector.To ensure that the universal PDS is in operation, and the peasants doget remunerative price for their produce, the Government had created abuffer stock of food-grains through the FCI. The statutory norm fixedwas to have 200 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice as buffer stock.Presently the FCI godowns carry 475 lakhs of food-grains. Of it 3million tones are reported to be rotting for want of space in thewarehouses and rats the beneficiaries. This made the honourableSupreme Court to ask the Government as to why that which cannot bestored properly be distributed to the poor.While dismantling of the PDS destroyed the food securityenjoyed by the poor so far, the permission granted to speculators toindulge in forward trading in food articles with an intent toartificially boost the statistical growth of economy resulted in thesoaring of prices in the market. The fervent appeals made by theinformed public, intelligentsia in the society and theParliamentarians belonging to the left parties to ban forward tradingfell in the deaf ears for that would have entailed in the slowing downthe reforms, which course the UPA II Government had vowed tointensify. The present FM is on record to state that taminginflation will lead to blunting the economic growth. Despite thereportedly enviable growth rate of 8 to 9% over the past few years andthe consequent rise in the per capita income of our country, vastmajority of our countrymen have become poorer while the number ofdollar billionaires were doubled. According to Shri Arjun Senguptareport, 77% of Indian population have a daily income of less than Rs.20. And the Tax concessions, deduction and exemptions given away tothose who can afford to pay the levies and taxes was of the order ofRs. 6 lakh crores.

It is on the top of all these, the GOI hiked the petrolprices perhaps the nth time the UPA is in power on the specious pleaof helping the Public Sector Petroleum marketing companies out of theunder recoveries. In the context of IOL making a profit of 10998Crores in 2009-10 and the respective figure for HPCL and BPL being Rs.544 Cr and 874 crores and the Govt. of India making a neat additionaltax of Rs.86,000 crores (Rs. 110000 Crores minus State share of Rs.24,000 crores), an insensitive Government alone can allow thepetroleum companies to again rise the prices.This being the general scenario which must be of concernto us rather of grave concern, it would be pertinent to note theerosion in our real wages brought about by the unprecedentedescalation of retail prices of commodities of daily consumption. The6th CPC determined the minimum wage on the basis of the retail pricesof various commodities as existed on 1.01.2006. (Please see page 53 ofthe 6th CPC report). We are, unlike those in the unorganized sectors,in the company of those segment of the working class, who get theirwages cost indexed, howsoever, defective, trivial and insufficient itis. Therefore, we get 45% addition to our wages in the form of DA (raised to 51% by the recent hike). From the table given hereunder wecan see that the average rise in the prices of those commodities whichare taken for the computation of minimum wage has been of the order of175%.as on 1.9.2010, which is taken the present day rate might furtherescalate







Item No.2 and 3- Stop outsourcing, contractorisation, corporatisation and privatisation of Governmental functions. Fillup vacant posts and create posts on functional requirements.
The VI-CPC had recommended the abolition of Gr. D. posts numberingabout 9.4 lakhs in the Government of India.. The CPC raised all theGr. D employees existing in the Govt. sector to the status of askilled worker and placed them in Gr. C pay scale. The suggested payscale of the upgraded personnel is analogous to the pre-revised pay ofRs 2750-70-3800-75-4400. In fact the said pay scale was the fourthgrade of pay suggested by the V-CPC for the unskilled workers. Inpara 3.7.7 of the Pay commission recommendations the commission hasobserved that:

"Increasingly' basic work relating to cleaning, sweeping, maintenanceetc. is being outsourced. This is a welcome trend that needs to beencouraged by bringing about systematic changing in the existingscheme so that the employees in Govt. are only utilized for requiringa certain levels of skills".

