The Central cabinet has decided to lower the pensionable age of poor senior citizens from 65 to 60 who are receiving pension under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension (IGNOAP ) Scheme. The pension is being paid to those senior citizens in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. The monthly pension is Rs.200/- This will be effective from 1st April 2011.

It was after sustained and serious struggles that we were able to get the decision and orders on the Pension Revision of the pre-2007 retirees. In fact this was one of the main dmands of the two strikes orgnnised by the Joint Action Committee of BSNL Unions /Associations in April and December 2010. But even after issuing the orders, its implementation is getting delayed. Neither the concerned SSAs are completing the process and sending it to CCA, or wherever it has been sent to CCA the orders and payment of arrears have not been paid.
It is in this context, I along with other leaders of BSNLEU as also JAC met Shri R.K.Upadhyay, CMD BSNL and also Shri S.C.Misra, Member (Services), DOT and demanded early fixation and payment of arrears to the concerned pensioners. Both agreed to the urgency of the problem and assured that all efforts will be made to settle these cases. Much pressure is required at the field level also.

There is a serious move from the SEBI Board Chairman Mr. U.K.Sinha to get the pension funds to be invested in the market.His argument is that it will be a long term fund for the markets. According to him, India is the only country which has prohibited pension funds from the market.
The employees who are the real investors and stakeholders of the pension fund have again and again objected to the investment of their hard earned money in the risky market. There have been several cases in the foreign countries where the pensioners had lost their entire money in the volatile markets. The Chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Mr. Yogesh Aggarwal also share this opinion on the heavy risk.
The Government is under much pressure by the big business to get the pension funds invested in the market. The government itself seems to be in support of the same. Despite protests from the Left, the bill for PFRDA has been moved in the Parliament.
The situation is grave. It is only through sustained struggle that the workers will be able to stop the same, which is very much necessary to save the pension funds from being misused and lost.

Comrade Mihir Dasgupta, former Asst. General Secretary and President Kolkatta Telephone Circle of BSNLEU retired from service today, 31st May 2011, on superannuation from BSNL. He was one of the top leaders of the BSNLEU and had served at the HQ many times. A good writer and speaker, Com. Dasgupta was the District Secretary of one of the Districts in Kolkatta for a very long time. His wife, Com. Swastika who is also a leader of BSNLEU and District Secretary of one of the big divisions in Kolkatta retired some time back. Comrade Dasgupta belonged to a family committed to Left.
I convey my Greetings and Best Wishes on his retirement. I hope that he will continue to be active in BSNLEU and working class movement.
VAN Namboodiri

The private provident fund trusts are pressuring the government to allow them to continue with paying 8.5% interest to the PF account holders as last year without paying the 9.5% announced by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation. Their contention is that they are not able to give the higher interest.

The private provident fund has been entrusted with PF accounts with the understanding that they will be able to get higher interest. How can they refuse the % what the EPFO is paying? They idea is to use the PF corpus to their benefit but not give the benefit to the workers. This can not be allowed.

The reply by the Labour Secretary P.C.Chathurvedi to the argument is clear, ” They have no option. They have to give 9.5% interest….If they can not do so, the exemptions given to them will be cancelled.”

The government should stand firm on their decision.
(Inputs from a report in Economic Times)

The Convention of the All Pensioners & Retired Persons Association, Hyderabad in its convention held at Hyderabad on 28th March 2011 has strongly protested against the presentation of the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development (PFRDA) Bill in the Parliament and demanded that it should be withdrawn. The Convention also demanded that the Employees Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS – 95), should be amended to the benefit o the pensioners. The convention adopted agitational programmes for settlement of the issues.

The convention attended by more than 700 Central, State, PSU pensioners was presided over by Com.Prabhakaran Nair. Inaugurating the convention Com. A.K.Padmanabhan, President CITU, lambasted the anti-worker policies of the government and demanded that the government should withdraw the PFRDA bill. Through the EPS-95 and New Pension Scheme, the Government is trying to reduce even the meagre social security measures given to the pensioners. S.K.Vyas(Confederation of Central Govt. Employees & Workers), K.Venugopalan(AIIEA) M.N.Reddy (General Secretary) ,Veeriah(CITU)and other leaders addressed.

In my speech, I compared the pension schemes in the Central Government and the PSU and explained how the Government has been continuously eroding whatever social securities are there for the pensioners. I supported the agitational programmes being organised by the committee in this regard.

The Convention was a well planned programme to bring all the Central Government, State Government and PSU pensioners together.

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