CONFEDERATION CHAMPIONING THE CAUSE OF RE-EMPLOYED EX-SERVICEMEN – WE TOOK UP THE CASE FIRST WITH MINISTER AND THEN IN JCM STANDING COMMITTEE. NOW CONFEDERATION SUBMITS COMPREHENSIVE PROPOSAL TO GOVT.
No. Conf/Re-emp.Ex-Sercice/2016-19 Dated - 01.01.2018
Shri Ajay Narayan
Jha,
Secretary
Department of
Expenditure
Ministry
of Finance, Government of India
Room
No.129-A, North Block
New
Delhi – 110001
Sub: Applicability of CCS (RP) Rules, 2016 to
persons re-employed Government Service and whose pay is debitable to civil
estimates -reg.
Ref
: DoPT
O.M. No. F.No. 3/3/2016-Estt.(Pay-II) dated 18.10.2017.
Sir,
1. Confederation of Central Government
Employees and Workers has received numerous complaints from re-employed
ex-servicemen on the matter of their initial pay fixation in the re-employed
posts. We have taken up this case in
the Standing Committee meeting of JCM National Council as an agenda item. Minutes of the Standing Committee meeting
circulated in DOP & T OM No.3/3/2016-JCA dated 08-08-2017 is reproduced
below:
“S.No.36 - Removal of ambiguity in fixation of pay of
re-employed ex-servicemen and grant of the same benefit extended to
commissioned officers to Personal Below Officers Rank (PBOR) also.
Reply: Establishment
Division in their comments dated 28-03-2017 had stated that -
(i) The first issue relates to pay fixation
on re-employment in Civil Services and Public Sector Banks etc. Department of Financial Services (DoFS) is
stated to have clarified that pay fixation of ex-servicemen would be through
protection of pay plus DA drawn by them at the time of release from the Armed
Forces. DoFS orders provide that in
addition to the pay fixed on re-employment, pension and other retirement
benefits would also be allowed.
(ii) Establishment Division of DOP&T has
clarified to Department of Posts that initial pay on re-employment in case of
ex-servicemen who had held posts below Commissioned Officers and Civilians
below Group-A, shall be fixed as per the entry pay in the revised pay structure
of the re-employed posts applicable to the case of direct recruits appointed on
or after 01-01-2006.
(iii) Staff side says there is contradictions in
the two clarifications and, as a result of the ambiguity, one section has
benefited (Personnel who are covered under the instructions of DoFS) while
others are not (Personnel who are covered under the instructions of DoPT). JS(E) stated that they had received a number
of grievances and the Department of Welfare of Ex-Servicemen had also raised
this issue. Presently there are two
formulations for pay fixation of ex-servicemen - one for Group-A Posts and
another for others - which is not an ideal situation. It was stated that the same is under active
consideration and a decision is likely shortly.”
We understand that it is in this
background DOPT has circulated a revised draft proposal seeking opinion from
other nodal Ministers. In that context,
I would like to draw your kind attention to the succeeding facts and
circumstances of the case.
History
of Rules/ OMs Governing Pay-fixation on Re-Employment
2. Before delving into the above captioned
subject, it would be prudent to retrace the evolution of statutory rules
governing the initial fixation of pay of re-employed pensioners. The first
comprehensive policy on the subject was issued by Department of Expenditure,
MoF vide their O.M. No. 8(34)/Est. III/57 dated 25.11.1958 (Annexure-I) which
when read in conjunction with Article 510-526 of Central Services Regulation (Annexure-II),
inter-alia states that:-
(a) Re-employed pensioners should be allowed only the prescribed
scales of pay, that is, no protected time scales such as those available to
pre-1931 entrants should be extended to them.
(b) The initial pay, on re-employment should be
fixed at the minimum stage of the scale of pay prescribed for the post in which
an individual is re-employed. In cases where it is felt that the fixation of
initial pay of the re-employed officer at the minimum of the prescribed pay
scale will cause undue hardship, the pay may be fixed at a higher stage by
allowing one increment for each year of service which the officer has rendered
before retirement in a post not lower than that in which he is re-employed.
(c) In addition to (b) above the Government servant may be permitted
to draw separately any pension sanctioned to him and to retain any other form
of retirement benefit for which he is eligible e.g. Government’s contribution
to a Contributory Provident Fund, gratuity, commuted value of pension, etc.
3. The said policy was in vogue till
30.07.1986, with suitable amendments from time to time in so far as the amount
of pension to be ignored while fixing the pay in the re-employed post is as
given below :-
OM No. Amount
of Pension to be
ignored
in the case of
ex-servicemen
Ministry
of Finance, Dept. of Expenditure
No.
7(17)-Est. III/62 dated 24.05.1962
(Annexure-III) Rs.15/-
Ministry
of Finance, Dept. of
Expenditure
No. 7(34)-E. III/62 dated 16.01.1964
(Annexure-IV) Rs.50/-
Ministry
of Finance, Dept. of Expenditure
No.