It is a fact that majority of the functions presently carried out bythe Gr.D employees across the Board is unskilled. What had actuallybeen done by the Commission is to abolish the unskilled functions inthe Governmental sector to pave way for more and morecontractorisation of these jobs while the existing employees (whoseworking strength has become less than 50% of the sanctioned strength)might be classified as Gr.C. and assigned to do functions which are ofskilled nature with lesser emoluments than what it could have beeneven as per the V-CPC recommendations. It is therefore, a disastrousrecommendation. In the days to come the unskilled nature of jobswould be either outsourced or would be contractorised. Thisrecommendation therefore, is not for the benefit of the existingemployees who are recruited as unskilled workers. Now the recruitmentwill hereafter become unavailable in the Governmental sector for thosewho are in the lower strata of the society who could not afford or whoare not provided even the primary education even though the universalprimary education is stated to be the objective and goal of a welfareGovernment as per our constitution.. In fact they are being punishedfor the social inability or abdication of the responsibility on thepart of the Government to provide them with a decent standard ofliving or the nascent requirement of primary education. Therecommendation is therefore, a by-product of the neo-liberal economicpolicies pursued by the Govt. since 1991 which we have been fightingagainst all these years along with other segment of the working class.As has been feared, the Government has now decided toensure that all unskilled jobs are contractorised. The guidelinesissued by the Department of Personnel for the Multi-tasking staffmakes it mandatory that the future recruitees in government servicemust have a minimum educational qualification of matriculation. Therecruitment will be done through the Staff Selection Commission.These personnel may not be deployed for the unskilled jobs like thatof sweeper, farash, Mali, watchmen etc. These functions wouldnaturally be contractorised. The Department of Personnel has alreadyadvised all concerned to go in for contractorisation of thesefunctions. The workers so recruited by the contractors are not to haveany job security as they will be liable for the hire and fire system.Outsourcing
In the background of the continuing ban on recruitment,many of the Government organizations has resorted to outsourcing oftheir functions which are of permanent and perennial nature toagencies on fixed rates. The very fact that the Government has madeavailable funds for the Departmental heads to resort to outsourcingestablishes the policy being pursued by the Government. The functionshitherto being carried out by the Group C employees and the Group BNon gazetted are liable to be outsourced. Once the system isestablished, there will be no likelihood of any fresh creation ofposts in these cadres. The large scale computerization has helped theoutsourcing as a feasible proposition.
Item No.4 - Revise wages of CGEs with effect from 1.1.2011 and everyfive years thereafter.
It is in the context of the ever increasing prices and the inactionon the part of the Government to tackle it for it might effectadversely the so-called economic growth and the dearness compensationbeing what it is, the National Council of the Confederation, which metat Mumbai on 2nd Dec 2010, decided to demand the next wage revisionimmediately. It also took note of the fact that the Government didconcede the demand of the workers in the Central Public SectorUndertakings, rightly so, to revise the wages every five years (2006-2011). In the absence of specific recommendation by the 6th CPCover the period in which the present Pay Structure should be invogue, , it was the unanimous opinion emerged in the deliberationsat the National Council that the wages must be revised without furtherdelay. Besides, the expert body on wage revision of Civil Servants i.ethe 5th CPC had categorically stated that an interim wage revision inthe form of merger of DA with Pay must take place as and when the DAcomponent in wages exceeds the 50% limit. As on 1.1.2011, the DA is51%. This apart the Council rightly noted that the Pay Band. Grade paysystem brought in the 6th CPC has created anomalies beyond correctionand had been designed and devised to benefit the personnel inGroup. A only services. In our submissions to the Government on the6th CPC recommendations, we had categorically with facts and figurespointed out that the wage increase will tapper off over a periodof 6-7 years and thereafter the wages would begin to compareunfavourably with the one determined by the 5th CPC The Governmentmust come forward to set up an expert committee with staff-siderepresentatives to revise the wages of CGEs immediately.
Item No 5 - Stop the New Pensions Scheme and extend the statutorydefined benefit pension to all CGEs irrespective of the date ofrecruitment.
The present defined benefit scheme of pension was introduced replacingthe then existing contributory system. As part of the neo liberaleconomic policies, the Government decided to reconvert the same intocontributory and make the fund available for the stock marketoperations. It is the vagaries of the stock market which willdetermine the pension returns from this fund. Before the introductionof the PFRDA bill, the Government had set up a committee under thechairmanship of Shri Bhattacharya, Chief Secretary of the State ofKarnataka. The bill has been drafted and presented to the Parliamentdisregarding even the recommendation of the said committee to theeffect that the Govt. should consider introducing a hybrid system bywhich the employees will have a defined benefit, if they choose to besatisfied with the said return and can opt for a higher return throughstock exchange investments. The Bill could not be passed in theParliament as the Left Parties took the principled position that theywould not support a proposal detrimental to the interest of theemployees. Despite the non passage of the bill and the consequentabsence of a valid law to support the Pension Regulatory authority,the Govt. has converted the existing pension scheme into acontributory one and invested a percentage of the fund so generatedfrom the employees contribution in the Stockmarket,

