To
Her Excellency Smt. Droupadi Murmu
Hon’ble President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi

Subject: Representation seeking urgent intervention for comprehensive pension reforms and consideration of the long-pending demands of Central Government Pensioners.

Respected Madam,

I most respectfully submit this representation on behalf of the All India Pensioners Association of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) in my capacity as its Chief Adviser, seeking your kind intervention for safeguarding the rights, dignity and social security of lakhs of retired Central Government employees and their families.

Pension is not a bounty or an act of charity. It is deferred compensation earned through decades of dedicated public service. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in D. S. Nakara v. Union of India recognised pension as a valuable right and emphasised that pension policy should be guided by constitutional principles of equality and social justice.

With increasing life expectancy, rising healthcare costs and prolonged delays in revision of pay and pension, many pensioners are facing serious financial hardship. We therefore humbly request that the Government may sympathetically and urgently examine the following issues:

1. Review of Pension Architecture: A comprehensive review of OPS, NPS and UPS may be undertaken with a view to providing an equitable, assured and sustainable pension system. The Association requests restoration of the Old Pension Scheme with all consequential retirement benefits, including Gratuity and Commutation.
2. Pension Revision and Constitutional Principles: The legislative framework governing pension revision may be reviewed in the light of constitutional principles and judicial precedents, including D. S. Nakara, and pensioners may be granted fair revision with every new Pay Commission.
3. Terms of Reference of the Eighth CPC: The Terms of Reference may explicitly include revision of pension for all existing pensioners so that no retired employee is excluded from the benefits of the Commission.
4. Merger of 50% Dearness Allowance/Dearness Relief: The proposal for merger of 50% DA/DR with basic pay and pension retrospectively may be examined to provide structural relief against prolonged inflation.
5. Interim Relief: In view of the time required for submission and implementation of the Eighth CPC recommendations, suitable interim relief may be considered for serving employees and pensioners to mitigate rising living and healthcare costs.
6. Restoration of Commutation: The long-standing demand for restoration of the commuted portion of pension after ten years and eight months with effect from 1st January 1996 may be examined on actuarial and equitable considerations.
7. Implementation of Judicial Decisions: Final judicial decisions relating to pay, pension, ACP, MACP, NFGP and other service matters having wider applicability may be examined for uniform implementation, so that similarly placed employees and pensioners are not compelled to engage in repetitive litigation.
8. Removal of MACP/NFGP Anomalies: Long-pending anomalies relating to MACP, NFGP and the treatment of Grade Pay ₹5400 in Pay Band-2 and Pay Band-3 deserve comprehensive review to ensure fairness and uniformity.
9. Pay Fixation and Pension Revision: Judicial decisions relating to revised pay fixation with effect from 1st January 1996 and consequential pension revision may be implemented in accordance with law, with prompt payment of admissible arrears with interest.
10. Timely Departmental Promotion Committees: DPCs may be conducted regularly against all available vacancies so that employees are not deprived of promotional opportunities and consequential pensionary benefits. Pensioners may be granted notional promotion retrospectively where DPCs were not conducted due to departmental delays or pending court cases.
11. Regularisation of Long-Continuing Temporary Posts: Temporary posts, including Group ‘A’ (Junior Time Scale) posts that have continued for several years, may be periodically reviewed and, wherever administratively justified, converted into permanent posts.
12. Strengthening CGHS and Healthcare: CGHS facilities require urgent strengthening through phased expansion of Wellness Centres, wider empanelment of reputed hospitals, efficient cashless treatment, uninterrupted availability of prescribed medicines, simplification of procedures, and provision for treatment abroad, so that elderly pensioners receive timely and quality healthcare.
13. Pension Parity: The Government may examine measures to ensure greater parity among similarly placed pensioners, including a detailed evaluation of the methodology considered under Option-1 of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.
14. Implementation of Parliamentary Committee Recommendations: Recommendations relating to periodic review of pension and expansion of healthcare facilities may be examined on priority so that retirement security keeps pace with changing economic and social realities.

Madam, these issues concern not merely financial benefits but the dignity, health and social security of retired public servants who devoted the best years of their lives to the service of the Nation. We therefore earnestly request Your Excellency to kindly advise the concerned Ministries to examine these long-pending issues sympathetically and expeditiously before finalisation of the recommendations of the Eighth Central Pay Commission.

The Association sincerely hopes that these matters will receive timely and constructive consideration. In the absence of meaningful progress, pensioners’ organisations may feel compelled to pursue further lawful, democratic and peaceful constitutional means to draw attention to their long-standing grievances.

With highest regards.

Yours faithfully,
(Lokanath Mishra)
Chief Adviser
All India Pensioners Association of CBIC

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Copy forwarded for kind consideration and necessary action to:

1. Hon’ble Union Finance Minister, Government of India
2. Hon’ble Minister of State for Finance, Government of India
3. Hon’ble Minister of State, Department of Personnel & Training
4. Hon’ble Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare
5. Hon’ble Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare
6. Finance Secretary, Government of India
7. Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training
8. Revenue Secretary, Government of India
9. Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
10. Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC)