Untitled Document

Call to our comrades who are deprived of justice on the basis of date of joining, while serving in same cadre.
Dear Comrades, I would like to reply to some of your queries regarding the discrimination in pay scale on the basis of date of joining in the cadre. 1. Today I am observing that the Seven Point Charter of Demands of ARTEE is lost with all the demands except ours’ have been fulfilled. WHY? The agitation on seven point charter of demands was to bring pressure on the Ministry to process our issues for a final settlement. The charter of demands was: Up gradation of the Helper from Group D to Group C One Pay Scale for One Cadre Implementation of ACP to subordinate Engineering Cadres Rs.5400 Grade Pay for AE with 4 years of service in the cadre Rs.4600 Grade pay for Engineering Assistants Restoration of abolished posts in Engineering cadres and immediate recruitment Implementation of Cadre review for engineering employees of AIR&DD. The pressure worked in getting a meeting with Smt. Ambika Soni, Hon’ble Minister of I&B to discuss the issues in detail and after being convinced by the Association, Hon’ble Minister agreed in principle with our demands and accordingly directed JS(B) to start the process for settling the matters. Out of the seven points, 3 points were for the implementation of the decisions of the Government, on the recommendations of 6th Pay Commission. The four points, ie, ACP recommended by 5th CPC, One Pay One Cadre, restoration of abolished posts/immediate recruitment & Cadre Review have not been taken up by any government department but we were demanding the government to take a final decision to extend justice to our members. The time taken for the implementation of the decisions of Helper to Group C & Rs.4600 GP for EA, which were mentioned clearly in the gazette notification dated 29th August 2008, in spite of the regular follow-up is known to everybody. Anybody who knows the govt system is very well aware of the fact that to get any benefit from the Govt is a very hectic and time consuming job. Further, at least I cannot claim that all the issues of 7 points charter of demands were settled as we are still making all efforts for settling all other five demands by regularly following up the file. 2. Today I am observing that you, under the banner of SSS,are demanding for merger of EA and SEA but in the light of 6th CPC and finance ministry order which will not only create a further anomaly of a junior being promoted prior to his senior but also is bypassing our cause totally. WHY? The merger of the cadre in the pre-revised pay scale of Rs.6500 - 10500 with the scale of 7450-11500 was decided by the Govt in the gazette notification dated 29th August 2008 and again vide the order dated 13.11.2009. We, being the responsible Association demanded the implementation of the order only. We have experienced that as per the decision of Ministry of Finance & DOP&T, the pay scales of Khalasi & Helper were merged way back in 1995 but the cadres are yet to be merged, though both cadre are still placed in the same pay scale. Now realising the disadvantage facing by Khalasis, especially since they are not eligible for the departmental examination, we SSS have been making efforts for their merger, but the department, PB & Ministry are creating lot of obstacles whereas it could have been very easy at that time. Similarly if we do not make efforts for the implementation of this decision on EA & SEA, it will not be easy after loosing the appropriate lead time. The new EAs will question us at that time that why the Association could not foresee it when the Govt has issued necessary orders. Further the Govt orders are to be implemented from 1.1.2006. But the discrimination, which has to be removed from EA, Technician, Diesel Staff, Helper cadres are pending from 25.2.1999. 3. Today I am observing that you are in the attempt of creating another anomaly against us while still now you have not been able to eradicate the previous anomaly. WHY? As I mentioned above the previous anomaly has to be corrected from 25.2.1999 and when the anomaly is corrected all these EAs (joined after 25.2.1999) will be considered feeder cadre for the post of AE, if the govt decision is implemented otherwise those EAs have to wait for 20-25 yrs to become SEA to become even eligible for Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (LDCE). 4. Today I am observing that you are again and again telling that you have no control over the court case which is only getting dates after dates without any positive output for the last five years(after we win in CAT,Delhi) which has totally made me upset and frustrated. But the so called cut-of date was created by you and the administration sitting together and not by the judiciary. And today you and the administration can sit over again and revive the agreement in the light of same status declaration by the GoM and the Cabinet. But you are not doing so. WHY? It is the fact that we have no control on the court cases irrespective of fielding one of the best advocate of the Hon'ble High Court Delhi. as per the normal practice, cases with financial implications are to be pursued up to Hon'ble Supreme Court, like in the cases of EA pay revision way back in 1994 and still in the case of pay revision of Technician with Lighting Assistant. But in the