Pension is earned by an employee by rendering service and thereforethere is no requirement of any payment by the employee for earningpension. This statutory right of the employee is enforceable throughcourts. The Supreme Court has declared pension as one of thefundamental rights. The government should therefore retrace from itsavowed position, which is detrimental to the interest of the employeesand ensure that the employees recruited after 1.1.2004 is covered bythe existing statutory defined benefit scheme. The bill which wasearlier introduced in the Parliament got lapsed an d could not bepassed for want of a majority as the left parties were opposed to thesame. The Govt. has now sought and obtained the support of BJP andother allies of the NDA. The Bill was reintroduced in the Parliamentin the last session. The introduction itself was opposed by Com. Basudeb Acharya, M.P. and leader of the CPIM in the parliament. Thebill's introduction has to be through voting. With the support of BJPand other parties the bill has now been introduced and would come upfor consideration at the next session of the Parliament.
Item No. 6 - Regularise the Daily rated workers, GDS, remove ceiling oncompassionate appointments end discrimination in the grant of bonus toGDS employees.

In the background of the continuing ban on recruitment, most of thedepartments resorted to recruit persons on daily wage basis. Many ofthem have completed more than a decade in Government service. Theyhad been on the pay roll of the Government to carry out the functionsof a permanent and perennial nature. The resort to recruitment ofdaily waged workers to carry out the functions which are clearlypermanent and perennial nature is in clear violation of the extantinstruction in the matter. Having elicited their service for the pastseveral years, they should be regularized as permanent employees withall concomitant benefits. Retrenching them to be replaced with freshdaily rated workers is impermissible.
Similar is the case of GDS employees in the Postal Department. Thissystem, a colonial concept ought to have been discarded long timeback. The functions entrusted to the GDS in the Postal Department areof permanent nature. Some of them are required to do more than 8hours work a day. Many of the post offices, especially in rural areasare manned by the GDS and the postmen are required to functioncontinuously for more than 8 hours a day but still paid as a part timeemployee. There should be a system by which these employees who arerecruited as GDS are absorbed as regular employees after a predetermined number of years of service. Another issue pertaining tothe GDS is the unjust denial of the benefit of the raised quantumceiling on bonus calculation. While the Bonus Act was amended by theGovernment, raising the emoluments ceiling for the purpose ofcalculation of bonus from Rs. 2500 to 3500, it was extended to allcivil servants except the GDS. Most of the GDS has a monthlyemoluments beyond the limit of Rs. 3500. There is no justificationfor denying this benefit to them.
Item No.7 - Remove restriction imposed on compassionate appointment and the discrimination on such appointments between the Railway workersand the other sections of CGES.
On the pretext of the directive of the Supreme Court, Govt. introducedthe concept of a 5% ceiling on the compassionate appointment. Thefact was that there had been no such directive from the HonourableSupreme Court. There had been no rhyme or reason for thisstipulation. Despite the repeated discussion on the subject at theNational Council and its Standing Committee and the solemn assurancegiven by the Cabinet Secretary in the wake of the last strike action,nothing has been done in this regard to resolve the issue. It ispertinent to mention in this connection that the compassionateappointments in the Railways continue to be operated without any suchceiling. Moreover in the Department of Posts hundreds of compassionateappointment candidates selected by Selection Committee are beingdenied jobs and attempt to oust them is on. Through legal stay ordersthese candidates known as RRR Candidates are fighting the battle. TheGovernment should withdraw the SLP filed against them and absorb themall as regular employees and withdraw the orders imposing andarbitrary ceiling of 5% and non-consideration of the case ofcandidates whose applications are pending for more than 3 years.


Item No.8 - Stop the move to introduce the productivity linked wagesystem; performance related pay; introduce the PLB to all departments; remove the ceiling of emoluments for bonus computation.

The Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad, the country'sprestigious and prime business school was requested by the 6th CentralPay Commission to go into the question of the feasibility ofintroducing the performance related wage system in civil service. Onbehalf of theConfederation, a delegation had the opportunity to meet the persons incharge of the feasibility study and interact with them. Thedelegation drew the attention of the IIM Ahamedabad of theperformance related wage system introduced in many western countriesespecially after the Thatcher led conservative Government took theinitiative in this regard. She was of the opinion that the Governmentshould not be in the business and the Governments must be run onbusiness line. Over the years as was the case with many of thereforms she introduced in the U.K. the performance related wage systemalso failed. Same was the fate of many other western countries whofollowed the Thatcher Government. By the time the 6th CPC wanted tointroduce the said methodology of restructuring the wage system inIndian Civil service, the idea had already become discredited by itssheer non performance. Except stating that they were aware of whathas been presented by us, they never made any comment either insupport of in negative. The 6th CPC kept their report confidential aswas the case with many such reports which they had commissioned. Nomention is made in the voluminous report of the Commission of the prosand cons of a system which they wanted to introduce.

Our main objection to the so called performance oriented wage systemwas that it would be seldom based on objectivity. That had been theprima cause of its failure elsewhere. It is mentioned on manyoccasions that the Grade pay attached to the PB must be seen in factas a pay for performance of an individual employees. In other words,it can be withdrawn when it is felt that one has not performed well.It is also stated that the Grade Pay which is more or less 40% is theelement of rise the 6th Pay Commission chose to grant to the civilservants taking into account various factors that had diminished thewage structure of the CGEs since the 5th CPC recommendations wereimplemented. There had been a reduction of staff strength in alldepartments of the Government of India across the board through anexecutive fiat which was issued in 2001 by the NDA Government. Itcontinued till 2009-10. Only one-third of the vacancies were allowedto be filled up. The two thirds were to be abolished. In otherwords, the existing employees were asked to work more, performexponentially as the workload over the period had tremendouslyincreased and the ban on creation of posts ensured that the requiredhands are not allowed to be recruited from the market. This compelledmany departmental heads to outsource the Governmental functions toprivate contractors i.e. the backdoor entry of an unfair labourpractice in Governmental sector. The linking of Grade Pay to the socalled performance is nothing but reduction of wages, which we cannotand must not countenance.

The productivity linked bonus system was the result of the long drawnout struggles of Government employees, especially of the Railwaymen.The Railway employees under the banner of NCCRS braved all repressivemeasures of the Government in the indefinite strike action 1974 andthe major issue projected through the struggle was the illegitimacyof denying Bonus to workers in Government establishment. It wasgranted to Railwaymen and Postal workers in 1979 and the others had tofight against the unjust discrimination till 1982-83 when theGovernment had to ultimately extend it to all. The 4th and 5th CPCswent into the matter and their recommendations are quite commendable.They had categorically stated that the PLB must be introduced in allDepartments as it is feasible to measure it in almost all Governmentdepartments. The issue is still pending decision at the Department ofExpenditure.. While they assure to discuss the issue to reach afinality whenever the matter is raised in the JCM fora, theExpenditure division of the Finance Ministry had been dilly dallying.The adhoc bonus for 30 days continue for the past two decades withoutany increase while the PLB wherever it is in operation register anincrease every year. Some of the PLB covered employees were given morethan two months bonus last year. Another issue connected with thebonus payment is the arbitrary emoluments ceiling fixed by theGovernment of India in the computation of bonus. While most of theemployees receive salary far grater than the restrictive limitspecified in the Bonus Act, the bonus is computed on the notionalamount of Rs. 3500/- The oft repeated question is why must there be aceiling on bonus when no such ceiling is thought of in the case ofmaking profit,.

ItemNo.9 - Settle all anomalies including the MACP related ones raised in the Departmental and National Anomaly Committees and ensure thefunctioning of JCM in all departments.

Ever since the 1993 recognition rules were promulgated the JCM as anegotiating forum stopped meeting in various departments andMinistries. The Official side takes one pretext or the other to seethat the councils do not meet and the employees are denied any accessof negotiations of their legitimate demands. The anomalies that hadarisen over the recommendations of the 5th CPC were not subjected todiscussion in the JCM at the Departmental levels of many Ministries.This consequently resulted in the non removal of the anomalies. The6th CPC refused to consider any one of these issues and the anomalieswere carried forward. These anomalies were reflected in theassigning of Pay Band and Grade pay in many cadres. The Departmentof Expenditure while setting up the anomaly committees defined theterm anomaly differently from what was agreed upon by the Staff Sideand the Government (with the Group of Ministers ) in 1997. As per thenew definition the anomaly that has arisen from the recommendations ofthe 5th CPC will not come within the ambit of the anomaly committeesthat are being set up after the 6th CPC. This apart there had been nofunctioning of the JCM at the Departmental levels in variousMinistries and consequently no anomaly committee has been set up insuch departments. Despite the issue being raised in the NationalAnomaly Committee, and the National Council or Standing committeemeetings by the Staff Side, no steps are being taken to address theissue.. The National Anomaly Committee is yet to conclude though morethan a year is passed and the way the deliberations are conductedtherein, it is certain that no positive outcome could be expected formit, especially in the frame work of the definition of the very termanomaly itself.

