PETITION TO HON’BLE PM / FM UPDATE: 29.11.2017 As per the UFBU letter to IBA, it is quite evident that the much awaited negotiations under the XI BPS is still in primary stage only with talks on non financial issues and main issues like wage revision & in particular pension updation is yet to be deliberated. Retirees are apprehending that UFBU & IBA as usual may once again cheat us & deprive our legitimate rights like they have been doing during last 25 years. Even in case of Health Insurance renewal, there has been exhorbitant increase in premium year after year. Atleast, there has been a gesture of pay back on part of some banks like SBI, PSB, Karnataka bank in subsidising insurance premium to their Retirees as a goodwill for their past service. Other Banks would have also considered, had the issue was sincerely persued by the Retirees Associations with respective Banks. But, unfortunately, Retirees Associations in some banks are busy in self destruction by dissolutions. With the result, most of the pensioners had to shell down their two months pension to renew the policy. Some individual crawlers of Associations found commenting that somebody simply writing to PM on Change.org. will not get solved the issues? Such people should understand that atleast we are exerting pressure on decision makers, where they have failed. Despite cloudy atmospheres of uncertainty even in the approach of Retirees associations compounding with the Nexus of UFBU & IBA, many individual proponents and retirees even in their advanced age viz Sri. S. Ramachandran, Retd. GM, Sri. V K Khanna, Retd GM of PNB, Sri. Sitarama Rao, Dr. Dhanjaya Bhupathy, Sri. Devulapalli Srinivasa Murthy, Sri. Jayaprakash .N, Sri. Hari Narayana Sarma and Sri. C. N. Venugopal, Ex-ED of Bank of Travancore, and many other individual proponents have been individually approaching all the appropriate forums and even Courts seeking natural Justice for the overall benefit of all Retirees. One can understand the financial constraint & other age related limitations to fight individually. The organisations responsible for present sorry state of affairs should introspect, realize and use their wisdom at least now & make sincere efforts to rectify the injustice done so far & do justice to hapless Retirees. Congratulations to Sri. V K Khannaji. Hitherto, the IBA has been escaping from responsibility & accountability from its actions. Now, due to persistent efforts of Sri. V K Khanna, Retd. GM from PNB, the appropriate authority has ordered that IBA is a Public Authority answerable for all its actions. Now, It is going to be tough for IBA as many RTIs will be filed to question their action. In the latest effort Sri. Harinarayana Sarma has raised issue on how the amendments to Regulation No. 35.1 of Bank Employees' Pension Regulations effected. The gist of his letter is as follows:- "I invite your kind attention to my earlier letter dated 26-10-2017 seeking clarification on the amendment to the above Regulation. The captioned Regulation says: Regulation 35.1 (Original) Regulation 35.1 (Amended and latest) "In respect of employees who retired between the 1st day of January, 1986 but before 31st day of October, 1987, basic pension and additional pension will be updated as per the formulae given in Appendix-I" "Basic pension and additional pension, wherever applicable shall be updated as per the formulae given in Appendix-1" As per the MEMORANDUM OF SETTLEMENT dated the 29th October, 1993 Pension Scheme was introduced in the Banking industry with effect from 1st November, 1993; making it available to those employees retired on or after 1st November, 1993; and also extending to those employees retired on or after 1st January 1986. Since the Pension Scheme was extended with retrospective effect to earlier retirees also, a special mention about updation of pension through Regulation 35.1 was obviously required while framing the Bank (Employees') Pension Regulation,1995 and It does not connote any sense to infer that the updation of pension is not applicable to those employees retired after 31st October 1987. In this context we sought clarification about the objective and the necessity of the amendment carried out in 2003 to the Regulation 35.1. As per the understandings arrived at through the above referred 'Memorandum' Updation of pension was agreed for all those covered under the Pension Scheme and accordingly Banks had extended the principle of updation to those retired on or after 1st January 1986 by revising their Basic pension as per the next wage revision that took place with effect from 1st November 1987, as the Pension Scheme was drawn on the lines of "Central Civil Pension Rules 1972; and the same understanding was made explicit through Regulation 56 of the Pension Regulations of 1995. Further the status assigned to Nationalized Banks under Article 12 of the Constitution is that of “INSTRUMENTALITIES OF STATE” and it therefore follows beyond any ambiguity that employees of Nationalized banks rank on par with employees of the Central Government in so far as pension benefits are concerned and the dispensation under Bank Employees’ Pension Regulation 56 establishes that the Pension Scheme is one and the same for Bank Employees/Central Govt. Employees. This makes it imperative that pension in banks ought to be revised with each wage revision through Bipartite Settlements in the same way as is being carried out for the pensioners of the Central Government as Pension is a deferred wage. But this has not been done over more than two decades on a wrong premise that there is no provision for Updation of Pension. I earnestly request you to clarify the intention and purpose of stipulating “Basic Pension shall be updated” in the circumstance, at the earliest and oblige" When lawful Regulations are violated blatantly by the IBA, the Unions/Associations have become party to such recurring violations and failed to move highest courts for justice as a major organizational force which clearly shows their deliberate wrongdoings in the following areas: 01. Periodical updation in pension 02. 100% DA Neutralisation 03. Improvement in Family Pension 04. Second option of Pension to CRS, Resignees, left over VRS Retirees 05. Sections 19.1 & 4 of the Act prohibit any amendment that prejudice what is done earlier under a regulation 06. Total waivement of Income Tax on Pension as Pension is a deferred payment and not an income It is reiterated that the Bank Pension Fund is constituted out of our their own funds with further mandatory contributions from Banks after yearly actuaries, the accumulated funds with periodical interest earned is self-sufficient to meet the legitimate rights of the Retirees without costing to exchequer. We fail to understand why the IBA is resorting to dubious & unconstitutional approach and why it is deliberately failed to apprise the Finance Ministry the reality of the Pension fund position vis a vis plight of the hapless Retirees & the injustice meted to them. We, the TEAM: Jayaprakash, Jayaraman, Jayaram, HS Vasudeva Rao, HSN Murthy & Vijayalakshmi have petitioned on 16.12.2016 to Hon’ble PM / FM seeking his personal intervention in the matter of injustice continued to be done to helpless Bank Retirees followed by more than 25 reminders lodged in http://pgportal.gov.in which were closed by the respective Secretaries of Finance Dept., in connivance with IBA without assigning proper justification. Our endeavor already initiated in Change.org and received more than 8060 supporters. While profusely thanking each and every one for such support, we request other Retirees and citizens to further strengthen our mission by login to change.org. search: Jayaprakash to find the original petition and franchise your support. Thanking you once again.