cases of removal of discrimination of pay in the cadres of EA, Technician and other subordinate engineering cadres on the basis of date of joining and in the case of ACP, we took up the matter with Govt to settle it in the favour of employees on the basis of the favourable verdict from the Hon'ble CAT Delhi & Kolkata. Smt. Ambika Soni, Hon'ble Minister for I&B, in the meeting with ARTEE held in July 2009 agreed in principle to consider these issues. Accordingly we have succeeded in starting the file, named one pay for one cadre by the Office of DG:AIR and we have provided all supporting documents to the office. When the o/o DG:AIR submitted the file directly to the Ministry for minimising the time loss, the Ministry advised them to send it through Prasar Bharati Secretariat to avoid administrative complications as the PB holds the administrative control. Accordingly the file was submitted to PB Secretariat. PB secretariat raised lot of queries as per the normal procedure for which the office of DG:AIR replied every time after consultation with this Association. Now the Prasar Bharati has sought the latest status, including the stay on implementation of the decision of Hon'ble CAT if any etc and sought the copies of the court cases, speaking order if any etc from the office records ( the copies of court cases and other supporting documents were earlier provided by this Association). unfortunately the o/o DG:AIR or PB Secretariat were not aware that basically who was dealing with the case from official side. we personally approached the Directorate of Doordarshan and ultimately found out that the case was being dealt with the DDK, Delhi as per the directions of DG:DD. Now the O/o DG: AIR has requested DDK Delhi to immediately provide the latest status report and it was assured that they will submit it again immediately to the PB Secretariat after obtaining all those details. Meanwhile we had a number of meetings with Joint Secretary (B) in the Ministry of I&B and they also assured to process it immediately after getting the recommendation from DG:AIR & PB Secretariat. The persons who are familiar of the govt procedures are aware of the complications of file movements. Whatever the fruits we are enjoying from Association movements like fixed duty hours, eligibility for OTA, Bonus, pay revision in parity with sound recordist, benefits of 6th Pay commission, restoration of facilities of Govt employees were not achieved in one or two days. These were achieved due to the regular follow up for a number of years. It took 10 years ( from 1997 to 2007) for 38000 employees of 21 Association in a common platform of NFADE to restore the facilities like General pool Accommodation, CGHS Admission for kids in Central School which were withdrawn illegally from the employees of AIR &DD. we were outside the purview of 6th Pay commission till getting the official minutes on 27th September 2007. Now the Govt & Ministry has assured to forward our demand of repeal PB Act to the Hon'ble GoM, but nobody knows that when we will reach the destination. Only thing we can do is to make all out efforts till achieving the goal. The same policy is applicable in every issue including the issue of one pay one cadre. we are regularly following up the file, we are providing all the possible data and documents to the authorities to avoid the delay to process it. We are following the case of ACP also in which the facility has been granted to AE of CCW who also benefited from the order dated 25.2.1999 but our cadres were deprived of the same order dated 25.2.1999. Though the Minister responded very strongly in our favour and the Ministry & Directorate agreed in principle to with draw the court case and to extend the facilities, nothing has materialised till today due the complications of file movements in Govt system. As I called upon our members earlier, I repeat that the members irrespective of the cadres should have faith on the Association and they should take all possible steps to strengthen the Association so that the Association can continue its struggle, to ensure justice for the employees. Meanwhile it was very painful to note that some of our younger brothers, who joined after 25.2.1999 informed me in the capacity of Chairman, NFADE that they will not participate in the Call for Mass CL proposed on 17/3/2010. The call from Federation was to ensure the existence of all employees of AIR &DD as Central Govt employees. Further the issue against discrimination stands only due to the reason that we all are One type employees, i.e.govt employees. The day the employees get bifurcated, we will lose the base of the case itself. So It is necessary for the deprived employees to ensure that all employees continue to be only one type of employees. I am confident that being brilliant persons, our younger brothers are capable of understanding the reality of the issue. It is a general phrase that, united we will win, divided we will perish. This phrase is applicable not only for younger comrades but for the members of all cadres whoever reacting negatively to the call on common cause, by linking the cadre/station based issues, as the success or defeat of Federation movement is applicable for everybody not restricted for the office bearers. I hope that better sense will prevail, With warm regards, Yours Anilkumar S President, ARTEE