Item No.10 - Make the right to strike legal
Continuing with the colonial concept of denying the Civilservants the privileges enjoyed by the other sections of the societyis a matter of great distress. Article 309 of the Constitution makesit incumbent upon the Government of India and the ProvincialGovernment to make enactments to regulate the service conditions ofthe civil servants. The Indian Parliament had no time to make suchenactment. In fact the Indian ruling class wanted no such enactments.The transitory provisions empowering the President of India to makerules till such time the enactment is made has been employed toregulate the service conditions of the Government employees.Once recruited as an employee, the ILO's conventions provide all tradeunion rights. India is a signatory to those conventions. Despite allthese legal and moral obligations on the part of the Government, theGovernment employees continue to be denied the right to collectivebargaining. No negotiation is worth the meaning, if the employeeshave no right to withdraw their labour in case of a non satisfactoryagreement on their service conditions. It is this legal lacuna whichwas employed by the Supreme Court to justify the arbitrary dismissalof lakhs of employees by the Tamilnadu State Government when theyresorted to strike action. In the judgment delivered by the SupremeCourt, it was observed that the Government employees do not have anylegal, fundamental or moral right to resort to strike action. It isall the more an injustice especially when the Government considersthat strike is a right of the workers in the Public Sector undertakingand that of the private enterprises in the country. It is paramountthat the Government employees do have the right to strike in order toforce upon an agreement for better wages and service conditions.
Item No. 11 - Implement all arbitration awards.
It was in the wake of the indefinite strike of the CentralGovernment employees in 1960, the Government thought of having apermanent forum for negotiation of the demands, problems andgrievances of the employees. After prolonged discussion with the thenexisting Federations and Unions, the JCM machinery came into being Onimportant issues like pay, allowances and leave, the Governmentoffered to have arbitration through an independent body in case noagreement could be reached between the organisations and the Governmentafter discussion in the JCM. Initially, the Govt. had beenimplementing the awards of the Board of Arbitration, which were infavour of the staff. The Staff Side was prohibited to raise the issuefor a prescribed period of time, in case the same has been found notacceptable by the Board of Arbitration. The scenario underwent adrastic change in the last two decades in as much as the Governmentrefused to implement any award and began to refer the same to theconsideration of the Parliament on the specious plea of adverselyaffecting the national economy. There were 16 such awards, which hadbeen referred to the Parliament but in the wake of negotiation, theGovernment agreed to withdraw these cases from the Parliament andfurther negotiate with the Staff Side with a view to reduce thefinancial implications. Several rounds of discussions were heldthereafter at the level of the Secretary (Personnel). In most of thecase the staff Side agreed to waive the arrear payments. Despite thesaid gesture, the Government did not think it fit to implement any oneof them except in the case of stenographers, for which orders werelater issued. Some of these awards have again come up before theParliament. Give the majority in the Parliament for the ruling party,these awards could be got rejected by the Govt .which if done would bea mockery of the JCM scheme itself. Having lost the case before anindependent body of juries, the Government should have the moralcourage to implement the awards.




Item No. 12. - Revise the rate of interest of GPF. Revise the OTA andnight duty allowances and stitching charges

It is ridiculous that the Overtime allowance of Central Governmentemployees except those in the Railways and Defence to be reckoned withthe pay structure that was obtaining in 1986 i.e. more than 25 yearsback. It is nothing but sheer exploitation of the workers. If anoutsider is employed the same Government pays three times than whatis given to a regular employee. If one refuses to work beyond officehears, the colonial rules comes into operation. He might face fordisobedience even dismissal. The matter was as per the jointconsultative machinery scheme before the Board of Arbitration. TheGovernment pleaded fervently but so feeble was their argument that thehonourable members of the Board of Arbitration ruled that the OTA mustbe based on the actual salary one received at the relevant point oftime. Elsewhere we have narrated the story of the awards ofArbitration in the hands of the present Government. They are nowseeking the Parliamentary mandate to reject this just and reasonableaward in the name of national economy. The pittance given to theemployees for extracting work is considered as a drain on the economywhile they merrily go around indulging in profligacy. The same is thecase with the Night duty allowance. The rate of interest in the caseof GPF was reduced from 12% to 8% under the specious plea that thebank rate of interest had been reduced as part of the new economicregime. It was assured that as and when the bank rates are raised itwould automatically follow. The Bank rates had to be raised.Presently an investment in any nationalised bank beyond 500 daysfetches an interest of more than 10% and the GPF deposit is for theservice life of an individual, spanning in many cases for more than35 years. It is high time that the Government is compelled to restorethe rate of interest on GPF back to 12% p.a.

