LATEST UPDATE ON PENSION AND FAMILY PENSION

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LATEST UPDATE ON PENSION AND FAMILY PENSION 

  “CBPRO  MEETS  IBA”

It is a red letter day for Bank Pensioners and Retirees when the CBPRO leadership met the Senior IBA Officials and held detailed discussions  at IBA office Mumbai in respect of Bank Pensioners and Retirees long pending issues.  

The wise move by the Apex Bank Retiree Organisations to come together and form a coordinated body named as Coordination of Bank Pensioners’ and Retirees Organisations led to this welcome development of getting an audience with the IBA. 

This facilitated a meaningful dialogue.  This also ensured dignity and self respect to the Senior Citizens of the Banking Industry.  The IBA response throughout the discussion had been one of cordiality, concern and solemn assurances on their intentions and keenness to sort out the issues.

The IBA team was led by Shri K. UnniKrishnan, Deputy Chief Executive accompanied by Shri K. S. Chauhan, Senior Vice President.  

The CBPRO team consisted of Com. A.Ramesh Babu, General Secretary SBI Pensioners’ Federation and Joint Convener CBPRO, Com.K.V.Acharya, President AIBPARC and Joint Convener CBPRO, Com. Ramesh Deshpande, General Secretary RBONC, Com. R.K. Acharya, General Secretary AIRBEA, and Com. M.D. Deshpande, President FORBE.  

The team was also assisted by Com. K.S. Rengarajan of AIBPARC, who had made exhaustive calculations in respect of 100% DA, Improvement in Family Pension and Pension Updation.  

The CBPRO also submitted a representation to the IBA emphasising the need to show great urgency in resolving the issues.  The list of the issues to be discussed was also submitted. 

Shri K. Unnikrishnan, Deputy Chief Executive IBA, in his initial remarks expressed the keenness of IBA to resolve the long pending issues but at the same time also expressed anxiety of IBA about the health of various Banks which has become a hindering factor in meeting our expectations. He informed us that IBA is in the final phase of getting the Actuary’s report as all the data pertaining to the issue of 100% DA Neutralization and Improvement in Family Pension have been received from the Member Banks and already handed over to the Actuary.

Com. A.Ramesh Babu, Joint Convener CBPRO, thanked the IBA for giving the opportunity to CBPRO to discuss the issues and described the event as a satisfying development and hoped that the deliberations would culminate in the resolution of the issues.  He also explained to the IBA about the formation of CBPRO and hoped that this would facilitate meaningful dialogues with Bank Pensioners’ and Retirees Organisations.

During the course of the meeting IBA pointed out about the cost implications and the huge provisions Banks have to make to meet the requirements of AS 15 (Revised) in respect of provisioning.  

However the CBPRO responded elaborately and some of the main observations from our side are mentioned hereunder:

1.  As regards Uniform DA Relief, the Number of the Retirees deprived are less than one third of the total Number of Retirees including SBI and out of that nearly thirty thousand have already crossed the age of 85 and looking at their very advanced age justice should be delivered to them before it is too late.  

2. As regards Family Pension, it is an emotional issue apart from being a humanitarian issue.  The bulk of the Family Pensioners are widows of the Retired Employees and going by the sensitivity involved the IBA should initiate improvement of Family Pension to 30% from the present 15% without any ceiling.

3. Regarding Pension Updation, IBA expressed its reservations to take up the issue immediately. 

We submitted that non updation from 1989 onwards has resulted in great and unimaginable distortions and if not set right the gap between the recent Retirees and old Retirees would further steeply widen. 

We also stated that the Courts have held that Wage Revision and Pension revision are inseparable.

4. Extending Pension entitlements to Resignees is a well settled matter with the Judicial pronouncement by the Highest Court  of the Land and their number being just less than four thousand the IBA should implement the Court order in respect of all eligible Resignees.  

So also in respect of Compulsorily Retired, the Pension eligibility should be given to all Retirees irrespective of the fact that they are award staff or officers. 

Here also we pointed out that there are decided cases where Courts have upheld the right to Pension to the Compulsorily Retired Persons.

5. As regards domiciliary treatment entitlements from the newly introduced Medical Insurance Scheme, the IBA showed us the serious correspondences they have undertaken with the Insurance Company insisting on the Insurance Company to implement the Scheme in its original form without any distortion and assured us that they would ensure the full implementation of the scheme. 

We also pointed out that the Government communication in the year 2012 had asked IBA to come out with a Medical Insurance Scheme both for Serving Employees as well as Retired Employees and never intended the scheme to be different for Serving Employees and Retired Employees.  

The Insurance Company can’t and should not meddle with the provisions of the last wage settlement between the Unions and IBA in respect of the Medical Insurance Scheme.  

We also requested IBA to advise all member Banks to extend the Medical Insurance Scheme to all Ex-Employees and Officers even if those ex-Employees/Officers have undergone extreme penalties in disciplinary proceedings.  

The reason being that Medical treatment is an issue of extreme sympathy and also the persons covered are ready to pay the premium from their own sources and the Insurance Company also wants to cover large number of persons.

6. We also had discussions on leave encashment to Compulsorily Retired persons without any cutoff date and also permitting Retired Employees and Officers to defend those who are unfortunately subjected to charge-sheets even after retirement.

  

Comrades, from the repeated assertions made by the IBA during the course of our discussions, we hope that the extension of 100% DA neutralization and improvement in Family Pension would get top priority by the IBA.  

On Updation also the IBA will take a  favourable view and ensure that the legal and statutory requirements are given due consideration and help in removing the serious erosion that has taken place in the Basic Pension in the case of Past Retirees due to various subsequent wage settlements.  

We had also pointed out that Pension is coming under the Defined Benefit Pension Scheme and also being a close ended scheme the availability of huge corpus should enable the resolutions of the issues without any further burden on the Banks.  

Moreover, since Pension Regulations are statutory Regulations, these Regulations get precedence over all other provisional requirements including provision for NPA.

We are extremely thankful to Shri K. Unnikrishnan, Deputy Chief Executive IBA who sat through for one hour though he was busy with ongoing interviews in IBA.  He set the tone for the meeting in a very positive way.  

The meeting continued for another one hour along with Shri K.S. Chauhan, Senior Vice President, where issues were discussed with further details and he warmly appreciated the homework done by CBPRO in collecting the required informations and arriving at calculations.  

The inputs submitted by us were duly received and appreciated.

Comrades, we have given in a nutshell the important points of discussion.  We hope with this meeting a new era has started for Bank Pensioners and Retirees and formation of CBPRO had been a great effort by the Apex Retiree Organisations who exhibited throughout a spirit of comradeship to achieve the common objective of ensuring justice to the Bank Pensioners and Retirees.  

We once again appeal to all to join the CBPRO and further strengthen the Bank Pensioners and Retirees Movement.

CBPRO is also seeking the support of UFBU to use their good offices with the IBA and help us in achieving the objectives of Retirees Movement.  

CBPRO firmly believes that it is an organisation which strives for the benefit of all Bank Employees and Officers, PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE and with the number growing and vibrance demonstrated we are confident that SUCCESS SHALL BE OURS.

With Warm Greetings,            

                                                     

A.Ramesh Babu                                                                         K.V.Acharya

                                                   Joint Conveners