The following petition was submitted online followed by reminders on various dates in http://pgportal.gov.in/pensions besides support from 4700 citizens through www.change.Org and still our grievances remained unresponded & unresolved. Petition to Prime Minister of India Date: 12th Dec 2016 Respected Sir, Please reinstate self-respect & Dignity of Retired / Pensioners of Public Sector Banks - Do not discriminate Retired / Pensioners of the Banks: • Periodical Updat action of pension • Improvement in Family pension • 100% DA neutralization. • Recognize that the Bank employees & Retired are protecting the Economy of the Nation from within. We have been keenly watching your address to the Citizens of our Nation from time to time in various forums and especially in one of the government function at the Shama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium near Panaji on 13.11.2016. We have gained your benevolent straight forwardness in thanking publicly all banks employees for going the extra mile to ensure that the implementation of the demonetization scheme was on track and appreciating the work which normally have to put in over a year have worked more than that in one week alone. We have also gained your generous truthfulness in recognizing the voluntary services rendered by the retired Bank employees in their help in dealing with the workload necessitated by the demonetization process. Is it not a fact as your good-self admitted that “Soldiers are protecting the Nation from outside and within the Bank employees are protecting the Economy of the Nation?” When employees of State / Central Government, Law Makers and many other Institutions are being sanctioned with updation of pension on every revision by pay commission, why Retirees /Pensioners of Banks are denied with the same? While elated over your benevolent appreciation on the services of employees and the Retirees of the Banks, we would like to submit hereunder our resolute issues which are yet to be fructified through your sympathetic thoughtfulness: Arbitrary and unfounded rejection of Updation of Pension has adversely affected the SR. Citizens in the present period of inflation. We, the unfortunate senior citizens of the country, in sunset of our lives, most humbly submit to you the following specifics for your positive attention. 01. We, the senior citizens have served our respective banks for 30 to 40 years and have been drawing pension fixed on the Basic Pay and other eligible allowances, which were being paid at the time of our retirement and thereafter, this amount of basic pension was never updated during the subsequent wage revisions which are taking place every 5 years in the banking industry. 02. On account of this non-updating of pension, a situation has arisen that a very senior executive in the rank of General Manager who retired 20 years back, is getting lower pension than the Clerk retired recently. The retirees who are in advanced age of 70 years plus, whose medical care expenses and inflation has beaten the meager monthly pension received by them. 03. During the recently concluded wage revision on 25.05.2015, none of the issues of the bank retirees were solved and in turn the IBA and UFBU issued a damaging Record Note of Discussion saying that there is no contractual relationship between the banks and retirees. IBA also informed that in view of high cost involved, it would be difficult to agree to updation of Pension. 04. In this regard, the relationship between banks and retirees has been dealt and touched upon by Hon’ble Courts as hereunder: A. By Supreme Court of India in D.S. Nakara & Others vs Union Of India on 17 December, 1982 Equivalent citations: 1983 AIR 130, 1983 SCR (2) 165 B. Supreme Court of India CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1123 OF 2015 [Arising out of SLP(C) NO. 321 OF 2015] State of Rajasthan and Ors. ... Appellants Versus Mahendra Nath Sharma ...Respondent dated 1st July 2015 on the subject of pension in the case titled State Of Rajasthan Vs Mahendra Nath sharma. The Hon'ble Court, inter alia, has reiterated the following tacitly and directly. i. Pension is property and not a bounty based upon the sweet will or grace of the Employer, DS Nakara therefore reiterated. ii. Cut-Off dates deprecated. iii. Arrears have to flow from the date of inception of anomaly. iv. Employees who are not on rolls on the date of subsequent revision of pensionary benefit(s) are also eligible for further revision of pension. v. Government should not perpetuate litigation. 05. With regard to cost factor, the PSU banks have adequate/enough pension funds as on 31.03.2015. The quick glance of the position is as under: (All figures are taken from the annual reports of the respective banks) PENSION FUNDS POSITION OF PSU BANKS AS ON 31.03.2015 (Amounts in Rs. Crores) Opening Balance on 01.04.15 1,58,782.60 Service Cost 8,237.22 Interest Cost 13,416.15 Benefits Paid 11,783.35 Actuarial Gain/Loss +11,807.09 Closing Balance on 31.03.15 1,80,459.71 From the above it is very much evident that the interest earned on corpus pension fund is sufficient to service pension paid, further monthly contributions from employees are added to the corpus fund, and thereby there is annual growth in the funds of the banks. 06. As the IBA, GOI, individual banks, RBI, UFBU have not taken care of our issues, and there is no transparency in the wage revision negotiations, any member of the public having sufficient interest can maintain an action for judicial/administrative/executive redress for public injury arising from breach of public duty or from violation of some provision of the Constitution or the law and seek enforcement of such public duty and observance of such constitutional or legal provision. Hence the need for Updation of pension was felt as applicable to Pensioners of State and Central Government and other similar Institutions 07. Therefore, we plead you to kindly: 1. Call for the records and minutes of wage revision discussions in which our issues were discussed and finally taken the illegal stand as mentioned in Record Note of Discussion dated 25.05.2015. 2. Direct the banks to investigate into the cost of updation of pension, improvement in family pension and 100% DA neutralization by Actuarials defined in Pension Regulations 1995, in a time-bound manner. 3. The cost is not depended on budget allocation but purely from the interest earning of the already existing Corpus Pension Fund. 4. Order the concerned banks, RBI and the Finance Department of GOI, to arrive at the decision on the demands of the retirees. Petition submitted online to: 1. Shri. Narendra Modiji, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Prime Minister's Office, No. 152, South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi-110011 2. Shri. Arun Jaitleyji Hon’ble Ministerm of Finance, Jeevan Deep Building, Sansad Marg, New Delhi-110001 This petition was signed by the following Retirees of various banks further seeking support from other citizens. Name of the Retired / Pensioner 01. JAYAPRAKASH N 02. JAYARAMAN N 03. Jayaram V 04. HSN Murthy 05. HS Vasudevarao 06. Vijayalakshmi S Rao Sincere request to all citizens to submit the grievances in the above lines with more enhancements if any to the decision maker to achieve our collective agenda: Petition may be submitted individually on http://pgportal.gov.in/pensions and simultaneously franchise support on www.change.org to build mementum till we achieve our goal.