Letter by CBPRO to Hon Prime Minister is reproduced below
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Dated: 04.01.2020
Shri Narendra Modi ji,
Hon’ble Prime Minister,
Prime Minister’s Office,
South Block,
New Delhi 110001.
Respected Sir,
Pending issues of Bank Pensioners and Retirees
We invite your kind attention to our various letters and memoranda, the last of which being 26.11.2019. We have been agitating against insensitivity of the concerned authorities towards our legitimate demands. We had also conducted dharnas and demonstrations at various important centres including state capitals and Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. It is disheartening to note that in spite of our knocking the doors of the concerned authorities including the Secretary, DFS, Hon’ble Finance Minister and Indian Banks’ Association, we have not been able to get any favourable response so far. We are therefore of the considered view that on intervention from your good office is respectfully solicited to help the cause of more than 5(Five) lac retirees including that of State Bank of India. We once again request your good self to look into our following legitimate and genuine pending issues and help us get justice:
1.Uniform Family Pension at par with Government and RBI Scheme.
2.Updation / Revision of Pension to all Bank Pensioners as granted in case of RBI Pensioners.
3.100% DA Neutralisation to Pre-2002 Bank Retirees
4.Comprehensive Medical Health Care Scheme for Bank Retirees on the lines of CGHS.
5.Rekoning of Special Allowance introduced w.e.f 1.11.2012 for the purpose of Computation of Pension.
a)Updation of Pension has to be done for the following reasons to ensure Best Practices and Best Legal Compliance.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court has categorically held in its judgements that periodical Wage Revision invariably entails Periodic Pension Updation simultaneously.
b)Pension being a Deferred Wage Revision / Updation of Pension is a natural corollary to Wage Revision.
c)Updation of Pension to RBI Retirees was given initially and later on withdrawn wrongly leading to Litigation in Hon’ble Mumbai High Court and ultimately Government cleared Updation recently even in the absence of suitable Regulation in their Pension Regulations mainly for the above mentioned reasons.
d)More importantly in the Bank Employees Pension Regulation a categorical provision is made Regulation 35(1)
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BASIC PENSION AND ADDITIONAL PENSION, WHEREVER APPLICABLE, SHALL BE UPDATED AS PER THE FORMULAE GIVEN IN APPENDIX-1(GOVERNMENT GAZETTE NOTIFICATION NO.9 DATED 1st March, 2003).
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e)It is also absolutely necessary to give Pension uniformly at 50% of the Last Drawn Basic Pay to SBI Pensioners to avoid discrimination in payment of Pension.
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From the above it is absolutely clear that all Bank Pensioners including SBI Pensioners are entitled for Pension Updation as given to RBI Pensioners recently.
We consider it pertinent to bring it to your kind notice that the emotive issue of improvement in Family Pension entails a negative additional cost and the cost of Pension Updation may not need any immediate additional provision as the annual contribution to Pension Fund and annual yield there on are robust and adequate to absorb the annual cost of Pension Updation by using the basis of Updation Factors applied in case of Reserve Bank of India recently. We shall be glad to explain the computation of cost of Improvements in Family Pension and also the Updation of Pension to DFS and IBA if given a chance and considered necessary in the interest of all concerned.
What has been hurting the Senior and Super Senior Citizens of the Banking Industry is that despite there being a pre-existing provision in Banks Pension Regulation, its implementation to update our pension has been arbitrarily denied. It is worth mentioning here that Banks Pension Regulation formulated under the Provisions of the Statute by the Government of India in consultation with RBI and published in the Official Gazette of Union of India. The Pension Regulations are thus a Subordinate Legislation having Statutory force. Moreover, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has also held that Periodical salary revision and corresponding Pension revision (Updation) are inseparable.
We shall be grateful to you for an early intervention to resolve our long pending grievances.
With Sincere Regards,
Yours Faithfully,
(A.Ramesh Babu) (K.V. Acharya)
Joint Conveners, CBPRO
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