Another issue is the stitching charges. The Government refuses torecognise the need to revise the rates. The market rates are almost 4to 5 time what the employee gets reimbursed from the Government.Given the fact that most of the uniformed personnel are at the lowerlevels of the hierarchy, it is cruel that the Government extractsmoney from them for being in service, the condition of which is theyare to perform duties wearing the prescribed uniform.

Item No. 13 - Merge DA with pay for all purposes including pension asand when the DA rate crosses the 50% mark.

As on Ist January, 2011, the CGES are entitled to dearnesscompensation at the rate of 51% of their pay. As has been pointed outelsewhere in this memorandum the said compensation computed on thebasis of what the Labour Ministry calls the All India average ofconsumer price index is miles away from the real prices that rule themarket on commodities that goes into the basket of minimum wage. Inmost of the countries, the wages are price indexed on a year to yearbasis. However, we adopted a system of allowance called the Dearnessallowance to compensate the wage earners for erosion of the real valueof their wages through escalation of market prices. The successivePay commissions have recognised the need for merging the DA componentwith the pay so that the allowances which are reckoned with referenceto basic pay could be enhanced as otherwise it would be a drain on thewages of the worker. The 2nd CPC recommended for such merger when theCPI crosses over 272 points. The 3rd CPC merged the DA at 320 pointsand the IV CPC at 568. The 5th CPC suggested that as and when theDA percentage reaches the 50% mark, it must be merged and theallowances to be computed on Pay with the merged portion of DA. Thisrecommendation was accepted by the Government and the DA was mergedaccordingly. The 6th CPC however departed from this principle andrecommended that as and when the DA percentage exceeds 50%, allallowances are to be raised by 25%. There appears to be no rationalebehind this decision except that they intended that no wage revisionshould be automatic and any compensation due to inflation must bebeneficial to the employer and not the workers. No specific timeframe has been suggested by the 6th CPC to revise the wages.Elsewhere in this memorandum we have detailed the rationale andjustification for a periodical wage revision once in five years. Evenif the DA is merged we could see that it would not compensate theworkers for the great erosion that has already taken place in the realwages. So, the 25% compensation must not be acceptable and the leastthe Govt. Could do is to order for the merger of the 50% DA with thePay, which would be in consonance with the principle evolved throughsuccessive Pay Commissions.

Item No. 14. - Vacate All Trade Union victimization.

Vindictive actions against the Trade Union workers are as old as thecollective bargaining itself. In the post Independent India, thetrade union history is full of such atrocious behaviour on the partof the employers. The Govt. Of India had been in the forefront ofsuch uncivilised action in the Sixties and Seventies. There had beenterrific repression of the Union activists whenever the CGEs organisedcollective actions. The indefinite strike action of 1960, the one daytoken strike of 1968 and the great Railway Workers strike in 1974resulted in unprecedented brutal suppressive measures against theleaders. Thousands of employees lost their job, good number of themwas brutally killed and thousands were proceeded against undervarious rules and regulations, conceived and put in the rule book bythe colonial rulers. It is to the credit of those courageouscomrades who sacrificed their life and career that the Trade Unionmovement is what it is today. It is the demand for vacation of allvindictive actions that is more important and more significant thanany in the charter. Without resisting and defeating all nefariousattempts of the bureaucracy in this direction, we may not be able tosustain or build up a militant movement, which is the pre requisitefor onward march. Presently one of the founding affiliate of theConfederation the All India Audit and Accounts Association is facingnumerous vindictive actions initiated by the Audit bureaucracy. Withthe committed and united action of the entirety of the Central Govt.Em0ployees, we shall ensure that the vindictive actions wherever ittakes