Call to our comrades who are deprived of justice on the basis of date of joining, while serving in same cadre.

Dear Comrades,
I would like to reply to some of your queries regarding the discrimination in pay scale on the basis of date of joining in the cadre.

1. Today I am observing that the Seven Point Charter of Demands of ARTEE is lost with all the demands except ours’ have been fulfilled. WHY?

The agitation on seven point charter of demands was to bring pressure on the Ministry to process our issues for a final settlement.

The charter of demands was:

Up gradation of the Helper from Group D to Group C
One Pay Scale for One Cadre
Implementation of ACP to subordinate Engineering Cadres
Rs.5400 Grade Pay for AE with 4 years of service in the cadre
Rs.4600 Grade pay for Engineering Assistants
Restoration of abolished posts in Engineering cadres and immediate recruitment
Implementation of Cadre review for engineering employees of AIR&DD.

The pressure worked in getting a meeting with Smt. Ambika Soni, Hon’ble Minister of I&B to discuss the issues in detail and after being convinced by the Association, Hon’ble Minister agreed in principle with our demands and accordingly directed JS(B) to start the process for settling the matters. Out of the seven points, 3 points were for the implementation of the decisions of the Government, on the recommendations of 6th Pay Commission. The four points, ie, ACP recommended by 5th CPC, One Pay One Cadre, restoration of abolished posts/immediate recruitment & Cadre Review have not been taken up by any government department but we were demanding the government to take a final decision to extend justice to our members. The time taken for the implementation of the decisions of Helper to Group C & Rs.4600 GP for EA, which were mentioned clearly in the gazette notification dated 29th August 2008, in spite of the regular follow-up is known to everybody. Anybody who knows the govt system is very well aware of the fact that to get any benefit from the Govt is a very hectic and time consuming job.

Further, at least I cannot claim that all the issues of 7 points charter of demands were settled as we are still making all efforts for settling all other five demands by regularly following up the file.

2. Today I am observing that you, under the banner of SSS,are demanding for merger of EA and SEA but in the light of 6th CPC and finance ministry order which will not only create a further anomaly of a junior being promoted prior to his senior but also is bypassing our cause totally. WHY?

The merger of the cadre in the pre-revised pay scale of Rs.6500 - 10500 with the scale of 7450-11500 was decided by the Govt in the gazette notification dated 29th August 2008 and again vide the order dated 13.11.2009. We, being the responsible Association demanded the implementation of the order only. We have experienced that as per the decision of Ministry of Finance & DOP&T, the pay scales of Khalasi & Helper were merged way back in 1995 but the cadres are yet to be merged, though both cadre are still placed in the same pay scale. Now realising the disadvantage facing by Khalasis, especially since they are not eligible for the departmental examination, we SSS have been making efforts for their merger, but the department, PB & Ministry are creating lot of obstacles whereas it could have been very easy at that time. Similarly if we do not make efforts for the implementation of this decision on EA & SEA, it will not be easy after loosing the appropriate lead time. The new EAs will question us at that time that why the Association could not foresee it when the Govt has issued necessary orders. Further the Govt orders are to be implemented from 1.1.2006. But the discrimination, which has to be removed from EA, Technician, Diesel Staff, Helper cadres are pending from 25.2.1999.

3. Today I am observing that you are in the attempt of creating another anomaly against us while still now you have not been able to eradicate the previous anomaly. WHY?

As I mentioned above the previous anomaly has to be corrected from 25.2.1999 and when the anomaly is corrected all these EAs (joined after 25.2.1999) will be considered feeder cadre for the post of AE, if the govt decision is implemented otherwise those EAs have to wait for 20-25 yrs to become SEA to become even eligible for Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (LDCE).

4. Today I am observing that you are again and again telling that you have no control over the court case which is only getting dates after dates without any positive output for the last five years(after we win in CAT,Delhi) which has totally made me upset and frustrated. But the so called cut-of date was created by you and the administration sitting together and not by the judiciary. And today you and the administration can sit over again and revive the agreement in the light of same status declaration by the GoM and the Cabinet. But you are not
doing so. WHY?