5 (14)-E. III (B)/77 dated 19.07.1978
(Annexure-V) Rs.125/-
Ministry
of Defence O.M. No. 2 (1)/83/D (Civ.I)
dated
08.02.1983 and Ministry of Finance, Dept. of
Expenditure
No. F. 4 (3)-E. III (B)/82 dated For
Officers - Rs.250/-
13.12.1983 (Annexure-VI) For
PBOR – Entire pension.
Ministry
of Personnel, Public Grievances and
Pensions,
DOPT O.M. No. 3/1/85-Estt (P-II) For
Officers – Rs 500/-For
dated 04.04.1986(A-VII) PBOR
– Entire Pension
DOPT
O.M. No 3/1/86-Estt-(P-II) dated
31.07.1986(A-VIII) For
PBOR - Entire Pension
DOPT
O.M. No. 3/13/2008-Estt (Pay-II)
dated 11.11.2008(Annexure-IX) For
Offiicers – Rs. 4,000/-
DOPT
O.M. No 3/3/2016-Estt (Pay-II) For
PBOR – Entire Pension
dated
01.05.2017(Annexure-X) For
Officers – Rs 15,000/-
4. However, the subject was transferred to
DoPT in 1986, therefore, all subsequent instructions were issued under the
aegis of DoPT. One such impugned instruction is the CCS (Fixation of Pay of
Re-employed Pensioners) Orders, 1986 issued vide DOPT OM No. 3/1/85-Estt.
(Pay-II) dated 31.07.1986 (Annexure-VIII). The subject order has been
subsequently amended by DOPT vide their
O.M. No. 3/19/2009-Estt (Pay-II) dated 05.04.2010 (Annexure-XI),
08.11.2010 (Annexure-XII)and O.M. No. 3/3/2016-Estt (Pay II) dated
01.05.2017(Annexure-X). However,
these orders have failed to incorporate ‘Hardship Clause’ for pay fixation in
respect of PBORs which has resulted in lot of heartburn and anomalous situation
of pay-fixation post 1986 order viz-a-viz pre-1986 retirees. The situation
has worsened post implementation of the 6th CPC and the recent 7th CPC, causing large-scale upheaval among PBOR
ex-servicemen and further resulting in unending litigation in various courts of
law across the country. Confederation has submitted a representation in
September 2015 addressed to Shri. Jithendra Singh, Minister for State,
Department of Personnel explaining the above position and requested to review
the DOP&T orders. The matter was
taken up in JCM also as stated above.
Under such circumstances, DoPT has now decided to formulate a new policy,
for which they have sought comments of Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare,
MoD, Department of Expenditure, MoF and Department of Pension and Pensioners
Welfare. I would like to reiterate that unless there is a cogent reason, the
policies affecting lives of millions of ex-servicemen should not be arbitrarily
amended. This is especially evident from intentional/ unintentional omission of
“hardship clause” from pay-fixation orders issued by DoPT which are at variance
from the instructions issued by DoE till 1986.
5. It is also brought to the notice of
Department of Expenditure that in view of large scale representation/litigation
and discontent among re-employed ex-servicemen after issue of DoPT
O.M.3/3/2016-Estt (Pay-II) dated 01.05.2017, Department of Ex-servicemen
Welfare, MoD vide their O.M. No
28(11)2017/D (Res-I) dated 24.07.2017 (Annexure-XIII)had suggested DoPT
to completely revive the provisions contained in DoE, MoF O.M. No. 8(34)/Est.
III/57 dated 25.11.1958. But, the
proposal of DESW stated in Para 6 of their above cited O. M. would only be
beneficial only if status quo existed till 30.06.1986 is fully revived. In other words,
any proposal to revive the 1958 Orders would be beneficial to re-employed
ex-servicemen (PBOR) only if the entire pension is ignored for fixation of pay
in the re-employed post, i.e. the pension is not to
be taken into account while fixing the pay as per Ministry
of Defence O.M. No. 2 (1)/83/D (Civ.I) dated 08.02.1983 and Ministry of
Finance, Dept. of Expenditure No. F. 4 (3)-E. III (B)/82 dated 13.12.1983.
OPINION/ RECOMMENDATION OF THE CONFEDERATION
Computation
of Pre-Retirement Pay for the purpose of Pay-Fixation
6. Similarly, the concept of
pre-retirement pay (PRP) has undergone changes to the detriment of
re-employed pensioners/ex-servicemen. It may be appreciated that Article 510 of
Central Service Regulations, DoE O.M. 5(21)-Est. III(B)/64 dated 15.06.1964(Annexure
XIV), DoPT O.M. No. 3/1/86-Estt (P.II) dated 31.07.1986 include all
components of pay such as rank pay,
increments of pay for length of service, Good Service Pay, Classification Pay
and X-Group Pay as a part of PRP. However, the proposal sent by DoPT for comments
only takes basic pay as PRP like Armed Forces Officers, while ignoring other
components which are part of pension. It would be prudent to mention that PRP of
Armed Forces Officer and Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBOR) has never been
same and treating PRP of Armed Forces Officer as that of PBOR will not only
create anomalous situation but also bring financial losses to PBOR.