It is the fact that we have no control on the court cases irrespective of fielding one of the best advocate of the Hon'ble High Court Delhi. as per the normal practice, cases with financial implications are to be pursued up to Hon'ble Supreme Court, like in the cases of EA pay revision way back in 1994 and still in the case of pay revision of Technician with Lighting Assistant. But in the cases of removal of discrimination of pay in the cadres of EA, Technician and other subordinate engineering cadres on the basis of date of joining and in the case of ACP, we took up the matter with Govt to settle it in the favour of employees on the basis of the favourable verdict from the Hon'ble CAT Delhi & Kolkata. Smt. Ambika Soni, Hon'ble Minister for I&B, in the meeting with ARTEE held in July 2009 agreed in principle to consider these issues. Accordingly we have succeeded in starting the file, named one pay for one cadre by the Office of DG:AIR and we have provided all supporting documents to the office. When the o/o DG:AIR submitted the file directly to the Ministry for minimising the time loss, the Ministry advised them to send it through Prasar Bharati Secretariat to avoid administrative complications as the PB holds the administrative control. Accordingly the file was submitted to PB Secretariat. PB secretariat raised lot of queries as per the normal procedure for which the office of DG:AIR replied every time after consultation with this Association. Now the Prasar Bharati has sought the latest status, including the stay on implementation of the decision of Hon'ble CAT if any etc and sought the copies of the court cases, speaking order if any etc from the office records ( the copies of court cases and other supporting documents were earlier provided by this Association). unfortunately the o/o DG:AIR or PB Secretariat were not aware that basically who was dealing with the case from official side. we personally approached the Directorate of Doordarshan and ultimately found out that the case was being dealt with the DDK, Delhi as per the directions of DG:DD. Now the O/o DG: AIR has requested DDK Delhi to immediately provide the latest status report and it was assured that they will submit it again immediately to the PB Secretariat after obtaining all those details. Meanwhile we had a number of meetings with Joint Secretary (B) in the Ministry of I&B and they also assured to process it immediately after getting the recommendation from DG:AIR & PB Secretariat. The persons who are familiar of the govt procedures are aware of the complications of file movements. Whatever the fruits we are enjoying from Association movements like fixed duty hours, eligibility for OTA, Bonus, pay revision in parity with sound recordist, benefits of 6th Pay commission, restoration of facilities of Govt employees were not achieved in one or two days. These were achieved due to the regular follow up for a number of years. It took 10 years ( from 1997 to 2007) for 38000 employees of 21 Association in a common platform of NFADE to restore the facilities like General pool Accommodation, CGHS Admission for kids in Central School which were withdrawn illegally from the employees of AIR &DD. we were outside the purview of 6th Pay commission till getting the official minutes on 27th September 2007. Now the Govt & Ministry has assured to forward our demand of repeal PB Act to the Hon'ble GoM, but nobody knows that when we will reach the destination. Only thing we can do is to make all out efforts till achieving the goal. The same policy is applicable in every issue including the issue of one pay one cadre. we are regularly following up the file, we are providing all the possible data and documents to the authorities to avoid the delay to process it. We are following the case of ACP also in which the facility has been granted to AE of CCW who also benefited from the order dated 25.2.1999 but our cadres were deprived of the same order dated 25.2.1999. Though the Minister responded very strongly in our favour and the Ministry & Directorate agreed in principle to with draw the court case and to extend the facilities, nothing has materialised till today due the complications of file movements in Govt system.
As I called upon our members earlier, I repeat that the members irrespective of the cadres should have faith on the Association and they should take all possible steps to strengthen the Association so that the Association can continue its struggle, to ensure justice for the employees.
Meanwhile it was very painful to note that some of our younger brothers, who joined after 25.2.1999 informed me in the capacity of Chairman, NFADE that they will not participate in the Call for Mass CL proposed on 17/3/2010. The call from Federation was to ensure the existence of all employees of AIR &DD as Central Govt employees. Further the issue against discrimination stands only due to the reason that we all are One type employees, i.e.govt employees. The day the employees get bifurcated, we will lose the base of the case itself. So It is necessary for the deprived employees to ensure that all employees continue to be only one type of employees.
I am confident that being brilliant persons, our younger brothers are capable of understanding the reality of the issue. It is a general phrase that, united we will win, divided we will perish.
This phrase is applicable not only for younger comrades but for the members of all cadres whoever reacting negatively to the call on common cause, by linking the cadre/station based issues, as the success or defeat of Federation movement is applicable for everybody not restricted for the office bearers.
I hope that better sense will prevail,

With warm regards,
Yours

Anilkumar S
President, ARTEE