Treatment
of Military Service Pay.
7. It is submitted that as per Part I,
Section-3 of Gazette Notification dated 30 August, 2008(Annexure XV), Cabinet
Resolution accepted Military Service Pay (Serial 2 of Annexure I-Part A) as
part of pay in respect of all defence forces and is to be counted for pay
fixation and pension in accordance with Para 2.3.12 of 6th CPC
Recommendations(Annexure XVI).
However, Defence Ministry arbitrarily overridden the above aspect
through their O.M. dated 24.07.2009. Accordingly, DOPT has denied the benefit
of MSP to all defence pensioners whereas the said O.M. of MoD was meant only
for military officers on their re-employment within Armed Forces. In this
context, I humbly refer to enclosed judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India
on Civil Appeal No 3744 of 2016 dated 08.12.2017(Annexure XVII) on
admissibility of MACP on similar lines. In this judgment, Hon’ble Supreme Court
has held that cabinet decisions cannot be overridden/ modified through the
means of any executive order. Hence,
Department of Expenditure may like to take cognizance of this ruling while
forwarding its views to DoPT. It is imperative that the issue of MSP while
fixing PRP is handled now in the spirit of above judgment which would go a long
way in avoiding future litigation.
Methods
of Pay Fixation
8. Since, DoPT has proposed to
consolidate, rationalise and simplify existing orders on pay fixation of
re-employed ex-servicemen (including reservists and ex-combatant clerks) in a
single policy framework, we as representatives of employees including
re-employed ex-servicemen, being a major stake holder in the matter would like
to suggest that pay fixation policy envisaged from 25.11.1958 to 30.06.1986
may be revived. Accordingly, all
re-employed ex-servicemen may be given two options to exercise, whichever
may be beneficial to them and the subject option shall
have a retrospective effect since 31.07.1986 at the discretion
of affected ex-servicemen, as under :-
(a) Option I - The
initial pay, on re-employment shall be fixed at the minimum of the scale of pay
prescribed for the post in which the individual is re-employed. After fixing
the pay as above, in case the initial pay is lesser than the last pay drawn
(pre-retirement pay), such cases are to be treated as causing undue hardship,
the pay is to be fixed at a higher stage by granting one
increment for each year of service rendered by him, so as to bring the initial
pay at par with the pre-retirement pay. The pay so fixed is to be
treated as “minimum of the pay scale”.
In addition to the above, the government servant is permitted to draw
pension and all other forms of retirement benefits including
Dearness Relief on pension which he is eligible.
(b) Option-II. The
initial pay of a re-employed pensioner shall be fixed in the time scale of the
re-employed post at a stage equivalent to the stage that would have been
reached by putting in the Civil Posts, the number of completed years of service
rendered in the posts in the Armed Forces.
The pay so fixed will not be restricted to the ‘pre-retirement pay’. The
pension (including pension equivalent retirement benefit) may be reduced from
the pay so fixed after ignoring an amount of Rs.15000/- as proposed by DOPT. In
addition to the above, the government servant is permitted to draw pension and
all other forms of retirement benefits including Dearness Relief on
pension which he is eligible. (The amount of ignorable part
of pension and PEG for pensioners re-employed prior to 01.01.2016 will remain
at Rs.4000/-).
9. It is requested that the proposals of
this Confederation may kindly be considered on merit while formulating DoE
views for onward submission to DoPT. I am hopeful that appropriate policy would
be formulated in consonance with the spirit of government orders in vogue till
1986.
Thanking
You
Encl: As stated.
Yours faithfully,
(M.
Krishnan,)
Member,
Standing Committee,
National
Council JCM &
Secretary
General,
Confederation
of Central Government Employees & Workers.
Mob:
09447068125, Email: mkrishnan6854@gmail.com
Copy to :
1. Sri. Ajay Mittal,
Secretary
Department of Personnel and Training
Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances & Pension, Government of India
North Block, Room No.112, New Delhi-110 001.
2. Mr. Sanjay Mitra, IAS,
Secretary,
Ministry of Defence, Room No.101-A,
South Block,
New Delhi-110 011.
3. Smt. Sanjeevanee Kutty, IAS
Secretary,
Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare,
Room No.5-A, South Block,
New Delhi-110 011.
4. Sri. K.V.Eapen,
Secretary, Department of Pension and
Pensioner’s Welfare,
Lok Nayak Bhavan, Khan Market, New
Delhi-110 003.
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